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Poet Tracy K. Smith's three favorite poems of 2011 blur the private and public, the personal and political, and will refresh how you look at language and the world.

As a member of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore has not only been influential to others, but he's also been instrumental in sharing his musical loves. Moore has always had an ear for challenging sounds; here, he shares his favorite acoustic guitarists on World Cafe.

From French electronica and melancholy songwriters to worldly, eccentric indie-rock, here are 10 of this year's best debut albums, as chosen by Bruce Warren, executive producer of WXPN's World Cafe.

Also: Pakistan may overshadow NATO summit; Bee Gees' Robin Gibb dies; Chen Guangcheng's family may still be at risk in China.

Also: Yemen's Saleh hands over power to hand-picked successor; WikiLeaks starts releasing security firm Stratfor's emails; gunfire breaks out at an Ohio high school.

Embattled Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott remains defiant about hanging on to his post after a GOP colleague declares he is willing to challenge Lott for the leadership job. Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) has the public support of several GOP senators. Hear NPR's David Welna.

The publicly-edited online encyclopedia Wikipedia raked in more than 84 billion views this year. The Wikimedia Foundation gas released a breakdown of those numbers.

NPR's Melissa Block reflects on the results of an annual survey about what most scares Americans. The nation's health care system, pollution and another world war rank in the top 10.

Also: Partner of reporter at center of NSA leaks stories is detained by British authorities; speeding train kills 35 in India; U.N. investigators arrive in Syria to probe chemical weapons reports; effort begins to recall San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.

Also: "Devastated" Quebec town waits for word about missing; 10 die in crash of small plane in Alaska; Teresa Heinz Kerry is hospitalized; and Eliot Spitzer explains his return to politics.