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The end of the year is the biggest time for charitable donations. People give for a variety of reasons. Some are motivated by religious tradition, personal passion, or to support research on diseases that have affected their lives.

As a teenager in the 1950s, Mark Sullivan worked in the tobacco fields of Connecticut. He'd come home so filthy that his mother would make him take off his clothes before going inside. The tar washed off, but the lessons he learned stayed with him.

HBO is now airing the second season of Project Greenlight, a reality TV show that focuses on aspiring screenwriters and directors who earn a chance to make a movie for Miramax. Winners star in a behind-the-scenes look at the movie business. But what happens to those who miss the cut? NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

More than 3 million Americans have taken advantage of a the generous tax break. But some experts say all it really did was shift the timing of some sales -- and might have set in motion events that just added to the glut of unsold homes.

Wind energy could theoretically meet all the planet's energy needs, says a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mark Jacobson, one of the report's authors, and Liz Salerno of the American Wind Energy Association discuss wind power in the US.

Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.

President Obama unveiled his fifth annual budget proposal to Congress Wednesday, offering a mix of tax increases and spending cuts. The newest changes include cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits. Across the country, some are only beginning to feel the affects of sequestration.

As the classic children's television program celebrates its 40th anniversary, the producers of Sesame Street talk about how the show has changed.

Michele Norris talks with NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving and NPR Correspondent Audie Cornish about Tuesday's primary in Mississippi. The Magnolia State is the only state with a primary Tuesday. The next major primary is late next month in Pennsylvania. Cornish is with Barack Obama campaign supporters in Jackson, Miss.

Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the goal of public health agencies in the U.S. is to minimize the impact of the new swine flu virus. Right now, he says, states with and without infections are receiving items from a national stockpile of things that can be used to fight the flu.