A caretaker examines a bear named Balou to be sure he's fully sedated before he's moved from a center near Amman, Jordan, to the al-Ma'wa wildlife reserve in northern Jordan on Oct. 2. The bear and other animals were released into the reserve run by the Princess Alia Foundation. The animals were rescued from abusive conditions. Thomas Hartwell/AP hide caption

Nick Fugate (center) with his parents, Julie and Ron, has been adjusting to life on Kansas' waiting list to get life-assistance services through Medicaid. Alex Smith/KCUR hide caption

Corey Ryan Forrester, Drew Morgan and Trae Crowder write and perform together. They wrote a book called The Liberal Redneck Manifesto, which challenges what readers might expect from Southern comedy. Robin Marchant/Getty Images hide caption

Oliveros created the music theory known as "deep listening." "I found myself listening to long sounds and becoming more interested in what the sound did themselves than what I would do with them," she says. Vinciane Verguethen/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

For her latest album, Georgian-British artist Katie Melua returned to her home country to record with the 23-piece Gori Women's Choir. Courtesy of the artist hide caption