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September 2008 was one of the most shocking months in Wall Street's history. Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all fell from grace, and the stock market fell off a cliff. Five years later, host Michel Martin talks to Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post about whether anything has changed.

Music evokes strong memories. That's true not just for the music of your generation, but what your parents listened to, too, a study says. Researchers found a strong "reminiscence bump" for music of the early 1980s in people in their early 20s.

There's a mountain of myths and assumptions about what makes us fat. One researcher is interested in understanding where these ideas come from and why scientists continue to recycle them. In a new study, he homes in on the presumption that skipping breakfast has a direct effect on obesity.

Scientists report in the journal Nature Geoscience that they've uncovered the largest volcano on Earth in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 miles east of Japan. In fact it's one of the largest in the solar system, second only to Olympus Mons on Mars. Scientists have been studying the massive structure for decades, but now are confirming it's a single volcano about the size of New Mexico. It rises about four miles off the sea floor, but doesn't break through the ocean surface. Called Tamu Massif, it hasn't erupted in more than 130 million years, helping to keep its true nature secret.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu reflects on the text message written by poet Seamus Heaney just before he died. In Latin he wrote to his wife "do not be afraid." The 74-year-old Heaney died in a Dublin hospital last week. Codrescu says no great meaning should be implied — it was just a personal message to his wife.

Emotions are running high in some Illinois Congressional districts over potential U.S. military action against Syria.

This week, NPR's Scott Simon ran into a young man he knew years ago while covering the war in Kosovo. His friend was just a child during that conflict, and their chance reunion prompted Simon to wonder anew about children trapped in conflict zones and the unknowable consequences of military intervention in Syria.

The comic and actor talks to NPR's Scott Simon about his insomnia, his friendship with baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and the love of his life. They're all topics in his memoir, Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys?

As the nation's public schools reopen this fall, many are facing budget deficits and scarce money due to sequestration. Experts say districts with large numbers of poor students are hit the hardest.

Pro wrestling in Mexico is usually associated with buff, tough show-boating guys. But it's also an unlikely niche for the country's LGBT, thanks to Los Exóticos — campy, mostly gay male wrestlers who are known as much for their wrestling skills as they are for their feminine garb and flirty behavior.