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While "honcho" is often mistakenly believed to have Spanish origins, it actually traces its roots to American soldiers who fought in the Pacific during World War II.

Millions of adults struggle every day with basic tasks, like reading a bill or a bus schedule. Those with limited literacy find all kinds of ways to hide their rudimentary schooling. Many are unemployed. And those who have jobs are usually stuck at the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

There's plenty of action to be found on statewide ballots this election season. Colorado voters must decide whether to raise income taxes to provide more funding for public schools, and how much to tax marijuana sales. In Washington state, a fight over labeling genetically modified foods is drenched in cash.

Brazil and Croatia face off in the first game of the 2014 World Cup. Organizers hope the start of the tournament directs attention back on the field and away from the problems in preparation.

The Microsoft founder and philanthropist talks with NPR's David Greene about why he's spent billions on health efforts in developing countries, and about the prospect of beating polio and malaria.

The jobless rate was 7.9 percent vs. 7.8 percent in December. But new data show job growth has been better than first thought and ended 2012 on a strong note. Overall, it's estimated that several hundred thousand more jobs were created in 2011 and 2012 than previously thought.

It looks like the across the board spending cuts that were never supposed to happen are going to — at least for a while. It's another sign of Washington's dysfunction.

History is being made Tuesday in Sochi, as women's ski jump makes its debut as an Olympic event. While men have competed in ski jumping for nearly a century, women have not been included in Olympic competition. They've been seeking equality in their sport for more than a decade. Tamara Keith was on hand to report on the day's events.

Whales are famous for spouts and blowholes. Turns out there's another whale opening that's just as important, but I'm too polite to mention it.

Reviewer Alan Cheuse takes on two new thrillers, David Ignatius' ripped-from-the-headlines cyber-adventure The Director, and former BBC China correspondent Adam Brookes' fiction debut, Night Heron.