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Simon and the Oaks is a Swedish drama with the Holocaust lurking in the background. Christophe Barratier's family film War of the Buttons plays out in Vichy France. Critic Ella Taylor considers two stories that acknowledge Nazi complicity but don't quite come to terms with it.

James Ponsoldt's drama depicts the subtleties of a young alcoholic's struggle to regain control of her life. Critic Scott Tobias says Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance shows that the path to recovery can be almost as painful as alcoholism itself.

It's big, it's blue and no one's sure yet what or where it came from. A squid? A whale? Big Foot? See if you can help solve the mystery.

Thursday night may be Representative Paul Ryan's first debate on a national television stage, but Vice President Joe Biden is an old hand. Four years ago he debated Sarah Palin, and before that he was on stage in the presidential primaries.

Chinese writer Mo Yan is the 2012 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The 57-year-old writer has been compared to — and was inspired by — William Faulkner because of the way Mo creates an imaginary place and characters out of his hometown. He is a state-approved writer but some say there are subtle layers of social commentary in his writing.

In this presidential election, neither candidate is talking much about cleaning up the air or protecting scenic lands. Instead, the debate is about whether and how much environmental regulations hurt businesses.

Thursday the vice presidential candidates duked it out in their only debate of the campaign season. President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney will have their second face-off Tuesday at Hofstra University in New York. NPR's Ari Shapiro, on the road with Mitt Romney's campaign, talks with guest host Celeste Headlee.

Sunday, Austrian pilot Felix Baumgartner landed safely on Earth after jumping 24 miles for just over nine minutes from the stratosphere. He lept from the highest altitude ever for a skydiver.

Jayme Dyer didn't know what to expect when she first tried out the growing theatrical sport of women's arm wrestling. Then she started winning. This summer, Dyer donned her alter-ego, Ze Dirty Butcher, to compete with seven other women in the first national ladies arm wrestling championships.

At the 2012 Great American Beer Festival, 2,700 different beers were served up by some of the best breweries in the United States. For the event's 49,000 attendees, the festival is a chance to try new and unique beers; for the brewers, it's a way to make a name for themselves.