Aside from basketball, it's a pretty quiet sports week, which means, it's a pretty quiet week for sportswriters. Commentator Frank Deford says it's a perfect opportunity to recognize their work, and cut them some slack.

The stakes are high in this Intelligence Squared U.S. debate. Can Israel tolerate an Iran that possesses nuclear weapons? Some see a nuclear Iran as an existential threat that Israel could not accept. Others say that taking military action could create even bigger problems.

After being deployed to Iraq in 2003, Spc. Lance Pilgrim was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. His panic attacks led him to become dependent on pain medication, and he accidentally overdosed in 2007. His parents share their son's struggle to leave the war behind.

Audie Cornish talks to regular political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution, and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss gun policy, a GOP retreat and President Obama's second inauguration.

Enthusiasm for sport can be a convenient cover to excuse the worst in us, says Frank Deford, because concussions for young men are the price of our love for football.

Robert Siegel and Audie Cornish read emails from listeners about an interview with the National Rifle Association's president. 14.) France To Send More Troops To Mali To Combat Islamist Militants — As France wages war on the Islamists in Africa, French authorities are girding for possible terror attacks back home. But the French show no sign of wavering in their support for the Mali operation.

Audie Cornish shares listener suggestions for the sound a quiet hybrid car might make to warn visually impaired people of their approach. The most popular was the sound of the car from The Jetsons cartoon of the 1960s.