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Author Timothy Egan argues in The Big Burn that the forest fire of 1910 — the largest in American history — actually saved the forests, even as its flames charred the trees. It helped rally public support, Egan explains, behind Theodore Roosevelt's push to protect national lands.

More than 85 million bottles of water are sold every day in the United States. Freshwater expert Peter Gleick explains what's in them — and why we drink them — in the book Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water.

Pulitzer Prize-winning financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson chronicles the failings of Wall Street regulators in Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption led to Economic Armageddon.

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. He details what it's like to become emotionally involved with the people living on death row in a new memoir.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks died after a long battle with cervical cancer. Doctors cultured her cells without permission from her family. The story of those cells and of the medical advances that came from them, is told in Rebecca Skloot's book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Singer and songwriter Mark Linkous, who performed under the name Sparklehorse, took his own life at the age of 47. Rock critic Ken Tucker remembers the man behind the albums Good Morning Spider and It's a Wonderful Life.

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with winner Kel Hanlon of Jessup, Maryland and puzzle master Will Shortz.

NPR's David Gura plays the puzzle with winner Gary Clements of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

Stand-up comedian and Seinfeld writer Carol Leifer recounts her experiences in love and comedy in her new memoir, When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win.

Newspapers are in trouble, and many Web sites, blogs and cable news shows have opinionated hosts at the helm. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex Jones talks about his book, Losing the News, and the crisis facing impartial reporting.