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General Motors last week announced plans to eliminate 30,000 jobs and close plants over the next two years. Industry analysts say the cuts are a good first step to return the automaker to profitability, but most say the job of fixing GM is far from over. Much of the task of turning the company around rests on the shoulders of GM's chairman and CEO, Richard Wagoner.

What happens when you mix corn with music? We learn the result in What's in a Song, our occasional feature from the Western Folklife Center about a song and its history.

Gold Creek, Mont., has no stores, gas stations or bars, and its one church is closed. But it is rich in grazing land, and it still has a one-room school that is turning out above-average students.

Vatican reporter John Allen's new book is Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church. The book is billed as the first serious journalistic investigation of the highly secretive organization Opus Dei, an international association of Catholics.

Oil prices are destined to slip somewhat in the coming years, according to British Petroleum CEO Lord John Browne. Browne says that high inventories of crude oil prove "that the global supply system works rather well."

Time is running out for convicted murderer and co-founder of the Crips gang, Stanley "Tookie" Williams. The California Supreme Court refused to block his execution Wednesday. Now, his fate is in the hands of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Williams is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 13.

Exxon Mobil's reports fourth-quarter profits of $10.7 billion, up 27 percent over the same quarter in 2004. It's a company record and one of the largest quarterly profits in U.S. history. The company's robust earnings have attracted strong criticism and calls for a windfall profits tax.

Senate conservatives push through an immigration-bill amendment calling for 370 miles of fencing to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border -- a measure that saw only 16 senators voting "no." The Senate is in its second attempt to pass an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on the recent controversy surrounding the Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Much of Cambodia's psyche is connected to water -- the Water Festival is a national holiday -- and fish supplies as much as 70 percent of the protein in the nation's diet. But there are fears the world's most productive fishery may be on the decline.