Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN), seen here in February 2010 campaigning for his seat, is spending as little time as possible in Washington, D.C., in order to preserve his "Frog Jump common sense." The congressman is from the tiny community of Frog Jump, Tenn. Lance Murphey/ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

TV and radio host Glenn Beck targeted Frances Fox Piven as an "enemy of the Constitution." Death threats soon followed. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption

"A city that was home to one of the largest and most famous Jewish communities in Europe ended up destroying itself during the Second World War," explains Charles King, author of Odessa: Genius and Death in a City of Dreams. "It's a story that, until now, has been largely buried in dusty government archives half a world away." Courtesy W.W. Norton and Co. hide caption

Violinist Lisa Batiashvili grew up hearing her father play Shostakovich's music. Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon hide caption