Dave Davies

Science journalist Marc Kaufman says we're closer than ever to finding out if there's life on other planets in the universe. He details the current research and challenges for scientists in First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth.

In 1992, a cargo ship container tumbled into the North Pacific, dumping 28,000 toys into the ocean. What happened to those toys led writer Donovan Hohn on a worldwide journey filled with beachcombers, oceanographers, ship captains and environmentalists.

New York Times labor and workplace reporter Steve Greenhouse explains why other states with large budget deficits are now also considering taking on public unions -- and how the standoff between organized labor and Republican governors is likely to play out.

In the film Animal Kingdom, Australian actress Jackie Weaver plays the matriarch of a criminal family who has a twisted relationship with her sons. Weaver and Animal Kingdom's director Michael Michod discuss their unglamorous portrayal of a crime syndicate.

After Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tenn., the man who shot him, James Earl Ray, was able to evade the FBI during a two-month-long massive worldwide manhunt. Writer Hampton Sides traces the movements of both King and Ray in his book, Hellhound on His Trail.

This interview was originally broadcast on April 28, 2010.

What happens to your online presence when you die? Evan Carroll and John Romano edit The Digital Beyond, a website that helps users plan what happens to their online content after death. They suggest you start planning now for the inevitable.

A new book by journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins alleges that the CIA was so obsessed with getting information from nuclear trafficker A.Q. Khan's network, it waited too long to shut it down — and stood by while Khan and his associates spread dangerous nuclear technology around the globe.

If you've watched cartoons in the past few decades, you probably know Billy West's voice: He's played Philip J. Fry and Zapp Brannigan on Futurama, plus Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in Space Jam (and more). West explains how he comes up with his voices -- and demonstrates a few of his favorites.

More and more state and local governments have approved casino gambling in order to generate new jobs and tax revenue. But does it work? Economist Richard McGowan outlines why states are turning to gambling to solve their fiscal crises -- and now upping the ante even more.