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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.

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.

Best-selling author Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol, draws on the lore and mystique of the Freemasons. Once the object of fear and suspicion, the group is now a social organization with spiritual leanings.

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.

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.

Fernando Perez, the 26-year-old outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays, has written an essay in the September issue of Poetry Magazine about the firm place poetry holds in his life. Perez says poetry and baseball occupy different realms of his life.

Adam Carolla, who has successfully made the transition from radio to podcasting, says his popular CarCast podcast was inspired by public radio's Car Talk, only his show is funnier. Carolla has two podcasts in the iTunes Top 10.

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.

Traveling westward along California's Route 66, the Santa Monica Pier rises just as the highway ends and the Pacific coast begins, its marquee Ferris wheel hovering majestically over the ocean. In celebration of the pier's centennial, Renee Montagne walks the wooden planks and speaks to some of the locals.

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.