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Millions of American school children begin the day with the pledge of allegiance. But do they, or their teachers, really understand what it means? Host Michel Martin discusses the issue with journalist Mary Plummer, of KPCC, and Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Ron Isley has been R&B royalty for more than half a century. He began his musical career as one of the Isley Brothers, recording hits like "Shout," before embarking on a successful solo career. Host Michel Martin talks with Isley about his long career, and new album This Song is For You. This segment initially aired July 16, 2013 on Tell Me More.

Glucosamine and chondroitin have been popular supplements for arthritis for years. But clinical trials in humans haven't shown that they're any better than sugar pills at reducing pain. Some doctors say that if placebos or supplements help people exercise and lose weight, then that's OK.

Starting Tuesday, American expats throughout Europe will pick up their The International Herald Tribune to discover it has been renamed, The International New York Times. Many longtime readers say they'll feel a great loss.

The Nobel Prize in economics will be announced Monday morning in Sweden. This prize is a relatively new one — it was established in 1968 by Sweden's central bank. The prizes announced last week, like the Nobel Peace Prize, were established more than 100 years ago in Alfred Nobel's will.

Chinese exports dropped point 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier. It was the worst performance in three months. Analysts think much of the drop was due to plunging demand from Southeast Asia. Investors have been pulling money out of the region on concern the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut bond purchases and the money supply will tighten.

What's being called one of the worst storms in South Dakota's history has killed tens of thousands of cattle. Ranchers need to bury the piles of carcasses littering the fields. The disaster comes amid the government shutdown that closed USDA programs aimed at helping livestock producers recover.

As a bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan begins an approval process, the Taliban's leader urged Afghans to reject what he calls a "colonial" arrangement. The message came in an email Monday from Mullah Mohammad Omar, who told Afghans to keep fighting.

Musical duo The Blow, in which the singing of Khaela Maricich meets the mixing of Melissa Dyne, has just released a new eponymous collection. Critic Ken Tucker says the electro-pop on the album is self-aware, sexy and smart — and, while informed by the art world, never dips into "art-rock" territory.

In his new book, The Everything Store, journalist Brad Stone says Amazon "ended up forever changing the way we shop and read." He says CEO Jeff Bezos started out selling books, but always had the intention of turning the online market into a company that sold everything.