The war became much more personal for the U.S. embassy and most of the journalists in Afghanistan when word came out that one of the five Americans killed by a suicide bomber in Zabul Province on Saturday was 25-year-old Anne Smedinghoff. NPR's Sean Carberry says her death reminds the American community in Afghanistan of their bonds with one another.

It's delicious, it's nutritious and it's basically rotten. Fermentation is the hot culinary trend, and as Weekend Edition food commentator Bonny Wolf explains, the preservation process gives food a flavor unique to time and place.

As NPR changes headquarters in Washington, D.C., and moves to a new building, a few hosts reflect on the mementos they've accumulated over the years.

Roger Ebert wrote simply, abundantly, gorgeously — and on deadline for 46 years at the Chicago Sun-Times. Over the years, his work reminded us that empathy is the grace note of a good life, not just great art.

Lexicographers know they're in the hot seat as they confront the changing use of the word "marriage." Linguist Geoff Nunberg says the key to getting the new definition right is to crisply describe everything that's in the category and nothing that isn't.