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Fly from Angola down to South Africa and you'll see thousands of circles of bare dirt covering the land. They're up to 30 feet across and ringed by tufts of grass. The origin of the shapes has long been a mystery, but researchers now say hordes of termites may be acting as engineers.

Police say the female body may have been there a while and have launched a murder investigation.

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, a seasoned dealmaker in the Senate, announced his intention to step down from a key leadership role this week. It has prompted a question going around Washington: Are the best deal-brokers giving up?

He was a star linebacker with the San Diego Chargers, and also played with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. Reports from California say he may have shot himself.

President of Ohio State University Gordon Gee, 69, is retiring. The announcement comes a week after a recording surfaced of comments he made about Catholics and Southerners that some found offensive. Gee has apologized for his recent remarks, which were reportedly intended as jokes.

Apple's new album, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, is her first in seven years. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the frequently stripped-down sound is a backdrop for her thoughts about the complications of love.

Payne tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he first read Nebraska — a film about an old man who is beginning to show signs of dementia — as a comedy "with moments of gravity." Payne also directed Election, About Schmidt, Sideways and The Descendants.

Melissa Block talks to Tim Arango, Baghdad bureau chief for The New York Times, about increasing violence in Iraq.

A trio of independent booksellers have mostly novels and food books on their minds this holiday season. The titles they've picked range from An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England to a new translation of War and Peace.

Voters have been bombarded by political ads, but some topics have gotten very little attention this election season. Host Michel Martin speaks with a panel of journalists about some of this election's hidden issues. She speaks with NPR's Marilyn Geewax, Jennifer Ludden, and David Schaper, as well as The Washington Post's Melinda Henneberger.