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"Mockbusters" are straight-to-video knockoffs of Hollywood hits. They've got a long and glorious history stretching back to '50s B-movies, and NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports they're having a mini-renaissance in the age of SyFy and Netflix streaming.

All Things Considered and author/blogger Lenore Skenazy offer a weekly on-air puzzle to test your cleverness skills. The "Another Thing" contest takes a trend in the news and challenges you to help us satirize it with a song title, a movie name or something else wacky.

Around the country there are moves to tighten restrictions on voters at the polls, some of which fall under the purview of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Melissa Block takes a step back with voting and election law expert Nate Persily of Columbia University, to talk about the Voting Rights Act, and in particular Section 5. That provision, originally aimed at states in the South, requires certain states, counties and townships to get "pre-clearance" from the federal government before changing laws that affect voters.

On Monday, Chicago teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years and left nearly 400,000 students without instructors.

Democratic committees and the Obama campaign raised a combined $114 million in August, slightly ahead of the $111 million raised by GOP groups. It's the first time the Obama camp has been ahead in several months.

Teachers unions were once a dominant force in American politics and education policy. While still major players, they are rapidly losing strength and having a harder time finding reliable allies.

As the U.S. military steps up training of Afghan troops in preparation for the U.S. withdrawal in 2014, it has also ratcheted up its efforts to train U.S. soldiers in Afghan language and customs. This year, the Army has more than doubled the number of soldiers trained in Pashto and Dari.

Only the summers of 2011 and 1936 have been hotter.

In a study with about 4,000 Thai schoolchildren, a vaccine for dengue fever works well against some strains of the dengue virus. But the overall level of protection was lower than hoped for. The results suggest that a vaccine for dengue fever can be developed eventually.

In Oregon, the number of Latino Episcopalians has tripled in recent years. The church is also seeing considerably higher Latino membership in Nevada and Washington, D.C. Church leaders say the influx is due in part to a focused marketing campaign.