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Sarah Percy, professor of International Relations at Oxford University in England, discusses the kinds of services provided by private security companies like Blackwater USA, and how their rules regarding the use of force apply.

First-time novelist Ruth Downie's new book is Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire. The protagonist is a put-upon Roman doctor stationed in Britannia.

Geneticist Francis Collins is director of the National Human Genome Research Project. He is also an evangelical Christian, and author of the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

Arnold Rampersad's new biography re-examines the life of Ralph Ellison, the influential cultural critic and author of Invisible Man, and offers insights about why Ellison never produced a second masterpiece.

Alan Cheuse reviews Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, a novel narrated by a Christian minister as he nears death. Cheuse calls it a "beautifully ruminative novel."

NPR's Jacki Lyden reads from Nobel prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck's children's book The Big Wave — a story of a tsunami and its aftermath, set in Japan.

Journalist and historian Martin Meredith has written extensively on Africa and its recent history. His new book is The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair.

In his new book Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party, investigative reporter Max Blumenthal theorizes that a culture of "personal crisis" has transformed the Grand Old Party — and threatened its future.

Twilight of the Superheroes: Stories is a collection of short stories by Deborah Eisenberg that describe the attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath.

Author Mark Kurlansky wrote Cod and Salt. Now he moves on to the tasty bi-valve with The Big Oyster. He explores a time in New York history when oyster was king. He debunks some oyster myths for Liane Hansen.