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Baseball's spring training used to be taken as a sign of spring, but it sounds more like ka-ching these days. Host Scott Simon speaks with Jim Bouton, author of Ball Four and former pitcher for the New York Yankees, about spring training past and present.

President Obama has withdrawn U.S. forces from Iraq and hopes to do the same in Afghanistan. He's a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the man who "got" Osama bin Laden. David Rohde, a foreign affairs columnist for Reuters and The Atlantic, tells host Scott Simon about what he calls the "Obama Doctrine."

A National Football League investigation revealed Friday that the New Orleans Saints had a "bounty" program to pay bonuses for putting game-ending hits on opposing players. Host Scott Simon reports the NFL has yet to announce any penalties.

The Syrian government continued shelling the city of Homs overnight. The latest United Nations report estimates 7,500 people have been killed since unrest began nearly a year ago. The government has also continued to refuse entry to the International Committee of the Red Cross. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports.

A fractious, self-deluding writer (Robert De Niro) reaches out to his adult son (Paul Dano) after almost two decades of estrangement. Critic Bob Mondello says the movie could have been precious in the wrong hands, but director Paul Weitz and his cast tell an emotionally real story.

Kathryn Harrison's new novel is a fairytale mash-up of magical realism and history — a fanciful tale about the real-life daughter of the mystic Rasputin during the last days of Imperial Russia.

Every so often, pieces of heaven crash into Earth, and Ruben Garcia is looking for them. Aboard his trusty Jeep, the meteorite hunter rides the Arizona landscape, searching for space rocks with a magnetic golf club.

When politicians need to know every damning detail about their opponent, they call people like Alan Huffman and Michael Rejebian. The two former investigative journalists say they aren't looking to fuel smear campaigns — just to uncover all the dirt they can.

Ohio is one of 10 states holding contests to pick their party's presidential nominee on Super Tuesday. The conventional wisdom has been that whoever takes Ohio in the general election goes on to win the White House, which makes the state the main focus of attention for GOP candidates.

Dogs, cats, birds, fish and even horses are increasingly being used in settings ranging from hospitals and nursing homes to schools, jails and mental institutions. A growing body of scientific research suggests interacting with animals can make us healthier — and benefits them, too.