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Also: an animated interview with David Foster Wallace; the self-publishing trend; and a spirited defense of Justin Bieber.

Also: Suspect in ricin letters described as conspiracist and Elvis impersonator; North Korea "sets conditions" for return to talks; and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords expresses her anger after gun bills fail in Senate.

Seven of eight bills to loosen restrictions on firearms passed through the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday. One bill seeks to

David Greene has an eyewitness account of Wednesday night's explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas. West resident Julia Zahirniak and her son Anthony, who were across the street at West Intermediate School when the plant exploded, spoke with NPR's John Burnett.

Listeners are invited to submit short poems on Twitter to celebrate National Poetry Month. Curator and poet Holly Bass gives an update on recent tweets about tragedy in Boston, and other topics.

Korean-American rapper Dumbfoundead used to get the mic pulled out of his hands at rap battles. But the Los Angeles artist has steadily won fans and made a name for himself in the world of hip-hop. Host Michel Martin talks with NPR'S Karen Grigsby Bates about what his success says about the evolution of rap.

A push to make narcotic painkillers harder to abuse means that generic versions of OxyContin won't be allowed. But drugs that are more resistant to abuse are expensive and can still be addictive.

State lawmakers are being more sensitive to how they spend money. A bill containing minor change to the state’s Enterprise Zone program failed to pass in

Investigators have said the key clue is likely to come from photos or video taken by the public, and social media sites are buzzing with theories about possible suspects. But with so many images out there, it's like trying to find the one slightly off-white pingpong ball buried under 10,000 white pingpong balls.

The planets orbiting far-off stars are close to Earth-sized and are a distance from their suns that makes their surfaces neither too hot nor too cold. Since launching in 2009, the Kepler telescope has identified more than 100 planets.