Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Oscar-winning duo behind the hit film “Once,” on their creative partnership and new album, “Strict Joy.” Plus: see a video of their in-studio performance.

Horror at Fort Hood. Election signals. And an imminent vote on health care. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

A surge of new strategies to “manage” aging — from diets to testosterone. We’ll get the story.

The Copenhagen climate conference is one month away. US climate action is going nowhere in Congress. We’ll look at the global implications of America’s domestic climate politics.

Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who profoundly challenged the understanding of human cultures, has died at the age of 100. We’ll look back at his work and its meaning.

A shot-across-the-bow election day for Republicans and Democrats. We’ll look at the results as both parties look ahead to 2010.

The story of the 1507 map that gave America its name, and its role in changing our understanding of the universe.

Rethinking alimony. With the old model of breadwinning father and stay-at-home mother mostly gone, does a lifelong obligation to an ex still make sense?

Maya Lin’s Vietnam Memorial changed how we remember war. We’ll talk with her about her latest and, she says, last public memorial — a monument to vanishing species.

Tim Geithner and Barney Frank say they’ll rein in banks that are “Too Big To Fail.” Critics say their plan won’t fix Wall Street. We’ll hear the debate.

For Halloween, from the minotaur to Frankenstein to Godzilla — a history of monsters from the dawn of time.

The U.S. economy grows. Bombs from Baghdad to Pakistan. And a vaccine shortage all over. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Novelist John Irving — “Garp,” “Cider House Rules” — is at it again. He’ll talk with us about his latest tale, “Last Night in Twisted River.”

Asian countries pour money and resources into higher education, while American universities go begging. We’ll ask former MIT president Charles Vest, and more, where this goes.

The moral and spiritual lives of young Americans. We’ll ask where they’re turning now for meaning.

Google, Apple and a whole tech universe are vying for the next great prize: mobile computing. We’ll ask how life changes with a smartphone in everyone’s pocket.

Thelonious Monk. Jazz giant. American hipster. A new biography takes us into his life and enigmatic music.

Marijuana, medical marijuana, and the law. The Justice Department says it won’t go after legal users. Now the country must decide how to live with legalized pot.

This Old House turns 30. We’ll get up close with the beloved PBS series.

Taliban rising and fighting. We’ll ask who and what the Taliban really is today.