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Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Mara Liasson about whether the Obama administration and Congressional Republicans can find some common ground and overcome the political gridlock that characterized much of the president's first term.

From a cowboy lassoing the president to a giant peanut balloon, here's a look at some unusual inauguration moments.

After a decades-long campaign, Guinea worm remains in only four countries, and eradication is in sight. But health workers say that recent violence in Mali is hindering efforts to stamp out the last few cases there.

Activist. Leader. Self-promoter. Shakedown artist. Sharpton has heard all of these claims about him and more over his decades in the public eye. And now, an older and remarkably thinner Sharpton has reinvented himself again, this time as a cable television talk show host.

By the time he is through with his inauguration on Monday, President Obama will have taken the presidential oath four times. In 2009, he had to do it twice after some stumbles between him and Chief Justice John Roberts. But as history shows us, his oath was not the first to suffer a few mishaps.

Hundreds of thousands are converging on Washington, D.C., for the festivities surrounding president Obama's second presidential inauguration. One large Chicago contingent took to the rails to make the trip, and many on board said the event is especially meaningful for them as they see their hometown hero welcomed back to the White House.

Who pays for this quadrennial party? When does Beyoncé sing? If I'm going to the National Mall, how do I find a bathroom? And beyond the oath, what's the point of the whole thing, anyway?

Reaction is coming in from all corners after President Obama and Vice President Biden laid out new gun control plans yesterday. Host Michel Martin speaks with journalists Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times and Felicia Sonmez of Washington Post about policy makers' next steps.

Also: 787 Dreamliners grounded; Notre Dame's Manti Te'o at center of bizarre "hoax;" jobless claims fall and housing starts soar; Olympics asks Lance Armstrong to return his bronze medal.

In an article for The New Republic, Judith Shulevitz writes that as people have increasingly waited until their 30s to become parents, there has been a rise in developmental and neurocognitive disorders. Moreover, she says that the age of both parents affects the health of the child.