By Scott Cameron

It's not exactly the return of Furby, but one of the hottest toys this holiday season is a robotic hamster. Stephanie Rosenbloom of The New York Times introduced us:

Known as Zhu Zhu Pets, the artificial rodents have some advantages over the real thing. They do not stink, chew electric wires, or run around their cages making noise at night. In fact, they do not need cages.

Children are delighted at how they coo and scoot about unpredictably. Parents are delighted not to have to clean up after them. And at $7.99 each, the hamsters are recession-friendly.

And like Furby and Cabbage Patch dolls and Elmo in years past, good luck finding the rodents in stores. They're selling out fast.

By David Gura

A few weeks ago, the inimitable R. Crumb was a guest on our show, talking about his most-recent project, The Book of Genesis Illustrated. (If you didn't get a chance to listen to the segment, you should.) During the show, Chris, a listener from Ohio, asked Crumb about why he decided to illustrate the book:

I'm unclear as to the motivations for coming up with the book because, you know, you make some references at being comic bookish, but then you're, you know, you're talking about - you're not necessarily, you know, a Western religion. ... Did you write it out of like - this is going to sound harsh - mockery of Genesis or what was kind of your motivation?

In his answer, and throughout the interview, Crumb said that he wanted to tell the story with pictures as literally as possible:

There's no mockery in it, there's no attempt to satirize it or to make fun of it or ridicule it at all. I did it as a straight illustration job. And why I did it? The reasons are quite murky, you know? I'm not sure ever why I do anything precisely, you know. It's hard to nail down precisely.

I've been very interested in a long time in ancient stories. I've read a lot of ancient mythological stories of Sumer and Babylon and all that stuff, and then I kind of start comparing the Genesis stories to these other stories from that region. And I just - and the more I got interested, the more I thought, well, this might be interesting just to make a comic out of - without, you know - at first, like I said, I had worked up these kind of satires on Adam and Eve and wasn't satisfied with that. So I saw that this - just illustrate it as its written, you know, do a - refrain from making fun of it, don't put any visual jokes in because that will distract people from the text.

I stumbled across this video earlier today. Ricky Gervais, one of my favorite comedians, gives his take on Genesis. I think it's a pretty good -- and yes, irreverent -- exegesis. If you have a sense of humor, watch it. If you'll be easily offended by a guy poking some fun at a religious text, Barrie's got a great post on girls being girls.

by Barrie Hardymon

Watch the above video and you will no longer think soccer is boring (apologies if you're an evangelist -- I can't get into it). You also may be surprised by the level of aggression shown by the women -- though, if you've seen this head butt, you know things get rough with the men. But the behavior of New Mexico's Elizabeth Lambert in that game -- pulling her opponent's ponytail in particular --has caused a bit of a stir, and raises a lot of interesting questions. Do women feel pressure to behave like men on the field? And if they do, is there anything wrong with that? I'll admit that it makes me feel a little psyched to see a woman kick butt, even though she's clearly out of line. It's always bugged me how women's lacrosse is so sanitized in comparison to the men's game. That's not to say that I think there should be more violence in sports, but the double standard bothers me. Mary Jo Kane, the director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, put it this way in the New York Times,

"I think women being physically aggressive and violent is, in many ways, the last boundary to break," Kane said. "I think you'll see snippets, but I don't think you'll see the same kind of behavior as men. In the broader social context, we don't allow women to engage in that kind of behavior. There would be a pushback."

What do you think? Egregious, or evolutionary?

By Sarah Handel

This morning, one of my colleagues mentioned a statistic she'd heard: That for those of us over 40, every holiday season we pack on three extra pounds that we never lose -- for the rest of our lives. Now, I'm neither a statistician nor a scientist, but whether that particular figure is true or not, it's abundantly clear the potential for packing it on between Thanksgiving and New Year's is huge. It's also clear that for most of us, avoiding that weight gain is probably prudent.

But stress kills too, they say, so if you find yourself obsessing unhealthily about an extra sliver of pie, maybe take a moment to savor Joe Queenan's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, "Stop Picking on Fat People." He calls out society for believing the worst about the overweight, particularly in light of the current health care debate, and reminds readers "that carrying a few extra pounds does not necessarily make a person any less effective as an employee, a spouse, a parent or a citizen." To wit,

Where would jazz be without the seminal influence of Louis Armstrong, the greatest trumpeter of them all? And how do we know that it was not those few extra pounds that gave him the pep to belt out such crowd-pleasing numbers as "St. James Infirmary" and "Hello, Dolly"?

And to those who press on, reminding Queenan about how the obese unfairly tax the health care system?

But the very same arguments can be applied to workaholics, alcoholics or garden-variety idiots, none of whom violate any specific law by indulging in a lifestyle others deplore.

A slippery slope, he fears, so read on for Queenan's appreciation of overweight greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Honore de Balzac and Catherine the Great.

A student protests a boost in fees at the University of California, Los Angeles. Given the rising cost of college, is a degree worth it for everyone? We'll talk about it in today's second hour.( AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

By Gwen Outen

Rationing Your Health Care
Just days before the Senate took up the controversial health care bill, two different panels of medical experts recommended many younger women be tested less frequently for both breast and cervical cancer. Some conservatives quickly responded that their worst nightmare was coming true -- that the government plans to ration Americans' healthcare. Guests discuss the pros and cons of health care rationing.

