Jen Poyant

"At the heart of all real country music lies family, lies a devotion to exploring the bonds of blood ties, both in performance and in songwriting," Rosanne Cash writes in her new memoir, "Composed." Those themes of bonds of family and blood ties run deep in the book, just as they do in her music.

Best selling author Carl Hiaasen has made a living shamelessly stealing outrageous stories from the headlines of Florida's newspapers. He rips them from the headlines because their real flavor lends a sense of realism to his satire. Hiaasen's latest novel, "Star Island," is no exception.

Mary Roach was determined to write the definitive 'sex in space chapter' in the history of space journalism. And although she gets into pondering what the pitfalls of sex in zero gravity might entail, her book "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void" also broaches issues that most earthbound humans have never considered. 

According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 40 percent of Americans use some form of medicine deemed "alternative" or "complimentary" to established medicine. We discuss four popular forms: acupuncture, chiropractics, osteopathy and homeopathy. 

Sixty five years ago today, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In a public statement justifying the use of the bomb that August, 1945, President Harry Truman said, "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished, in the first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians."

More than 140,000 people died in Hiroshima. Three days later, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 people. 

Jen here at the Futures Desk, giving you a heads-up on what we’re working on for next week. Celeste will be out all next week as she gets married. Congratulations Celeste! Katherine Lanpher will fill in for Celeste on Monday, and Lynn Sherr will be host Tuesday through Friday. 

Since 1993, Greg Mortenson has dedicated his life to building schools, mostly for girls, in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Author of The New York Times best-seller, "Three Cups of Tea," Greg Mortenson, approaches diplomacy in Afghanistan through education and working with village elders. And even as a strong advocate against the war there, he and his book have been warmly embraced by top ranking members of the U.S. command in Afghanistan, who have turned to Mortenson for advice on how to approach locals there.

For most Americans, getting eight hours of sleep a night tends to fall into the same category as flossing and wearing sunscreen: We know it's a good idea, and we feel vaguely guilty when called on it ... but we still don't tend to do it.  (A recent study found nearly one in five adults feels moderately to excessively sleepy during daylight hours, which is one sign we're not getting enough sleep at night.)

Our sleep and our health are closely related. Do you get enough sleep, most nights? How do you cope when you don't? How important do you find a good night's sleep?

A new book provides a window into Iran in 2009, after Western journalists were forced to leave. "Death to the Dictator!: A Young Man Casts a Vote in Iran's 2009 Election and Pays a Devastating Price" is an insider's account of one voter's experience in detention after the bloody protests that followed last summer's presidential election in Iran.

Jerry Craft was 20 years old when a semi-pro baseball recruiter called him up to see if he'd consider playing for the Witchita Falls Graham Stars. He had been playing college baseball at Texas Tech and had never heard of the team, but said he would talk to the team's owner.  When he arrived for his meeting in the summer of 1959, he realized the reason he didn't know about the team was because it was in the West Texas Colored League. 

This summer we’ve been making a list of great beach reads or books to crack open poolside.  We’ve talked to Justin Cronin, author of 'The Passage' and Hilary Thayer Hamman about her novel ‘Anthropology of an American Girl.’ This week, Laurence Gonzales' 'Lucy' is at the top of our list.

50 million Americans will suffer from a mental health issue this year. But only a quarter of them will seek treatment from a mental health professional. And one in three mental health consumers in the United States report being turned down for a job once their psychiatric status became known.

Share your story: How do you maintain your peace of mind? Have you been able to find good therapy for mental health issues?

We had to put "867 5309" down on our summer music play list. Jim Keller was the man behind the song that got stuck in everyone's head back in 1982. Thank you Jim Keller. Thank you.

We continue our summer reading series with journalist S.C. Gwynne, who brings us his new book, "Empire of the Summer Moon," about the final battles between Comanche Indians and white settlers. It's the story of the last great chief of the tribe that was once the most powerful in the nation. 

Tell us: What summer reading would you recommend?

This week Margaret Cho, comedian and star of the Lifetime series 'Drop Dead Diva,' weighs in on our Summer Mixed Tape series.

Terrorism expert Jessica Stern has been helping Americans understand the complexities behind the causes of terrorism in the 21st century. However, it took her many years to understand her own fascination with the subject. At age 15 she was attacked and raped in her own home. The crime was not immediately investigated. Stern explains how writing about her own experience with terror led her to better understand the relationship between terrorists and their victims.

From telling a joke to talking to their families to denying their crimes, the last words of death row inmates tend to center on similar themes throughout history. Why are these words so compelling? And what do they say about humanity?

No one ever expected best selling author Scott Turow to publish a sequel to his very first novel, the 1987 legal thriller “Presumed Innocent,” mostly because he said he’d never publish one.

Some 80,000 chemicals are on the market and immediately available to Americans; many of these chemicals are manufactured for use in our daily lives, including as food additives. According to a recent report released by President Obama's Cancer Panel, we should at least be "concerned" about the issue of carcinogens in the environment we live in. But what exactly should we worry about, and how can we reduce our exposure?

We've been compiling a summer soundtrack for The Takeaway. We're calling this our summer mixed tape series. Who has given us their summer jams so far? MTV's Sway, and SNL's Fred Armisen, who used to play drums in the punk band Trenchmouth. This week, we've got a guest who surely can hang with the best mixtape auteurs: Grammy-winning 80's rocker Pat Benatar.