Alex Granados

We’re all familiar with the brave soldiers who fought and died during World War II, but the story of a group of medics and nurses, stranded in Nazi-occupied Albania, remained untold until now.

Writer Cate Lineberry chronicles the tale in her new book, “The Secret Rescue: An Untold Story of American Medics and Nurses Behind Nazi Lines” (LBC/2013). Host Frank Stasio talks to writer Cate Lineberry about her new book.

Daniel Wallace is best known for his debut novel “Big Fish,” which became a Hollywood movie.  which became a Hollywood movie and is soon debuting as a musical. But he's written four more novels since then. His latest is called "The Kings and Queens of Roam," and it follows two sisters as they grow up in an imaginary former textile town.

Patricia McAnany had a moment of clarity when a young girl of Maya descent asked her why all the Maya people had to die. McAnany knew that the ancient Maya civilization collapsed in the 8th and 9th centuries, but she also knew that the Maya people continued to exist right up until the modern day.

The deadline for Crossover hit the North Carolina General Assembly yesterday, striking some bills dead for the session. The self-imposed deadline requires that legislation pass at least one chamber to stay under consideration.

A variety of legislation was pushed through this week, including measures that would reform the grievance process for fired state workers, allow health insurers in health exchanges to refuse coverage for abortion and a law that would ban the Muslim Sharia law in North Carolina.

  Andy McGowan is making his mark on Durham with the restaurant Geer Street Garden, but by night, he and, sometimes, 15 of his closest friends form D-Town Brass and jam until the early hours. They’ve just released two albums, “UR” and “Golden Belt.”

When we think of the classics of 19th Century literature, names like Melville and Hawthorne come to mind. But what about their contemporaries? What makes ones writer a master and another forgotten? Phillip Gura, professor of American literature and culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tackles that subject in his newest book, “Truth’s Ragged Edge: The Rise of the American Novel” (FSG/2013).

Joe McHugh says we spend too much time focusing on what information people consume instead of how they consume it. Conservatives may focus on Fox News, and liberals may love MSNBC, but McHugh says that’s not as important as the fact that members of both ideologies are watching television. He says the mediums we use can be as influential as the content they provide.

Lawmakers were on a tear in the North Carolina General Assembly this past week, pushing forward a slew of controversial bills.

The Senate tentatively passed a bill requiring seventh-graders to be taught that abortion can lead to premature delivery in future pregnancies. The controversy there came about because the medical conclusion is based on disputed science.

"I feel emotional about this one," said singer-songwriter Laurelyn Dossett during a State of Things news roundtable. "I have three daughters...I find it so offensive when science is used in that way."

Legislation requiring parental consent for teenagers who want STD treatment or birth control is making its way through the House. Some think that it could be counterproductive if passed.