House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) "plans Thursday to urge the supercommittee charged with cutting the nation's deficit to overhaul the tax code, his most direct remarks about the path the panel should undertake," Politico reports.

According to Politico, "Boehner will prod the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction lower the corporate rate and close loopholes — the preferred GOP method for cleaning up the nation's tax system."

John Edgar Wideman is the 2011 Lifetime Achievement winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, which recognizes works that have made important contributions to understanding racism and appreciating diversity. Wideman has written 13 novels, six collections of short stories and two memoirs. He talks about his life, works and the award he receives today.

Puerto Rican hip-hop duo Calle 13 broke records by getting 10 nominations. A flamenco singer was nominated for Best Tango. And earlier this year, the group in charge of the English language Grammys eliminated 31 categories, including Latin Jazz. Host Michel Martin speaks with Jasmine Garsd and Felix Contreras, the hosts of NPR Music's Alt-Latino podcast.

Since last Thursday, top designers have been showcasing their Spring 2012 collections in N.Y. Pulitzer Prize-winning style writer Robin Givhan has been on the scene, seeing vibrant colors and bold prints dominating the runway. In the audience, American Vogue chief Anna Wintour was sitting with rapper Nicki Minaj. Givhan also talks about the smashing success of Missoni's limited edition Target line.

Thousands of Central Americans have tried reaching the U.S. border in hopes of better lives. They've faced remarkable dangers when crossing Mexico on the way. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal traveled to Southern Mexico to capture stories of migrants who are targeted by kidnappers and gangs. These stories are compiled in "The Invisibles," his collection of short documentaries.

"We are certainly living through times of great economic anxiety," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said this morning.

"Exactly three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers," she cautioned in a Washington, D.C., speech, "the economic skies look troubled and turbulent as global activity slows and downside risks increase."

Even as Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann backs off some from an inflammatory claim that a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer led to mental retardation in a young girl, two bioethicists are turning up the heat.

Yes, the leading group of pediatricians in this country slammed Bachmann and said "there is absolutely no scientific validity" to statements that the vaccine against human papilloma virus is dangerous or causes retardation.

There are many remarkable things about what U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer did two years ago in Afghanistan.

NPR's Tom Bowman tells the story of the then-corporal's heroics. Along with Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, Meyer (now a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve) disobeyed orders and undertook a dangerous, six-hour battle to rescue stranded troops who had been ambushed by enemy fighters.