Serri Graslie

From the people on our money to the effects of calling someone black, this week, we bring you four reads that illuminate a bit of history or pieces of regulation you may not have known about.

Two rock climbers are close to finishing a hugely ambitious project on El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley — free-climbing the Dawn Wall. They talked to NPR's Melissa Block from the rock face.

Growing waistlines, a savvy clothing industry and good old-fashioned stubbornness have kept many men in pants that don't fit. It doesn't have to be this way.

By some measures, not much has changed for the American male in the past few decades — girls still do better in school and men still make more money. In other areas, the differences are profound.

The rural Texas town was established as a "freedom colony" with land given to former slaves after the Civil War. O. Rufus Lovett photographed Weeping Mary and its residents for 11 years.

Organizers of the Winter Games are preparing to serve up quite a bit of the hearty, deep-red Russian soup. Which is kind of ironic, says Russian food writer Anya von Bremzen, since borscht carries with it complicated political implications. And not all borschts are created equal, she warns.

Part discount grocer, part social service agency, the supermarkets limit membership to those who can prove they receive some form of welfare benefits. These stores, which are flourishing in Europe, sell food that's been rejected by grocers but is still perfectly edible and would otherwise end up in landfills.

MenuStat, a site launched by the New York City Health Department, aggregates detailed nutritional information about menu items at the nation's largest restaurants. The department hopes it will encourage consumers to choose healthier items on the menu.

Dish Network announced this week that it will shutter the 300 or so remaining Blockbuster stores it owns across the country. But in some places, dozens of the video stores will have an unlikely afterlife.

Restaurants with a "weak" reputation are more likely to write fake positive reviews, a study finds. But chain restaurants, which do not benefit greatly from Yelp, are less likely to commit review fraud.