Michele Norris

In 1877, Anna Sewell wrote a novel about human kindness and cruelty — all from the point of view of a horse. In the decades since, Black Beauty has been embraced by generations of children, and has helped change the way we treat and think about horses.

In 1857, a group of American intellectuals founded The Atlantic and used it to challenge the institution of slavery. Now, on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's beginning, a new issue of the magazine reaches back to a time when slavery — and the future of the United States — was still an open question.

Introducing a new NPR book club ... for kids! Our first book will be The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Young readers are invited to read the book and share their thoughts and questions with us. Just before Halloween, Gaiman will be on the program to answer questions from young listeners.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors met Tuesday and announced that interest rates will likely remain at record lows for two more years. The action by the Fed was aimed at calming nervous investors.

Police in London are bracing for another night of rioting. Parliament has been called back into session amid demands in some quarters for the army to be deployed. Major sporting events have been canceled as the riots and looting spread to provincial cities.

In a growing trend called centering, a group of women meet for collective medical visits throughout their pregnancies, getting advice from professionals and each other on things like nutrition, postpartum depression and breast-feeding. The goal: putting health care in the patients' hands.

Across the country, black women fare worse than white women in almost every aspect of reproductive health. And black infants are more than twice as likely as white infants to die before their first birthdays. States like Delaware are spending millions to improve those odds.

African Union troops have spent more than three years battling Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu, Somalia. The troops, most of them from Uganda, are trying to seize control of Mogadishu.

Author Nadine Cohodas has written a new biography of singer Nina Simone. It's called Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone, and it tells the story of the singer's evolution from classical pianist to civil rights icon. Read about Simone's musical beginnings in an excerpt from the book here.

President Obama has ordered 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan. The plan is to get the forces there by the summer of 2010, a very fast timeline. To make that happen will be a real challenge for the U.S. military — troops and their equipment will have to move halfway around the world to join the fight.