Dave Davies

Journalist Joel Achenbach describes how our nation's electricity grid is based on 1960s technology that wastes power and discourages the use of renewable energy.

The BP disaster has raised questions about the oil industry's ability to manage the risks and challenges involved in drilling thousands of feet below the ocean floor. New York Times science reporter Henry Fountain explains how deep-water drilling is supposed to work — and what may have gone wrong on the Deepwater Horizon.

The Oscar-winning actress has played everything from a sassy car expert in My Cousin Vinny to a stripper alongside Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. In an interview with Fresh Air contributor Dave Davies, Tomei explains how she picks her roles -- and why she's excited about playing a mother in the new film Cyrus.

Linda Greenlaw took a decade off from commercial fishing, but the siren call of the deep blue water drew her back in. The only female swordfish boat captain in the United States recounts her latest adventure at sea in a memoir, Seaworthy.

Doug Glanville is a former major league baseball player with an engineering degree from an Ivy League school who writes about baseball for The New York Times. Glanville's new book, The Game From Where I Stand, is an insider's look at the world of professional sports.

American journalist David Rohde escaped last year from a Taliban stronghold in northern Pakistan after being held for seven months. It's the same region where the suspected Times Square bomber reportedly trained. Rohde, who is currently on leave from The New York Times, explains the conflicted history of the region.

When does collecting cross the line and become a disorder? And why do some people save every newspaper? Researchers Randy Frost and Gail Steketee examine compulsive hoarders in their new book, Stuff -- and explain what we know about the causes of and treatment for the compulsive disorder.

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. For the next two months, the man who shot him, James Earl Ray, was able to evade the FBI during a massive worldwide manhunt. Writer Hampton Sides traces the movements of both King and Ray in his new book, Hellhound on His Trail.

A 2009 law gives the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products for the first time. New York Times reporter Duff Wilson, who covers the tobacco industry, explains what the ruling means -- and what impact it could have on the industry.

Ideas that writer Jeff Goodell used to regard as bad science fiction — like launching particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight — are now being taken seriously because of global warming concerns. Goodell examines the science behind tinkering with the Earth's climate in his new book, How to Cool the Planet.