Long before U.S. officials said he was one of the world's most-wanted terrorists, Anwar al-Awlaki was a Muslim cleric who U.S. media outlets would turn to during discussions about the post-Sept. 11 world.

The decision by Florida's Republican officials to move the state's presidential primary into January from March will have a range of effects, some foreseeable, some not.

By advancing its primary date to Jan. 31, Florida makes it virtually certain the four traditional early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — will now move their caucuses and primaries to earlier in January to maintain their status as the earliest contests.

This interview was originally broadcast on September 9, 2010. Freedom is now available in paperback.

Jonathan Franzen's new epic novel Freedom is a portrait of a Midwestern suburban family — two parents and two children slowly losing track of each other and themselves. It has been called a "masterpiece of American fiction" by Time Magazine and "an indelible portrait of our times" by Michiko Kakutani in The New York Times.

This review was originally broadcast on September 9, 2010. Freedom is now available in paperback.

In New Hampshire, where the state motto is "Live Free Or Die," college students don't take kindly to restrictions on their energy drinks.

After the food services folks at the University of New Hampshire moved to ban energy drinks as part of the school's drive to become the "healthiest campus community in the country by 2020," the president stepped in to reverse the decision.

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul had some tough words for President Obama over what he said was the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki.

Recently, The Salt had a chance to chat with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He's held the top post at USDA since January 2009. As a former Iowa governor, he knows a thing or two about farm country and he's been open about his struggles with weight.

There's no doubt how the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate feels about Bank of America's plan to charge most of its debit card users $5 a month if they use the cards to make purchases. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has issued a statement that reads, in part:

Anwar al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico, educated in Colorado and spent years as a cleric in San Diego and suburban Washington, D.C. But in the past several years, he became a master al-Qaida propagandist whose sermons inspired jihadists worldwide before his death Friday by a U.S. missile on a desert road in northern Yemen.

Awlaki's journey from a childhood in Las Cruces, N.M., to the Arabian Peninsula placed him in the cross hairs of U.S. intelligence after he was linked to the failed "underwear bomber," the Fort Hood shooter and the foiled plot to bomb New York's Times Square.

How are you preparing for retirement? If you're already retired, what kind of changes have you had to make? Do you think you'll ever be able to afford to retire?