A good mentor can steer you to professional success. But according to a survey by LinkedIn, nearly 1 out of 5 women say they've never had a mentor at work. Host Michel Martin discusses the findings with Linked-In's Nicole Williams.

Newt Gingrich has surged in the polls, but will trading jabs with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney pay off? In this week's political chat, host Michel Martin speaks with journalists Joy-Ann Reid and Mary Kate Cary about the race to win the GOP presidential nomination.

Nigerian-Ghanaian author Taiye Selasi splashed onto the literary scene with her story, 'The Sex Lives of African Girls.' As part of Tell Me More's occasional series, In Your Ear, Selasi talks about the music that inspires her, including Ladytron single, 'White Elephant,' and a cover of REM's, 'Losing My Religion' by Nina Persson.

Gulnaz, the young Afghan woman whose story has spread around the world because she was imprisoned after being raped by a relative, is now free, CNN and the BBC are reporting.

Medicaid sure is popular. And that's a big problem for state budgets.

These days the health program for the poor is claiming a bigger slice of states' spending than even K-12 education, says a report from the National Association of State Budget Officers.

All told, Medicaid is expected to grab 23.6 percent of states' spending in fiscal 2011, up from 22.3 percent the year before.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a document yesterday that got no attention on the nightly news, or almost anywhere, really. Its title, I'm sure you'll agree, is a snooze: National Nutrient Management Standard.

Yet this document represents the agency's best attempt to solve one of the country's — and the world's — really huge environmental problems: The nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute waterways.

We should have jumped on this story earlier, but it's too creepy not to mention:

Christmas without cookies sounds like something the Grinch would dream up. But that may be the sad fate of many Norwegians, with a national butter shortage less than two weeks before the holiday. No krumkaker. No Berlinerkranser. No sandbakkel. In short, no delicious, butter-infused treats.