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Yesterday, Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick got roasted by Republicans at his first hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee.

Berwick, in case you forgot, was appointed to his job during a Congressional recess and without a confirmation hearing. The administration's decision to go that route, stemmed in part, from controversial comments he made in 2009 about rationing health care.

British singer-songwriter Bobby Long has been writing keenly crafted songs since taking up the guitar at age 16. After relocating from his native Wessex, he became a fixture at open-mic nights around London while attending college there. Among his companions on the circuit were fellow musicians Marcus Foster and Robert Pattinson, the former with whom he co-wrote a song that the latter would sing in the popular tween movie Twilight.

The creative team for Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is climbing the walls this week. After four opening-night delays and 80 full-price preview performances, a lot of critics decided not to wait any longer, and reviewed the musical on Tuesday. They all panned it. The producers say they're still working to make the show better; meanwhile, we asked critic Bob Mondello to tell us what the folks paying up to $275 a seat — for previews — are seeing and hearing.

A British judge wrapped up an extradition hearing for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Friday. NPR's David Greene says the judge will be back with a decision in two weeks on whether Assange should be handed over to Swedish authorities to face sex-crime allegations.

Lawyers for Assange tried a new tactic Friday, alleging that remarks by the Swedish prime minister have poisoned Assange's chances of a fair hearing in Sweden.

Mitt Romney opened the second day of CPAC Friday with a pugnacious, partisan speech lambasting President Obama's economic policy, touting so-called American exceptionalism — and even knocking the first lady's organic garden at the White House.

Just when it seemed that he'd offer all the right soundbites for the conservative crowd, he concluded without addressing the Republican Party's No. 1 target: Obama's health care law.