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A provocative branch of physics called string theory might explain everything in the universe, such as how matter came into being and why space and time exist. But others say string theorists have zero proof to back their ideas.

The premise for each story in Robert Olen Butler's new book is disturbing. Severance recalls the last thoughts of those who have been decapitated. St. George, Marie-Antoinette, Medusa, Anne Boyeln Sir Walter Raleigh, the Lady of the Lake ... In Butler's imagining, their last words are poetic and brief, and reveal what is most precious about being alive.

Historian Kyle Ward speaks with Steve Inskeep about his book, History in the Making. It chronicles the ways that U.S. history textbooks change over time in their portrayal of events like the Mexican-American War. This is the first in a series of conversations about history.

After his daughter — a 38-year-old pediatrician with three children of her own — died of a rare heart defect, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife, Ginny, moved in with their son-in-law to help raise their grandchildren. His new book, Making Toast, is his account of the hurt — and humor — that followed.

Who wants to live forever? Apparently, enough people to support an entire industry of pills, creams, tonics and surgeries meant to keep people alive well into three digits. Guy Raz speaks with Greg Critser, author of Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging.

Superbug, a new book by journalist Maryn McKenna, tracks the spread of MRSA, the drug-resistant staph infection that seems to outwit every antibiotic thrown at it. McKenna explains how the bacteria has changed over the past 30 years — and how a vaccine may be the only way to stop it.

At 85, Eunice Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, is still working tirelessly to open opportunities to people with mental retardation. In 40 years, the games have grown to reach 2.25 million people in 160 countries.

The new biography Einstein: His Life and Universe is the first complete history of the theoretical physicist-turned-refugee to draw upon all of Einstein's papers, many of which were unsealed last summer.

A real-life mystery about two young sisters who disappeared more than 30 years ago has long haunted novelist Laura Lippman. The crime writer used the story for her latest book: What The Dead Know.

Michael Finkel discusses his new book True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, which documents his firing from The New York Times Magazine for violating journalistic ethics and his subsequent discovery that an accused murderer had assumed his identity while on the lam in Mexico. Finkel talks about his extraordinary correspondence with the killer, Christian Longo.