NPR News

When Lydia Hoglund sings, her words convey the ache of an old soul. She unspools her melodies in big, booming somersaults that sound both effortless and ageless, her elastic delivery recalling emotive singers like Jeff Buckley and Sharon Van Etten. Yet Hoglund is only 17 — just beginning her senior year at Central High in St. Paul, Minn., and just beginning her journey into music.

[Monkey See will be at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) through the middle of this week. We'll be bringing you our takes on films both large and small, from people both well-known and not.]

In the rarefied air of China's leadership circle, anything that strays from strict protocol becomes grist for the rumor mill.

So it is with the mysterious and sudden disappearance of Xi Jinping, the presumptive heir to President Hu Jintao.

Xi, 59, has inexplicably missed a series of important meetings with foreign dignitaries in the past week, including one with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing. The last time anyone saw him in public was Sept. 1.

Ben Sollee is a classically trained cellist whose forays into Americana have led him to work with Abigail Washburn, Bela Fleck and Daniel Martin Moore.

We've already heard warnings about the so called "fiscal cliff" from the Federal Reserve and the Congressional Budget Office.

The health care overhaul law makes it easier for most people with private insurance to get the vaccines they need without going into their pockets for a copay. Medicare beneficiaries don't get the quite same sweet deal, though.

Both major party presidential campaigns are focusing on family this election season. Some parents relate to the personal stories, but others say the candidates are just pandering. Host Michel Martin takes a look at how family is playing out in this campaign. She checks in with moms Leslie Morgan Steiner, Jolene Ivey, Dani Tucker and Gayle Trotter.

It's been 11 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, and that date still resonates with millions of Americans. But host Michel Martin looks at whether annual commemorations of tragic events help or hurt. She speaks with psychiatrist Dr. Carl Bell and Civil War historian Kevin Levin, who lost a cousin in the 9/11 attacks.

The new iPhone is expected to be unveiled this week, and customers can probably get a discount if they sign up for a lengthy service agreement. But New York University Law Professor Oren Bar-Gill tells host Michel Martin that consumers should think twice before signing the dotted line for things like phones, credit cards or mortgages.

The iPhone 5 will give a nice boost to U.S. economic growth in the last three months of this year, according to a new note from JPMorgan.