Opinion Page
In an op-ed entitled "They Chose Celebrity" for Sunday's New York Times, columnist Ross Douthat says that after the 2008 election, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin embraced celebrity when they should've taken "their newfound eminence seriously." By doing that, he says, they may have precluded themselves from ever being elected president someday. Douthat explains why the Republican party now needs a politician who prefers "the responsibilities of leadership to the pleasures of celebrity."

Is College Worth It?
Students on the brink of graduating high school are often asked the same question: What colleges have you applied to? Many parents and teachers view college as the expected path to success. But diplomas are getting more and more expensive, and many people succeed without a bachelor's degree. So, does everyone need to go to college? We'll ask a senior policy analyst for the College Board, and a career coach whether they think college is really worth it.

9/11 Commissioner Wants Terrorists In His Backyard
James Thompson, a member of the September 11 commission, explains why he believes that bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to justice on American soil will help make the country safer and stronger, and bring needed jobs to his home state.

Installation artists Jeanne-Claude and Christo, in New York City last year. (Jonathan Fickies / Getty Images)

By David Gura

Alas, I was out of the country in 2005, when artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude installed "The Gates" -- all 7,503 of them -- in Central Park, in New York City.

I remember the photographs -- of workers installing them, of Michael Bloomberg unfurling the first piece of saffron-colored fabric. There were critics, of course, who thought that the project would look strange, that it was a waste of money. I thought it looked awesome.

A few minutes ago, I learned that Jeanne-Claude passed away today, after a ruptured brain aneurysm. What a loss.

In this photo of a sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed sits during a hearing at the U.S. Military Commissions court for war crimes, at the U.S. Naval Base, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. (Janet Hamlin, Pool / AP Photo)

By Sarah Handel

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Manhattan Trial
Earlier this week, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9-11 terrorist attacks, will be tried in a civilian court in New York City. Some argue it will open old wounds, while others say it will offer closure.

Tom Ricks: Read These Books, Understand Afghanistan
The conflict in Afghanistan dominates headlines, but many are looking for a deeper understanding of the country and the war we're fighting there. In the first of a series of suggestions for an Afghanistan "reading list," Tom Ricks joins us. His recommendations range from a collection of Afghan proverbs to a history of the CIA's involvement in the country.

Ken Auletta, 'Googled'
In Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, Ken Auletta, who writes the "Annals of Communication" column for The New Yorker, chronicles the growth of Google, from the brainchild of two computer science graduate students, toiling in a California garage, to the multi-billion dollar multi-national corporation it is today.

Indentured Servitude Still A Reality In Florida
Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, but the specter of slavery persists in Florida's fields -- among tomato and citrus pickers. Reporter Amy Bennett Williams joins Neal Conan in Fort Myers, Fla., to discuss the horrors of indentured servitude, human trafficking, and how prosecutors are fighting it.

By Sarah Handel

Bear with me here, I promise I've got a valid point. So today, I read a short story that made my jaw drop. Under a headline, "Martha Stewart Disses Rachael Ray's Cooking,"

In an interview with ABC's Cynthia McFadden, Stewart criticizes Ray's abilities, saying that she is "not good enough for me," The New York Daily News reports.

Martha, apparently, went on,

"She's more of an entertainer than she is, with her bubbly personality, than she is a teacher, like me. That's not what she's professing to be," Stewart explains in the 'Nightline' segment.

Clearly, PopEater, where I read about it, hopes fervently for a Ray-Ray vs. Stewart smackdown. But here's the surprising part. Rachel Ray responded,

"Why would it make me mad? Her skill set is far beyond mine. That's simply the reality of it. That doesn't mean what I do isn't important, too ... I don't consider it needling. I really just think she's being honest," she tells ABC.

Referring to their food, Ray adds, "I'd rather eat Martha's than mine, too."

What? No jailbird taunts? No cries of "knit yourself a muzzle, Martha?" Nope. Rachel Ray responded with civility, and, dare I say it, grace. Say what you will about EVOO and sammies, Ray nailed this one.

By David Gura

Reading The New York Times and The Washington Post, I always wonder about the photographers charged with taking pictures of everyday life in Washington. You see, everyday life in Washington -- congressional hearings, press briefings, and political speechifying -- is, well, pretty boring. Worse yet, it repeats itself, in all its boringness, day after day after day. What's a photographer to do?

Remarkably, Stephen Crowley, a photographer for The Times, takes wonderful, memorable pictures of politicians. Right now, he is accompanying President Obama in Asia. On the Lens blog, Crowley presents some of the photos he took, in tetraptychs, and provides some interesting commentary. Check it out.

By Sarah Handel

Right now, three books are on my nightstand.

Cherries In Winter by Suzan Colon is the one I dipped into last night. It's the story of how magazine editor Colon is weathering the industry's massive downsizing (which included her losing her own job, and dwindling freelance opportunities) by turning to her grandmother's recipes, and the stories that go with them.

