NPR News

In football, defense wins championships, or so the saying goes. That hasn't been true recently. In fact, both teams in Sunday's Super Bowl, the Giants and the Patriots, featured less-than-stout defenses through the season. NPR's Mike Pesca has some possible reasons why.

Mitt Romney was the big winner in Saturday's Nevada caucus, leaving runner-up Newt Gingrich in the dust. Organizers said tens of thousands of people participated in the West's first presidential contest of the year, and some of them were still taking part late into the night. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.

In the midst of a primary season where every state is trying to outdo the rest, Maine is content to do caucuses its own way. The state's many small towns have long held individual caucuses any time between January and March, and the state Republican Party's efforts to reel them into a single week has had mixed success. Host Rachel Martin speaks with political writer Al Diamon.

The moment of truth has arrived for Greece. Sunday the government must finally reach agreement on the terms of a $170-billion bailout from the so-called troika: the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. John Psaropoulos reports from Athens.

For nearly a year, Syria's government has sustained a violent crackdown against opposition protesters. The international community has struggled to agree on a unified response, and on Saturday, the latest effort to bring pressure on Syria's leaders fell apart. Host Rachel Martin talks with NPR's Kelly McEvers, who is monitoring developments in Syria.

The U.N. Security Council failed Saturday to pass a resolution aimed at stopping the escalating violence in Syria. China and Russia vetoed the resolution despite days of high-level negotiations, including behind-the-scenes efforts by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice. Host Rachel Martin talks with Rice, who says said the United States was "disgusted" by the double veto.

Before Hugo was the hit film directed by Martin Scorsese, it was a children's book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick. Host Rachel Martin speaks to screenwriter John Logan, whose script for the film has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Super Bowl is probably the one time of year when any of us bother to pay attention to roman numerals. This year it's 46, otherwise written as XLVI. Just can't keep your numerals straight? Ian Chillag and Michael Danforth of NPR's podcast How Do You Do That explain the subtleties of Roman Numerals for the watchers of Super Bowl XLVI.

Last year, the oil-rich Gulf nation of Qatar quietly purchased a painting by Paul Cezanne for more than $250 million, the highest amount ever paid for a work of art. Rachel Martin talks with Alexandra Peers, who recently wrote about the sale in Vanity Fair.

NASCAR Hall Of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip has a new book, Sundays Will Never Be the Same. Waltrip discusses his long and successful career as a driver and his time afterward in the announcer's booth. Host Rachel Martin also speaks with Waltrip about the day his longtime friend and rival Dale Earnhart died in a crash.