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When Confidential magazine launched in 1952, it feasted on the type of juicy gossip that could launch — or ruin — a career. Journalist Henry Scott details the rise and fall of the gossip rag in his book, Shocking True Story — and explains how Hollywood reacted.

The U.S. population is expected to reach 400 million by mid-century. In his book, The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050, Joel Kotkin argues that future will be green, diverse and suburban. Kotkin explains how the nation's changing demographics will transform American life and communities.

In Maaza Mengiste's first novel, Beneath The Lion's Gaze, she tells the story of a nation at war with itself. Mengiste was born in Ethiopia during the early days of the revolution, which, in 1974, brought down the country's 3,000-year-old monarchy.

Valentine's Day is one of the most anticipated and dreaded days of the year, depending on whom you ask. It might be especially poignant for African Americans, who have some of the lowest marriage rates in the U.S. A panel of African-American writers, all of whom have written books about black love and loss, share their theories on what many believe is a disconnect between black men and women.

The Los Angeles Gang Tours put a spotlight on poverty tourism, but the phenomenon isn't new. Authors writing about class have been giving views of the other side for years. Writer Leslie Jamison shares three memoirs whose accounts define the line between rubbernecking and true works of art.

The Postmistress, a new novel by Sarah Blake, tells two stories set during the early days of World War II. In the first, an American radio reporter sends back dispatches from London during the Blitz, and in the second, two residents of a small Massachusetts town respond to those reports.

On this program from 1980, Blake remembers his vaudeville days and writing the classic songs "Charleston Rag" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry."

Nina Totenberg passes judgment on the definitive account of Clinton vs. Starr. A true-life tale of Jazz Age medical sleuthing worthy of its own CSI spin-off.

Attorney David Dow has spent his career representing inmates who have been sentenced to death. Despite his efforts, many of his clients have been executed — and most of them were guilty. In his new memoir, The Autobiography of an Execution, Dow details what it's like to become emotionally involved with the people living on death row.

A half-century has passed since Timothy Leary, a research psychologist at Harvard University, swallowed some magic mushrooms in Mexico. Author Don Lattin recommends three books that delve into the colorful, creative world of Leary and other psychedelic trailblazers of the 1960s.