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He went from performing in an empty San Francisco coffee house to hosting the Oscars. In his memoir Born Standing Up, out now in paperback, comedian Steve Martin talks about his early days as a stand-up comic — and why he quit.

Your 401(k) might not be the secure retirement plan you think it is. Economist Teresa Ghilarducci examines pension plans and offers advice on retirement security. Ghilarducci's new book is When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them.

Iraq war costs reach beyond the tab for bullets and bombs, says Joseph Stiglitz, co-author (with Linda Bilmes) of the new book The Three Trillion Dollar War. They join Fresh Air to talk about potential long-term expenses from the war.

In The Oil and the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea, veteran foreign correspondent Steve LeVine writes about the high-stakes political gamesmanship over control of the rich oil resources in that region.

In 1851, two chess masters sat down for a practice game in London. What should have been a throwaway game intensified and was quickly dubbed "the immortal game." David Shenk, author of a new history of chess called The Immortal Game, describes the historic match.

Dog and cat adoptions climbed in 2020. Pets have been constant companions — easing our grief and fears. Now it's our turn to ease dogs' separation anxiety, as we head back out into the world.

The creation of the electronic spreadsheet transformed industries. But its effects ran deeper than that.

No Child Left Behind is here to stay, but some states will have more flexibility in how the law is implemented, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings says. Michele Norris talks with Spellings.

The threat posed to coastal areas by tsunami flooding gained new attention after the Indian Ocean catastrophe that killed 200,000. Now scientists say a huge tsunami hit the Pacific Northwest in 1700 -- and it may happen again.

It's been three years since the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was founded. With billions of dollars at its disposal, the fund has attracted criticism, especially from the United States, over how it uses the money. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.