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Cuban food has evolved very little since Fidel Castro came into power — the U.S. embargo has made it hard to import ingredients from abroad and few citizens have been permitted to travel. But a handful of Cuban chefs, including one who recently visited Washington, D.C., is determined to modernize the cuisine.

Mitt Romney offered a vigorous defense Thursday night of Massachusetts' decision to mandate that nearly every resident either have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. In fact, some say it was the best defense of the individual mandate made by any candidate — including the president — so far this election cycle.

Tracy K. Smith is today's poet in residence at NPR's All Things Considered. She spent the day in the newsroom taking in the sights and sounds, and learning how the show comes together. Then she composed a poem about the day's headlines.

The late John Levy was many things — African American, a bass player, nearly 100 years old when he died last weekend. But it was his work behind the scenes, as a businessman, which defined his pioneering legacy in music.

In her 20th work of fiction, Penelope Lively imagines a mugging that sets off a chain of events — and explores the role that chance plays in our lives. "You find yourself looking back over your own life and wondering about where it could have gone completely different," Lively says.

President Obama is back in Washington Saturday after visiting five different states, all of which are likely to be hotly contested in November. He expanded on some of the ideas he outlined in Tuesday's State of the Union address and offered a preview of the argument he'll be making in the general election. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

An illegal Jewish outpost in the occupied West Bank is at the center of a swirling battle over settlements. The collection of trailers and makeshift buildings is called Migron, and the Israeli Supreme Court has said that it must be dismantled by the end of March. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made appearances before two communities in Florida Friday whose votes he hopes to win in next Tuesday's GOP primary. He spoke to Latino home builders and business people in the morning, and had a rally with a group of Republican Jewish voters in the afternoon. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Last week we spoke with Christian Bale who stars in the new film, The Flowers of War. Also, Gwen Thompkin's personal appreciation of Etta James moved many listeners to tears, laughter and reflection. Host Scott Simon reads listener reaction to last week's program.

Even a century since his birth, American "splatter artist" Jackson Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art. Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art?