Saddam Hussein's Breakfast Preferences

Food can play a huge role in the lives of the famous and powerful. Elvis famously loved to eat. Henry Ford had his share of food fears. In Iowa, politicians must pass a pancake flipping test.

Along with his brother Mark, Matthew Jacob has written the compendium of fame, food and history titled WHAT THE GREAT ATE.

Jacob talks about the dietary habits and influences of Elvis, President Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, Joe Louis, Angelina Jolie and others.

LISTEN: MATTHEW JACOB - WHAT THE GREAT ATE

Who Wants To Live Forever?

In 1900, the average life expectancy in the developed world was to age 47. Since then, advances in health care and quality of life have added another 30 years to the average American's life...at a rate of two years per decade.

With such a drastic improvement in expected lifespan, some are asking how far can we push the boundaries of longevity. Pulitzer Prize winning science writer Jonathan Weiner takes a look at the scientists and researchers that are looking to prolong the human lifespan.... by 25 years, 50 years and beyond.

LISTEN: JONATHAN WEINER - LONG FOR THIS WORLD

Creating a "Vampocalypse"

A few years ago, novelist Justin Cronin surprised his agent with a "apocalyptic vampire epic" that he had written in secret.

The writer's two previous novels had nothing to do with the fantastic world he created for THE PASSAGE, the book that set off a bidding war between major publishers and then Hollywood producers.

Cronin talks about the real-life environment that inspired the end-of-the-world scenario of his bestseller.

LISTEN: JUSTIN CRONIN - THE PASSAGE

Tragedy & Inspiration in the Minor Leagues

In July of 2007, at the AA ballpark in Little Rock, Ark., a journeyman ballplayer namaed Tino Sanchez hit a foul ball that struck his first base coach, Mike Coolbaugh.

Coolbaugh, who had spent his entire adult life in pro baseball, was a journeyman himself. The 35-year old was just beginning his career as a coach after spending the previous 17 years bouncing back and forth between the minors with brief stints in the majors.

The foul ball hit Coolbaugh in the back of the neck in a strangely dangerous spot and killed him nearly instantly.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED writer S.L. Price was intrigued with the story. Price talks about the accident, the lives it impacted and the world of minor league baseball.

LISTEN: S.L. PRICE - THE HEART OF THE GAME

One Name, Two Fates

Wes Moore has made the most of his opportunities. He was the first African-American Rhodes Scholar at Johns Hopkins University. His military career led him to work as a Special Assistant to Secretary Condoleezza Rice at the State Department. He was a featured speaker at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

About ten years ago Wes Moore learned about another man who had seemingly made as many bad choices as Moore had made good ones. That man's name was also Wes Moore. The other Wes Moore was involved in the tragic murder of a police officer. In reading about the crime and the man involved Wes Moore found some shocking similarities between himself and the other man who shares his name...

LISTEN: WES MOORE - THE OTHER WES MOORE

Taking the Bugs-Eye View

Dr. Hugh Raffles is amazed that people don't pay much attention to the vast communities often just a few feet away.

There are far more insects in the world than people and some argue that our ecosystem depends much more on the bugs than it does people.

Raffles tells 26 journeys into the world(s) of insects, with his book INSECTOPEDIA. Through the tales of trained crickets and parachuting spiders and more Raffles funnels an anthropological study that is more about humans than it is about insects.

LISTEN: HUGH RAFFLES - INSECTOPEDIA

The Harvest of Pandora's Box

The way humans are living in the 21st century isn't well matched to the way we're built.

Geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells traces the long history of humans by gathering DNA samples and looking for the demarcations of change back in a family tree.

In his study of the long view of humanity Wells has learned that for most of our species's existence we lived in small groups and hunted or gathered our food. About ten thousand years ago something happened: farming. Wells suggests that although the practice of cultivating crops helped humans succeed as far as building up numbers, the shift in to this common practice of survival is having consequences that we are just encountering today.

LISTEN: SPENCER WELLS - PANDORA'S SEED