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Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon speaks with French sociologist Michel Wievorka about the wave of popular opposition in France to gay marriage. This past week, for the first time under the new law allowing gay marriage, two men wed in the city of Montpellier.

Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks with best-selling mystery writer Martha Grimes and her son, Ken Grimes, about their new book, Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism.

The viral video shows an adorable toddler struggling with the thought of octopus in his gnocchi. We ask: How did you explain eating animals to your kids?

The strange disease known as nodding syndrome affects only children, and only in parts of East Africa. The illness begins with nodding of the head and ends with massive physical and cognitive deterioration; its cause has eluded epidemiologists. Treating 3,000 affected children has been left to Ugandans.

The worth of a degree depends on the specialty. A report from Georgetown University breaks down returns on students' investments, and it's not particularly encouraging. But the study's co-author says the problem is a lack of guidance, which could keep young people from following fruitless career paths.

An Israeli firm caters to U.S. and other tourists who want to get a taste of what it's like to be a counterterrorism commando. The center is in the occupied West Bank, an area the Palestinians want as part of a future state.

The financially troubled city of Detroit is eyeing the sale of its prized artworks, which include paintings by van Gogh. In recent years, a number of museums have brought in millions by selling off art. Such sales invariably trigger protest but can proceed unless there's some legal violation involved.

NPR's Bob Mondello and Susan Stamberg read excerpts of two of the best submissions for Round 11 of our short story contest. They read Litter by Kalad Hovatter of Orange, Calif., and The Shirt by Jennifer Anderson of Shorewood, Wis.

Journalist Anna Badkhen chronicles life in a small Afghan village in her new book, The World Is A Carpet. A village of 240 people, Oqa survives on an old-time tradition of carpet weaving. Residents earn about 40 cents a day for carpets that eventually sell for $5,000 to $20,000 abroad.

Detroit, like many other American cities, is so broke it cannot handle the costs of a timely burial for people who die but are not claimed by family members. Some local advocates are using their own resources to help lay the city's poorest to rest.