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The fourth volume in Robert Caro's monumental biography of Lyndon Johnson is The Passage of Power; it explores the period between 1958 and 1964 during which Johnson went from powerful Senate majority leader to powerless vice president to — suddenly — president of the United States. Originally broadcast on May 13, 2013.

A new biography chronicles the extraordinary life of the Sioux warrior Red Cloud. In the 1860's, when settlers were encroaching on Sioux territory, he led — and won — a two-year war against the U.S. Renee Montagne talks with authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin about the book, The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend.

In Little Failure, the novelist recounts his emigration from the USSR to the U.S. when he was 7. For the first few years, he says, he would sit alone in the school cafeteria, talking to himself in Russian "in this gigantic fur hat and fur coat." It wasn't long before a teacher advised, "Children won't play with you if you have that much fur on."

Simon Cho says he tampered with another racer's skates at the World Short Track Team Championships last year after being pressured by his coach. The coach, Jae Su Chun, denies the claims.

Obama's path to capturing Virginia again remains far from certain in a dead-heat race with Mitt Romney, whose White House dreams rely heavily on securing the state's 13 electoral votes. And the state's race between two well-regarded former governors could determine control of the U.S. Senate.

For women, hair care can be a sensitive issue. But now one woman is picking a fight over hair care with the state of Texas. Host Michel Martin speaks with Isis Brantley who is suing the state for the right to teach hair braiding.

Delays continue to beset a proposed bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan. The pact would govern U.S. troops if they remain in Afghanistan past 2014. Deadlines have come and gone, but still no agreement has been signed by the two parties. Now, the situation seems to have deepened into a political standoff between the Pentagon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. To understand how it got to this point, Robert Siegel turns to Sean Carberry, reporting from Kabul, and Tom Bowman, NPR's Pentagon correspondent.

The film tells the true story of Richard Phillips, whose container ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Navy SEAL sharpshooters eventually freed the captain from the small lifeboat where he was held hostage for five days. Tom Hanks stars in the film, which is directed by Paul Greengrass.

On the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., former President Bill Clinton made a rousing case for President Barack Obama to be re-elected to a second term. Clinton went through all the GOP arguments — answering each charge.

The death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans at the hands of extremists there quickly became an issue in the 2012 presidential race. Republican Mitt Romney accused the administration of making an "apology for America's values," and of sending "mixed messages to the world."