The Last Five Years originally ran off-Broadway in 2002. Cited as one of Time magazine's "Ten Best of 2001," it won Drama Desk awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics.

There are only two characters in the musical, Jamie and Cathy. Jamie is a young novelist and Cathy is a struggling actress. Told in reverse chronological order, the drama shows what happens when an artistic couple's romance fizzles out.

Militants in Nigeria have killed seven hostages, including three Westerners, in an act the British foreign secretary called "pure, cold-blooded murder."

The seven hostages — four Lebanese and one British, one Greek and one Italian citizen – worked for the Setrapo construction company. They were kidnapped Feb 16 from Jama'are, a town about 125 miles north of Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state. Ansaru, a group that's an offshoot of Boko Haram, the militant Islamist movement, claimed responsibility for the killings.

Ben & Daniel talk with Alberto Rios, author of the poetry collection "The Dangerous Shirt."  Rios, a professor of English at Arizona State University, talks about how teaching feeds into his work.  He also talks about how the landscape of Arizona influences his poetry.  Rios, whose mother was English, reveals how he learned to see the world through her eyes as an outsider in predominately Hispanic surroundings.  In this online-only extended interview, Rios also talks about the poem "The Cities Inside Us," which explores the worlds of imagination inside of us.

For this week's Poem of the Week, Alberto Rios reads "My Dog, That Stranger" from his latest collection, "The Dangerous Shirt."

http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/

Aired March 10, 2013

Ben & Daniel talk with Alberto Rios, author of the poetry collection "The Dangerous Shirt."  Rios, a professor of English at Arizona State University, talks about how teaching feeds into his work.  He also talks about how the landscape of Arizona influences his poetry.  Rios, whose mother was English, reveals how he learned to see the world through her eyes as an outsider in predominately Hispanic surroundings.

For this week's Poem of the Week, Alberto Rios reads "My Dog, That Stranger" from his latest collection, "The Dangerous Shirt."

http://www.public.asu.edu/~aarios/

Aired March 10, 2013.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai claims the U.S. is holding talks outside Afghanistan with the Afghan Taliban.

The allegations come as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel continues his first visit to the nation as Pentagon Chief – and after a deadly explosion in Kabul on Saturday that the Taliban called a message to the new defense secretary.

Karzai made his claims in a nationally broadcast address just hours before he was to meet with Hagel, reports NPR's David Welna, who is traveling with Hagel.

With a stroke of her pen, Queen Elizabeth II is giving royal support to equal rights.

Her majesty is expected to sign a new charter for the Commonwealth on Monday. The charter declares the core values for the 54 member states, most of which were once under British rule. It's getting attention for statements on gender equality and what it may imply for gay rights.

A soft-spoken, clean-shaven, 31-year-old aid worker hopes to determine, in part, the future of Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

Japanese pianist Hiromi approached the making of her latest album with a love for all kinds of sound, no matter how quotidian.

"Even a car honk, I love it," Hiromi says. "Sometimes, when you are at the crossing point of the street, you hear different car honks at the same time and you hear amazing chords."

She says there's one particular sound from daily life that she could never warm up to, however, even though she depends on it to wake up: the chime of an alarm clock.