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Hezbollah operates as a state within a state, according to many observers of Lebanon. The Shiite group's influence is a vestige of Lebanon's long civil war, when the country had no central government.

The human brain definitely differs from the brains of our primate relatives. But how did we get such big brains? A paper in the journal Nature says part of the answer may lie in a snippet of DNA buried deep in the human genome.

NPR political editor Ken Rudin and guests discuss the recent GOP gubernatorial primary win in Ohio for Kenneth Blackwell.

Refugee camps in Sudan's Darfur region are underfunded and desperately in need of supplies. Carlos Veloso, The World Food Program's Emergency Coordinator for the region, talks with Renee Montagne about camp life.

Robert Siegel talks with Tom Friedman, "Foreign Affairs" columnist for The New York Times and the author of the newly-revised bestseller, The World is Flat. Friedman will discuss his piece in this month's issue of Foreign Policy, "The First Law of Petropolitics." In the article, Friedman posits that democratic institutions generally suffer when the price of oil rises, leading to petrol-producing countries that are simultaneously rich and corrupt.

Elvia Bautista was devastated when her younger brother was killed in a gang shooting. Now, she believes in remembering all the victims of gang violence even when doing so may endanger her own safety.

Peggy Lee's most memorable tune was "Fever." A biography borrows the title of the 1958 hit, which encapsulated what many remember about the singer: her playful delivery, charisma and sexuality.

Musician Ralph Towner performs in NPR's Studio 4A. His career spans more than 30 years, from the Paul Winter Consort to the group Oregon. Today he remains a prolific solo artist on the acoustic guitar, with a new CD: Time Line.

For Paul Simon, the songwriting process often proceeds "backward." The singer-songwriter explains what that means — and how it affects his new Surprise, a collaboration with electronic-music pioneer Brian Eno.

Filmmaker Liz Mermin talks about her documentary, The Beauty Academy of Kabul, which looks at the opening of a beauty academy by a group of Western women in Afghanistan.