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For the second year in a row in Brainerd, Minn., a mysterious hole has appeared in a frozen lake. Locals and experts can't determine why a certain area of North Long Lake won't freeze over -- even though the ice around the area is 15 inches thick. Steve speaks with Marlene Hudalla, co-owner of Iven's On the Bay, a restaurant and bar located on the lake.

An American banker who ran one of Russia's largest TV networks is fired by the state-owned company that owns the network. Some media analysts suggest Boris Jordan was dismissed for NTV's aggressive reporting, particularly during the Chechen rebel raid in October. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports.

NPR's Cokie Roberts joins host Bob Edwards for their weekly discussion of politics.

General Electric workers continue the second day of a strike to protest an increase in health-care costs. Rates for GE employees rose almost 50 percent in the last two years -- an additional $200 per year, on average. NPR's Bob Edwards talks to Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton University.

In Beijing, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State James Kelly continues efforts to end the impasse over North Korea's nuclear program. The United States wants China, North Korea's closest ally, to pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions. Anthony Kuhn reports.

It turns out many office thermostats are just for show, but the placebo effect seems to work on fussy cubicle-dwellers.

Government lawyers on the Enron Task Force are stepping up prosecution following the holidays. The so-called "superseding indictment" could bring additional charges against Enron's Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow. It could also name new defendants. NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports.

Over the past decade the states have added safeguarding the environment to their to-do lists. Now, states struggle with the worst fiscal crisis in 50 years, and they're being forced to make tough choices and review priorities. Environmental protection moves pretty far down the list. NPR's Greg Allen reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Michele Norris read from some of this week's listener letters.

Everyone who has ever pondered whether chicken wings serve a purpose beyond deep fat fryers and bleu cheese sauce will be bowled over by the apparent benefits of wing flapping in flightless birds. NPR's John Nielsen reports on a study in this week's Science magazine showing how true flight may have evolved from these beginnings.