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Home ownership holds a special place in American culture: It is the nest egg, the lifelong investment and what many see as the key to the American dream. Everyone told Dawn Crowell, a single mother of four in St. Paul, Minn., she would be stupid to keep throwing money away on rent. So she took the plunge -- and regrets it to this day.

Astronomer Mike Brown didn't mean to kill Pluto -- or so he claims. Brown says the ex-ninth planet was just collateral damage in his search for the 10th. He tells the story of that search -- and the demotion of Pluto that raised the ire of elementary school students everywhere -- in his new book, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming.

Polish author Olga Tokarczuk's new collection is a cabinet of curiosities — surreal, loosely connected stories about the human body, about movement, about two-headed calves and saints' relics.

As consumers cut back their spending in the worsening economy, the effects are being felt even in the wastepaper recycling and exporting industry. Decreased demand for products means a drop in the need for packaging — and the recycled materials that it's made from.

The recent report from York, Pa., in which Michele Norris and Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep spoke to a diverse group of voters about race and politics generated lots of equally diverse feedback.

Many listeners wrote in about Wade Goodwyn's story on UFO sightings in Texas, and one pointed out that we missed a teaching opportunity about superior mirage phenomenon. Robert Siegel talks with Christine Pulliam, a spokeswoman for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to find out more.

President Obama travels to Fort Hood, Texas, Tuesday to attend a memorial service for the victims of the shooting rampage that took place there last week. The massive Army post is taking time to honor those who lost their lives and were wounded, but it is still going about the business of getting soldiers ready to deploy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Obama called on Congress Friday to enact a new job-creation bill that includes tax breaks for small business hiring, and for people who make their homes more energy efficient. The comments came in Ohio, which has been hard-hit by the economic crisis.

Ming Tsai, who owns the Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Mass., took NPR's "How Low Can You Go" family supper challenge and concocted a dish of chicken-and-corn fried rice with lemon spinach. Tsai says fried rice is close to his heart because it's the first meal he ever cooked. And his kids love it.

Lance Rubin's new novel follows an aspiring young comedian as she navigates the rough waters of romance, improv and her father's failing health, with plenty of laughs to light the darker moments.