Serri Graslie

From the people on our money to the effects of calling someone black, this week, we bring you four reads that illuminate a bit of history or pieces of regulation you may not have known about.

Our friends at the WNYC podcast New Tech City recently challenged you to put down the smartphone to see what sort of brilliance beckoned. We check in on the results.

Two rock climbers are close to finishing a hugely ambitious project on El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley — free-climbing the Dawn Wall. They talked to NPR's Melissa Block from the rock face.

Sean Sherman plans to open a restaurant serving food inspired by what was eaten in the Great Plains prior to the arrival of European settlers. Discovering those ingredients has been half the battle.

For our Men in America series, we asked men about the movies that make them cry. Reading through 5,000+ responses, we noticed a recurring theme — or should we say, a recurring man: Tom Hanks.

Growing waistlines, a savvy clothing industry and good old-fashioned stubbornness have kept many men in pants that don't fit. It doesn't have to be this way.

By some measures, not much has changed for the American male in the past few decades — girls still do better in school and men still make more money. In other areas, the differences are profound.

The rural Texas town was established as a "freedom colony" with land given to former slaves after the Civil War. O. Rufus Lovett photographed Weeping Mary and its residents for 11 years.

Organizers of the Winter Games are preparing to serve up quite a bit of the hearty, deep-red Russian soup. Which is kind of ironic, says Russian food writer Anya von Bremzen, since borscht carries with it complicated political implications. And not all borschts are created equal, she warns.

Part discount grocer, part social service agency, the supermarkets limit membership to those who can prove they receive some form of welfare benefits. These stores, which are flourishing in Europe, sell food that's been rejected by grocers but is still perfectly edible and would otherwise end up in landfills.