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Ohio Rep. John Boehner -- who is expected to become the next speaker of the House after Republicans swept to control in Tuesday's election -- has outlasted some of the biggest names in the Republican Party's 10-year roller-coaster ride through changing leadership.

Leonard Skinner, a high-school gym teacher who inspired a group of pupils to name their band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Monday in Jacksonville, Fla. NPR's David Greene talks to Skinner's son, Leonard S. Skinner.

This November there are ballot initiatives on everything from marijuana to tax rates. And although this is direct democracy in action, ballot campaigns are a big money business heavily influenced by those affected by the outcome.

With all the debate over taxes in the lame duck session of Congress, it was easy to assume that many Americans were up in arms about the income inequalities that are rising in the U.S. But Michael Barone of National Review argues that most people don't care about income inequality because the quality of life is high for most Americans.

The harsh realities of logistics in Afghanistan will slow the pace into next fall of deploying an additional 30,000 U.S. troops. Many supplies must travel overland from ports in Pakistan and the Baltic states, and through narrow mountain passes and down dirt roads in Afghanistan.

The U.N.'s Goldstone Report accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during last winter's conflict in the Gaza Strip. Now, some say Israel needs to launch an offensive of a different kind: a public relations drive to disassociate itself from words like "occupation" or "conflict."

Survey results on happiness in China seem to be entirely contradictory -- ranging from among the happiest people in the world to among the least. Now psychologists, as well as an entire Chinese town, are trying to answer the question of how China can become a happier place.

Increasingly, jobless workers are facing the ultimate barrier: Some companies are saying if you're out of work, we don't want to hire you. An advocacy group for low-income and unemployed workers says that policy may be illegal.

The Nehemiah project has made affordable housing possible for working-class homeowners in Brooklyn and the Bronx. The church-run project's strict lending practices have helped keep foreclosure rates surprisingly low.

On Wednesday, a Senate panel holds its first hearing into torture since the Obama administration declassified memos authorizing harsh interrogations. Researchers have compared memos with testimony from previous hearings on torture. The project's leader says: "We've been spun every which way."