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Audie Cornish talks to David Ulin, a The Los Angeles Times book critic who wrote an essay for Boom magazine on a famous William Mulholland speech about the 100-year-old engineering marvel that is the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The aqueduct brought water from the Owens Valley hundreds of miles away to a growing area in need of additional resources to sustain its people and their endeavors, helping spur an economy that today rivals that of many nations. A century later, this gravity-fed system continues to be a major source of water for Angelenos, supplying about half of the water needs for four million people on an average year.

Cookbook authors the Brass Sisters want you to ask your elders for recipes this holiday season, before it's too late and they're gone. And also, try their Aunt Ida's tasty Poppy Seed Cookies.

Catholic cardinals announced they will begin their conclave to select the next pope on Tuesday. Audie Cornish talks to Sylvia Poggioli.

A data scientist pitted rappers against Shakespeare to see who had the more extensive vocabulary. But he says he isn't trying to make some sweeping statement about the lyrical prowess of hip-hop.

Launched in August, the Maersk McKinney Moller is the first of a new class of megaships. It's 20 stories high and a quarter-mile long. NPR's Jackie Northam hopped on board in Poland.

In a pre-Christmas offensive to lower prices, the Venezuelan government has taken over a nationwide chain of electronics and appliance stores that it accuses of price gouging. That's led to huge lines outside the stores as shoppers snap up cut-rate refrigerators and computers. As Venezuela's socialist government combats surging inflation, it's warning that more takeovers are ahead.

The U.S. Postal Service is teaming up with online retail giant Amazon to deliver packages on Sundays. Residents of Los Angeles and New York can now take advantage of the additional delivery day at no extra charge. Amazon plans to expand Sunday delivery to more cities next year.

There are two Venezuelas. In one, mothers have no milk for their children. In the other, you can get milky cappuccinos. The country's severe economic problems have worsened inequality.

From Louisiana, Albert Samuels, a professor at Southern University, talks about the racial make-up and history between Baton Rouge's African-American community and police. David Greene reports.

Questioning the official count of how a battle happened 400 years ago has gotten historian Sulak Sivaraksa looking at 15 years in prison under Thailand's lese-majeste law.