It's once again poised to play an important role in the presidential election, but Florida is a very different state than it was four years ago. Reeling from the housing collapse and high unemployment, voters are feeling the pinch and are angry at what's happening in Washington.

Around half of workers said they'd be in the office during the week between Christmas and New Year's. For those who come in, it's a great time to tidy up or catch up with coworkers. And the paycheck isn't bad: "[You] need a wheelbarrow to take it to the bank," says one holiday worker.

For Isabel Sobozinsky-Wall, New Year's Eve marks a special time. That's when she met her future husband, Scott, during a trip to New York City 20 years ago. But first they had some things to overcome.

On New Year's Eve, don't open the front door in Denmark, look out for falling furniture in Italy and chew lightly when eating black-eyed peas in the South of the U.S.

Surgeons make full-face transplants a reality for people with severely disfigured faces. Three such operations were performed successfully in Boston this year, a turning point in the field.

Robert Siegel speaks with Shree Bose, the winner of this year's Google Science Fair. Bose investigated why cancer cells become resistant to the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin. Through her research, she discovered a specific protein that makes cancer cells resistant to the drug.

All this week, All Things Considered is highlighting moments from each of the presidential candidates' stump speeches. Thursday, Robert Siegel hears from Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Sen. Rick Santorum.

Terror groups are using social media to find new followers. But analysts say if you look at the recruiting numbers, the strategy has failed. What's more, their frank exchanges on Facebook and Twitter have been a boon to law enforcement.

The candidate who poses perhaps the greatest challenge to Mitt Romney in Iowa is Rep. Ron Paul. NPR national political correspondent Don Gonyea joins Robert Siegel from Iowa to talk about the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Voting begins at the Iowa caucuses Tuesday evening.

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is suddenly acting like a frontrunner again — even in Iowa, the state that broke his dreams in 2008.