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In 1887, Julius Petri invented a simple pair of nesting glass dishes, ideal for keeping specimens of growing bacteria sterile--the 'Petri dish.' Science historian Howard Markel recounts the history of this ubiquitous lab supply, and the serendipitous discovery of the stuff in it, agar.

The International Monetary Fund used to bail out deadbeat nations in Latin America. Now, in a role reversal, the IMF's new director, Christine Lagarde, is seeking the region's help in containing Europe's worsening debt crisis. Officials in Brazil, now the world's seventh-biggest economy, say they're putting together an IMF loan. And Lagarde says the whole region can provide Europe with lessons on how to manage the economy.

Melissa Block and Guy Raz read emails from listeners about a report on Kentucky's Berea College, Melissa's remembrance of Vermont poet Ruth Stone, and the other person responsible for that mega-hit earworm "Moves Like Jagger."

Turkey has been welcoming to Syrians escaping from their troubled homeland. And Syrian activists say they can still organize protests from exile.

Karen Freeman-Wilson is the first African-American woman ever to be elected mayor in the state of Indiana. But she isn't interested in that symbolism. As Gary's new mayor, Freeman-Wilson says her goal is to make Gary "the next comeback story in the Rust Belt."

Crop insurance is a sticky issue in the debate over the shape of the farm bill this year. But what if a simplified version of the program could save taxpayers billions of dollars? One economist says it could.

An anonymous survey found 747 students suffered unwanted sexual contact in the last school year at the Army, Navy and Air Force academies. That's up nearly 50 percent from a survey two years earlier.

The two overnight assaults on Ebola response teams also injured at least six people, according to the World Health Organization. The attacks come at a pivotal time for the fight against the disease.

British police have launched a murder investigation after 39 bodies were discovered in a truck in an apparent human smuggling operation.

As warfare increasingly relies on digital technology, the Marine Corps is retooling its basic front-line infantry unit.