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Twenty years ago, the British literary magazine Granta published a list of what it considered the best young novelists of Britain. Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, and many more went on to find fame and sometimes fortune. And Granta had found itself a tradition. The March edition features a new group of young authors. NPR's Lynn Neary speaks with Granta editor Ian Jack and two of the writers on the list: Alan Warner and Andrew O'Hagan.

In an interview with The Economist, President Obama said no matter how you look at it, the U.S. economy is better off than when he took office, and that most U.S. businesses have done well.

Forty percent of American troops in Iraq are from National Guard and Reserve units. The repeated and lengthy tours of duty those units are facing in Iraq have left some families struggling to pay the bills, with little support from the military.

Librarian Nancy Pearl gets a jump on the winter solstice and Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD), that period of the year when many readers fall into a rut of ill humor. She shares her picks for books that beat the winter-weather blues with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

A new study says that MRIs find about twice as many breast cancers as mammograms. Specialists say that high-risk women should have both an MRI and a mammogram, which remains better at detecting certain types of cancer. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

King cake is a treat tied to the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans. With so many people returning to the city from far-flung places, this special Danish-like confection is flying off the shelves at local bakeries.

Skyrocketing property taxes have prompted some Maine islands to consider secession. On Chebeague Island, residents feel they pay more money in taxes than they get back in services.

In Italy next week, five Germans go on trial in absentia for war crimes committed 60 years ago. As German troops retreated from the Allied invasion, they often adopted a "scorched earth" policy, destroying infrastructure that the Allies could use. German troops razed the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in three hours, killing about 560 people -- including women, children and elderly. The atrocity, along with many others by the Germans, was well-documented, but the Italian Government hid the files in the 1950s. By then, West Germany was an ally of the United States and the Cold War was underway. The files were discovered in 1994, leading to trials. The survivors of the attack on Sant'Anna remember it vividly, as NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

Many people are getting hurt financially because mortgage rates rose sharply while they were waiting for their new homes to be built. And now it's hard or impossible to buy them. Share your story.

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has a birthday today. The man who wrote Forever Young is now 60 years old. His influence on popular culture is strong. He also influenced many to pick up the guitar and sing. Dylan's music inspired a fellow Minnesotan named Bob Feldman to start a record label dedicated to recording great singer-songwriters. Red House Records has just released A Nod to Bob, a collection of artists interpreting their favorite Dylan songs. We hear from four of the artists. Guy Davis sings Sweetheart Like You, Eliza Gilkyson does Love Minus Zero, No Limit, Lucy Kaplansky sings It Ain't Me Babe, and Martin Simpson performs Boots of Spanish Leather. (12:30) For more information, visit Red House Records Web site, or call 1-800-695-4687.