Away from the sound of bombs and bullets, in the basement of a crumbling house in the besieged Syrian town of Darayya, is a secret library. It’s home to thousands of books rescued from bombed-out buildings by local volunteers, who daily brave snipers and shells to fill it’s shelves. In a town gripped by hunger and death after three years without food aid, Mike Thomson reveals how this literary sanctuary is proving a lifeline to a community shattered by war. Produced by Michael Gallagher and translated by

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Journalist Gay Talese has never shied away from controversial topics. He took on the mafia in Honor Thy Father and dove deep into America's sex life in Thy Neighbor's Wife. But even Talese paused when he first heard about the Manor House Motel in Aurora Colo., back in 1980. Innkeeper Gerald Foos had outfitted his motel with a special platform which allowed him to spy on his guests — and he invited Talese to take a peek as well. Talese, a man of seemigly insatiable curiosity, did just that. But Foos demanded anonymity, so Talese decided not to write about the experience. Until now.

His new book The Voyeur's Motel is based on Foos' journals, and Talese is already on the defensive about it. Last week, after the Washington Post unearthed some discrepancies in Foos's story, Talese disavowed the book — then quickly changed his mind and now says the Postwas wrong, and he stands by his story. He tells NPR's Lynn Neary that he was very upset when the Post initially confronted him, because "for 60-some years, I'd been a reporter who took pride in getting the facts right, and I was now told I got the facts wrong."

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