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When it comes to writing comedy, every syllable counts. Host Scott Simon talks to Mike Sacks, author of And Here's the Kicker: Conversations With 21 Top Humor Writers On Their Craft, and writer and director Harold Ramis about the art of being funny.

In the three decades of The Diane Rehm Show, the radio host has interviewed Nobel laureates and novelists, Supreme Court justices and presidents, movie stars and Cabinet officials. But it wasn't something she really set out to do.

The New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 Word of the Year can trace its origins back to the 17th century. The word: "unfriend." Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer at Oxford University Press, says the Oxford English Dictionary provides a citation for "unfriend" from 1659.

Pearl Fryar's yard in Bishopville, S.C., has made him something of an art-world star. He's trimmed 400 plants and trees into fantastical shapes — diamonds, mushrooms, hearts and even a square. At 69, Fryar mulls his legacy and is looking to pass on his clippers.

A painting by the late pop artist Andy Warhol of 200 $1 bills, recently sold for $44 million. That's one of the highest prices ever paid for one of his paintings. Art writer Sarah Thornton has been exploring why works by Warhol maintain such high prices — his continued fame is one reason. She talks to Steve Inskeep about her article in The Economist.

If you are a style-conscious person on a coupon-cutting budget, you can get affordable advice online about how to decorate your home. One Los Angeles-based company charges $550 for e-decoration; another in Chicago charges $250.

The 1999 play The Laramie Project explores the true story surrounding the death of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was beaten and left to die in Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. The case, which became a landmark symbol for hate crimes, still elicits varied reactions — which is why on Oct. 12, hundreds of other theaters around the world will perform The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, an Epilogue.

In Iraqi filmmaker Maysoon Pachachi's new documentary, 12 Iraqi women gather in Syria with a goal: They intend to learn photography, decide what stories to tell, then return to Iraq and tell those stories.

Yoga isn't just for yuppies anymore. The instructors of a Portland-based organization say yoga can benefit homeless children both physically and mentally — from staying warm, to setting goals, to controlling anger.

Sally Singer, the fashion news and features editor of Vogue, says that she's seeing more "humble fabrics" on the runway this year, including linen, T-shirt jersey and, yes, even cheesecloth.