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Americans hold about $1 trillion in student loans, and the debt burden is only getting heavier. One financial aid counselor says students are starting to smarten up and asking questions he'd never considered himself before the recession hit.

Springtime means bug time. Michael Raupp, professor of entomology at the University of Maryland, has the story of a big brood of cicadas that is set to emerge up and down the East Coast. We can also expect the largest infestation of stink bugs this year. USDA entomologist Tracy Leskey talks about the bugs with guest host Jacki Lyden.

Amid a cascade of headline news from North Korea, often forgotten are the 24 million average citizens living under the most authoritarian regime in the world. Host Jacki Lyden speaks with Barbara Demick of the Los Angeles Times on the lives of ordinary North Koreans.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul thinks embracing libertarian ideas is one way the party can be more inclusive. And GOP leaders are starting to think he might be on to something.

Mali gave Hollande a camel as a thank you for sending troops to repel Islamist fighters from the country. Unfortunately that camel ended up a stew.

Many economists would applaud a change in the way Social Security administrators measure inflation. But many older Americans may hiss at using something called the "chained CPI," fearing a new formula will cut their benefits in coming years.

The spelling bee said the change is a natural extension of the competition. The new test will take effect with this year's bee, scheduled for May 28-30.

How should boomers plan to pay for school when, on average, students graduate from college in the U.S. with $25,000 in debt? Ron Lieber, who writes about personal finance for The New York Times, tells Morning Edition's David Greene about planning strategies and pitfalls to avoid.

Amid deep budget cuts and layoffs, the nation's second-largest school district is spending $4.5 million to hire 1,000 new aides this year. The superintendent says he'd rather use the money to hire back teachers, but the shootings in Newtown, Conn., led to a change in priorities.

Almost 1 million people are employed in construction in Texas, but many have a hard time making a living safely. The state's construction industry has the highest fatality rate in the nation, while large numbers of undocumented workers have suppressed wages and made it easy for contractors to exploit laborers.