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The books of Jill Connor Browne -- better known as the Sweet Potato Queen -- are shooting up the best-seller lists. She recently packed a Washington, D.C. bookstore with converts of her sassy, irreverent humor. Her latest book, The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner, is already a hit. Listen to her entire hour-long monolouge from the Politics and Prose bookstore.

Two hundred years ago this year, Captain Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery set out on their 7,000-mile, two-year trek across the wilderness of the new West. The explorers kept meticulous diaries -- including details of what they ate. Now a new cookbook with authentic recipes gives readers a taste of what what the Corps cooked on their journey.

One of the most important comic book festivals took place this past weekend in the French town of Angouleme. Frank Browning reports.

Trombone star Fred Wesley, Jr. is best known for his work as a sideman with James Brown in the 1960s and 70s, but Wesley is also a legendary R&B, soul and funk veteran, whose musical career spans five decades. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Wesley about the twists and turns of a long and storied career, which he explores in an autobiography called Hit Me, Fred, and subtitled "Recollections of a Sideman."

Martin Luther King, Jr. famously hoped for a day when his children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. It's been nearly 40 years since then, and commentator Aaron Freeman hopes for even more for his daughters. He wants to raise them as if "African-American" is not their primary identity, but one of many things they are, along with athletes, Chicagoans and scholars. The problem is that it's working. They have a different outlook than he does, and he's afraid they are a different race than he is. The struggle against racism has defined much of his life, and he fears that they don't even take racism personally.

Frank Browning reports on Hungarian jazz bass player Aladar Pege. Mr. Pege has played through the dark days of Soviet repression until today. He remains a mythic figure among jazz fans.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Tim Brown, sports writer for The Los Angeles Times about last night's L.A. Lakers game, in which Kobe Bryant scored a record-breaking 12 three-point baskets, including a single-game record 9 consecutive 3-pointers.

Hoppin' John has been the centerpiece of the Southern holiday table for generations. NPR's Vertamae Grosvenor's says it's unthinkable to not have the black-eyed peas and rice dish for New Year's, and offers this recipe from her cookbook, Vertamae Cooks.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports that city leaders and residents of Oakland, Calif., are trying to cope with more than 100 murders this past year, the highest number since the early '90s. Mayor Jerry Brown blames ex-cons involved in drug-turf battles, and has announced a crackdown on repeat offenders. Police have been issued a list of the city's 100 most dangerous men. In the city's poorest neighborhoods, volunteers are making their own efforts to stop the killings.

NPR's Mandalit del Barco profiles Lalo Alcaraz, the creator of America's first daily syndicated Latino political comic strip. The strip features an oddball cast of characters.