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New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg has reported that human excrement and dangerous chemicals are making their way into our waterways and then into our drinking water. Duhigg returns to Fresh Air to talk the problems with our nation's sewer system.

Moving beyond traditional superheroes, two new graphic novels recount the epic tales of scientists and the research that made them famous. Ira Flatow talks with authors Michael Keller and Apostolos Doxiadis about their graphic novels on natural selection and logic.

With the holidays fast approaching, it's time to put the finishing touches on yuletide decorations and last-minute prep for those year-end parties. Host Liane Hansen speaks with style maven Martha Stewart about holiday traditions, cooking, health and wellness.

While many people hunt for the best bargains at Christmastime, others just want to be sure their spending reflects well upon their values and political beliefs. Daryl Herrschaft, of the Human Rights Campaign, and environmental blogger Wendy Koch, of USA Today discuss the popularity of conscientious shopping guides, such as Herrschaft's Buyers Guide for Equality.

Host Michel Martin talks to Iranian journalist and political cartoonist Nikahang Kowsar. Kowsar, who lives in exile in Canada, recently launched a citizen journalism Web site which has become a repository for first hand accounts of life in Iran. Kowsar discusses his recent journalistic venture and the current political tensions arising in his home country.

The heads of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art have made a Super Bowl wager: The IMA will loan William Trevor's The Fifth Plague of Egypt, to NOMA if the Colts lose the Super Bowl. If the Saints lose, NOMA will loan Claude Lorrain's Ideal View of Tivoli.

Theatergoers are packing a concert hall in Frankfurt, Germany, for a new musical about Barack Obama, but the show's creator says the production isn't just about the president.

Writer Lonnae O'Neal Parker says sometimes the day's most routine tasks can bring new meaning. Host Michel Martin talks with Parker, who recently wrote a piece for The Washington Post Magazine, titled "Balm." In the article, she talks about the ritual of styling her young daughter's hair and how, as in the case of so many black women, Parker finds that this task is equal parts love, pride, and a connection to her past.

Parents have long been expected to spend their free time helping out in their kids' schools — from chaperoning field trips to decorating the teachers' lounge, to organizing fundraising events. But some parents, like mother and writer Helaine Olen, have had enough. Olen recently wrote a piece for the online publication Double X titled "Why I'm Sick of Volunteering at My Kid's Wealthy School." She talks about it with Host Michel Martin, along with regular parenting contributors Dani Tucker, Jolene Ivey, and Leslie Morgan Steiner.

As a small South Asian kid with a big mouth, Russell Peters found himself the victim of race bullying. To coax his bullies from rage to laughter, he used self-deprecating comedy. Decades later, he is still poking fun at his own ethnic quirks to disarm audiences, and in the process, he is becoming one of the highest-earning comedians.