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When writers finish a book, they may think they've had the last word — but sometimes another writer will decide there's more to the story, or more to a background character. NPR's Lynn Neary explores the fine old literary tradition of writing new stories based on existing books.

Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, almost 100 volunteer decorators show up at the White House. They spend the next five days stringing garlands and hanging ornaments, making the White House sparkle for the holidays. NPR has a related tradition, and it's about to end.

Duke University is known for its basketball. But this year, Duke's fans are cheering for their football team, which has won the most games in its history. Lead by the national coach of the year, the Blue Devils are headed the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

It was the spring of 1999 in Moscow, and two of the 20th century's great revolutionary leaders, South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Russia's Boris Yeltsin, were having their first face-to-face talks as presidents of their nations. Yeltsin was struggling, but with a few simple gestures, Mandela changed the narrative.

The small quake caused little damage, but led to some good jokes.

Nelson Mandela served as president of South Africa for five years, elected in the country's first free election with voters from all races. But in deciding not to seek a second term, Mandela set the stage for a modern democracy. On the day his successor took office, Mandela spoke about his country's path to joining the "community of free nations," and remembered how it had "averted a blood bath, which most observers believed inevitable."

A writer who has studied Nelson Mandela's life as a young man says the leader known for his grace and forgiveness, and for helping South Africa end apartheid while avoiding civil war, was once seen in a much different light. At one point, he even trained in guerrilla warfare.

Ozy co-founder Carlos Watson talks about a rising star in soccer who could turn things around for England in the 2014 World Cup, and a Bahraini woman who calls herself an "accidental activist."

The high-tech system can essentially override human error and slow a train that is going too fast. Congress mandated that all trains have it by 2015, but only a few passenger and freight railroads will be ready by then. And after a deadly train crash in New York, few in Congress may be willing to vote for a delay.

Freezing rain is creeping across Tennessee on its way to the mid-Atlantic as the stunning cold, snow and ice that gripped Texas and the west on Saturday makes its advance eastward.