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The Backseat Book Club returns from summer vacation with Anna Sewell's classic novel, Black Beauty. NPR's Michele Norris will talk with writer Jane Smiley who, in addition to winning a Pulitzer prize for adult literature, has written kids books starring horses.

Men's Fitness magazine tackles a sensitive subject that is not often discussed: depression and men. In this week's Behind Closed Doors segment, Chris Strauss of Men's Fitness, mental health writer John Head, and Nathaniel Reynolds, who suffered from depression, explain why depression seems to be rising among men, and why it can be challenging for men, especially black men, to accept help.

Attitudes are dramatically shifting in India where young beer- and wine drinkers are taking on what they call the "morality police" who impose strict restrictions on the consumption of alcohol. Among them is Suketu Talekar, who is setting up his own microbrewery.

More than a year after it began, the war between Pakistan's army and Taliban militants in Pakistan's northwest Swat Valley continues. The conflict has taken a nasty turn: Recent weeks have seen a sudden spike in the number of corpses displayed in the streets.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes the "most worrisome" part of the U.S. war in Afghanistan is actually in Pakistan. After a six-month offensive, Pakistan's military says it has driven the Taliban out of one region in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. It's an area where the foreign media are banned. But over the weekend, Pakistan's military flew some journalists there.

It centers on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management's implementation of a federal program that was meant to sort long-standing issues with water infrastructure across the country.

Despite their many differences, Indians and Pakistanis share a passion for cricket. Now the sport has become central to peace negotiations between the rival nuclear powers. This month, an Indian team is to begin its first full tour of Pakistan in 15 years. While diplomats hope cricket will help to mend relations, fans are only concerned with which side will win. Philip Reeves reports.

The confrontation between the U.S. occupation authority and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr continues to intensify after Sadr's followers attacked U.S. and other coalition forces Sunday. Amid more violence Monday, U.S. spokesmen revealed that an arrest warrant has been issued for Sadr in connection with the murder of a rival cleric last spring. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

U.S. forces and their allies are now battling armed insurgents in several areas of Iraq. As Marines try to subdue violence in the so-called Sunni triangle, Shiite militia forces, loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, continue to mount attacks in southern Iraq. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Philip Reeves.

Indian Atal Behari Vajpayee resigns after his Hindu-nationalist party was dealt a shocking defeat in national elections. Italian-born Sonia Gandhi's Congress party now readies itself to take power in the world's largest democracy. Gandhi vowed to put together a secular government but would not say whether she would become the next prime minister. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.