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The alderman in the 49th Ward became the first elected official in the country to hand over the purse strings to his constituents in 2009. Three years later, the "participatory budgeting" experiment is still attracting new residents to planning meetings.

In Joseph Kanon's new spy thriller, Istanbul Passage, former intelligence aide Leon Bauer is caught in the complexities of post-World War II life, in a story of moral compromise and shifting loyalties.

Early polling can do much to shape political campaigns, but for voters who are just trying to follow the debate, polls and surveys can seem contradictory and confusing. Host Scott Simon talks with Michael Dimock of Pew Research Center and J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer and Company, about how to make sense of polling this election season.

In Massachusetts, Democratic Senate candidate and Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren continues to be dogged by the question of her American Indian heritage. Friday, in the wake of a report from The Boston Globe, Republican Sen. Scott Brown accused Warren of misleading Harvard about her Native American ethnicity. From member station WBUR in Boston, Fred Thys reports.

After years struggling to make it in New York, the folk group left everything behind and settled in Denver. The band released its self-titled debut album this spring.

Jake Foushee was 14 when he posted a YouTube video showing off his "movie trailer voice" for friends. When the video went viral, Jake found himself on national television. The next stop might be the big screen itself.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray was elected to office on a platform of anti-corruption. But just two years into his term, a federal investigation has left two former aides pleading guilty to misdeeds during the 2010 election. Gray has denied any wrongdoing. Host Guy Raz talks about D.C. politics with Washington Post reporter Nikita Stewart.

The Philadelphia clergy sex-abuse trial has been brutal for Monsignor William Lynn, the first high-level Catholic official to be criminally prosecuted. Lynn's charges are not for abusing minors, but for failing to protect children from predator priests.

Changes in the job market have meant fewer jobs for those with mid-level skills. Economists call the trend labor "polarization" and say it's forcing those in the middle to take jobs at lower pay.

Constructing the iconic bridge was a coveted job in Depression-era San Francisco. The work was dangerous, but the men were careful and years passed without a single fatality. Just months before it opened, however, the bridge finally claimed its due — all in a few horrifying seconds.