Over the weekend, I dug into Beard on Food, a collection of James Beard's columns. They invite reading aloud, and after a few, my s.o. and I tried his fish poaching method (delicious), failed miserably with his recipe for garlic aioli, and resolved to tackle his oxtails.

And, finally, a remnant from the Julie & Juila insanity, Julia Child's My Life in France, paired with Mastering the Art of French Cooking, of course*. I've just barely cracked the cover on this one. I keep saving it for that perfect rainy afternoon, but somehow, on each rainy afternoon I'm madly running errands or something mundane like that. But soon, Julia, soon!

All this to say: I can't get enough of Adam Gopnik's article in The New Yorker, "What's the Recipe? Our Hunger for Cookbooks." He's got me pinned, and my nightstand library might look a lot like that of the imagined man in his article, reading before bed. Take a look, and while you may take issue with some of his assertions ("Anyone who cooks knows that it is in following recipes that one first learns the anticlimax of the actual, the perpetual disappointment of the thing achieved."), you may also see yourself.

*I know that makes four, but technically, Mastering the Art of French Cooking is on the shelf in the living room, at the moment.

A display at Old Harbor Books in Sitka, Alaska, features Going Rogue, and a note that profits from the book's sale will be given to the Defenders of Wildlife organization in their effort to end aerial wolf hunting. (James Poulson / AP Photo/Daily Sitka Sentinel)

By Sarah Handel

Political Junkie Goes Rogue
It's been all-Sarah-all-the-time since the former Alaska governor rolled out her memoir on Oprah. We'll have our own chat fest with Matt Continetti of the Weekly Standard who has a new book called The Persecution of Sarah Palin. Plus, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd captures Congress's longevity award, and losing Independent candidate Douglas Hoffman of New York's 23rd congressional district "unconcedes." Ken Rudin tells us what it all means on today's Wasilla-to-Washington edition of Political Junkie.

'Doc Ford' Creator Randy Wayne White
Randy Wayne White spent thirteen years as a tackle fishing guide -- before he began to probe the mysteries of Southwest Florida in his 'Doc Ford' mystery series. Rebecca Roberts talks with host Neal Conan and Randy Wayne White from Fort Myers, Florida.

More On Mammograms
New breast cancer guidelines were issued earlier this week by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The panel withdrew its recommendation for mammograms after forty -- saying the average woman can wait until fifty -- and discouraged the teaching of self breast examinations. We'll talk about how the study was made, and what it means for breast cancer prevention, and you.

...Plus a fabulous 4th segment, TBD!

Sarah Palin's book stacked on a pallet in the back room of a Utah Costco. (George Frey / Getty Images)

By Sarah Handel

Where Are The Jobs?
Unemployment numbers in the U.S. are the highest they've been since 1983, but there are still some jobs out there. Businessweek's Dean Foust breaks down where the jobs are, which industries are growing and which states will rebound fastest.

Reviewing 'Going Rogue'
On the day it's released, one-time vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's new memoir, Going Rogue, is already on its way to the bestseller lists. Pundits are combing the book for signs of Palin's political ambitions -- and prospects. But, is the book a good read? We'll ask NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

George Carlin's 'Last Words'
Comedian George Carlin questioned, condemned and confronted what he called "middle class crap." Before his death last year, Carlin spent ten years working on a memoir, Last Words, with his long-time friend, writer Tony Hendra. Rebecca Roberts talks to Hendra about Carlin's life and legacy.

Modern Takes On Blackface
White actors in black make-up, perpetrating black stereotypes. That's the history of blackface. We ask Chicago Tribune columnist Dawn Turner Trice, are modern takes on blackface insensitive, or just irreverent?

...All this, plus your letters!

By Sarah Handel

Sarah's week of doom & gloom on Blog of the Nation continues with this little nugget: The New Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year is "unfriend."

Per the Oxford University Press blog,

unfriend -- verb -- To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook.

Unfriend. As in, I don't care about what you had for breakfast, I don't like looking at that picture of you in my social networking feed, I'm through, I unfriend you.

In my continuing search for the perfect headline, I came across this gem.

Ham and beans 'good stuff'

In other news, chocolate and raspberries, 'excellent flavor combination.'

Everybody remembers the moment at the United Nations when a translator had to communicate that Hugo Chavez thought, well, that President George W. Bush was the devil. Listening to her -- "It smells of sulphur, still today!" -- it's hard to tell exactly what she's feeling, but there is a bit of surprise in her voice.

It's a special kind of translating -- niche translating -- and in the Los Angeles TImes today, there's a fascinating piece about it. My favorite is the explanation about handling jokes.

...if you're going to make a joke, make sure it translates well, said Kevin Hendzel, an ATA spokesman whose specialty is translating nuclear documents from Russian into English.

In the early 1980s, Hendzel was chief of the White House translation staff responsible for the top-secret hot line used for direct contact with the Kremlin.

He has little patience for high-level linguistic gaffes. If a leader makes a joke that doesn't elicit laughs, Hendzel said, a good interpreter will say in the listening audience's language, "It's a joke that does not translate -- please laugh."

I can't wait to start using that line -- in English.