Maureen Pao

From Lahore's red-light district and the streets of Mexico to a fantastical underwater land of Korean fable, here are some picks that can immerse you in worlds wholly unlike your own.

Books We Love is back early this year; for 2022, we're launching the first-ever summer edition, complete with 160+ recommendations from NPR staff and trusted critics.

Planning a summer trip and want to learn more about your destination? We have a list of more than 100 book recommendations for all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Poets laureate and other literary luminaries from all 50 states plus D.C. and Puerto Rico recommend quintessential reads that illuminate where they live.

The answer, experts say, depends on how Americans behave in the next several weeks and how quickly vaccines get in arms.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says she is beginning to mend fences with U.S. allies alienated by the Trump administration. She says they will be valuable partners in the fight to counter China.

An informal survey found that 60% of Los Angeles police employees would get the vaccine when it's available to them. LAPD Chief Michel Moore describes how the department plans to increase that number.

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is taking a county-by-county approach. Dr. LouAnn Woodward of the University of Mississippi supports a statewide order and laments the politicization of mask-wearing.

Jerome Adams acknowledged earlier missteps but says he's confident in plans for vaccine distribution. And after the Thanksgiving spike in cases, he says "targeted closures and mandates" may be needed.

A federal moratorium on evictions is set to expire on Dec. 31. Kathryn Leifheit of UCLA says new data suggest evictions are linked to increases in coronavirus cases and deaths.

"Never in my life would I think we'd be serving food in a tent in Alaska in November, December," Matt Tomter says. "But we're just riding this thing, the best we can."

Albert Bourla, head of the pharmaceutical giant, discusses plans for distributing its vaccine, which it says is 95% effective, and explains the timing of his $5.6 mllion sale of Pfizer stock.

Kate Brown, Oregon's Democratic governor, discusses why she's ordering new coronavirus restrictions and how she hopes the state can deal with the pandemic without more federal funding assistance.

Chuck Hagel, who was also a Republican senator, says President Trump's moves at the Defense Department are compromising national security, too.

The pandemic continues to exact a heavy emotional toll on health care workers, says Kimberly Johnson, who provides them with free therapy. "I wish people knew ... what I saw," clients tell her.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health secretary, discusses a new health equity metric that requires larger counties to reduce coronavirus rates in minority communities before businesses can reopen.

Anita Hill, chair of the Hollywood Commission, discusses a new report's findings on sexual harassment in the industry. She also discusses Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation battle and Joe Biden.

Sarah Deer, citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and University of Kansas professor, discusses the measures to strengthen investigation procedures and why it's taken so long to address the issue.

Students at the small private college in Pennsylvania are essentially banned from leaving their rooms until at least the end of the week. All classes and labs have moved to remote learning.

Two back-to-back wildfires have erupted around Los Angeles. And across the country, major wildfires are burning in a dozen states, including one of the largest in Colorado's history.