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Jon Ronson, the bestselling author of The Psychopath Test and The Men Who Stare at Goats, has spent his life exploring mysterious events and meeting extraordinary people. His newest book, Lost at Sea, is a collection of true mini-adventures he has written along the way.

For the most part in American culture, intellectual struggle in school children is seen as an indicator of weakness, while in Eastern cultures it is not only tolerated, it is often used to measure emotional strength.

Anybody want a carrot? In Spain, carrots are being sold in place of theater tickets as a way to avoid a 21 percent tax on the tickets. Many Spaniards say the "Carrot Rebellion" is a creative response to the country's unpopular austerity measures, but some simply call it tax evasion.

A second term means some new Cabinet appointments for President Obama, including at Treasury. After four pretty grueling years, Secretary Timothy Geithner has made it clear he will be leaving Washington, but who will replace him? Erskine Bowles and Jack Lew are two names that are mentioned.

Officials in Washington are still trying to make sense of the sudden resignation last week of CIA Director David Petraeus. More details are emerging about the extramarital affair that brought Petraeus down. It came to light following an FBI investigation, which was not focused originally on the CIA director but soon led to him.

The Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart wanted the holiday spirit in its 1,100 stores. So it swapped out pop tunes for Christmas carols on Nov. 1. The chain got so many complaints, it suspended the holiday music until further notice.

An anonymous buyer paid $480,000 for Dorothy's dress at an auction in Beverly Hills. It's still not the "over the rainbow" price paid last year for Marilyn Monroe's billowy white "subway dress" which went for $4.5 million.

Paula Broadwell wrote a biography of Petraeus. She is also a major in the Army Reserve who focuses on counterterrorism issues and has access to some secret information. Broadwell and Petraeus have reportedly told investigators he did not give her any classified information.

After a mortar round fired from Syria struck near an Israeli army post, Israeli troops fired back with tank shells. The Israeli military says its forces hit the source of the mortar round.

The 2012 election was the first since the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United and the most expensive in U.S. history. But not much changed. Host Michel Martin discusses the impact of unlimited cash with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.