Weekend Edition Sunday

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign speeches often note that he's from Paint Creek, Texas, a place in the flat, dusty, west-central part of the state that's so small it's barely on the map. NPR National Political Correspondent Don Gonyea headed there this week, and along the way watched Perry's old high school play a football game.

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, a seasoned dealmaker in the Senate, announced his intention to step down from a key leadership role this week. It's prompted a question going around Washington: Are the best deal-brokers giving up? If so, what does that mean for the future of political compromise? Host Audie Cornish speaks with Rutgers University Political Science Professor Ross Baker, former Republican Utah Sen. Bob Bennett and former Democratic North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan.

Three years ago, Sen. Lamar Alexander sat down with Audie Cornish to talk politics for a bit. The main reason for his visit, however, was to show off his piano prowess, playing the Tennessee Waltz among other tunes.

How did someone who didn't learn to read until he was 11 years old come to be a professional poet? The man who poses this question is also the one who can answer it. Host Audie Cornish talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Phil Shultz about his new memoir, My Dyslexia.

Several listeners wrote about host Audie Cornish's conversation with author John Tierney on his book, Willpower, last week. Many said they found the background noise of the piece to be distracting, so we've welcomed Tierney back to go over some of the more salient points of his book.