26-year old Mozhdah Jamalzadah was born in Kabul, raised in Canada, and she returned to Afghanistan last year to host a controversial, hit variety show. She's broaching difficult topics, such as divorce and abuse, that are taboo in Afghanistan's conservative Islamic culture.

She says she was inspired to act by women such as 18-year-old Aisha, the Afghan woman who is on the cover of Time magazine this week, (right), whose nose and ears were cut off by the Taliban after she ran away from her abusive in-laws last year. We speak with Mozhdah Jamalzadah about women's rights in Afghanistan.

Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, says North Korea's recent alleged sinking of a South Korean warship - which Pyongyang denies - suggests the country is not willing to make serious commitments toward denuclearization. This is the latest example of the tension that has marked the relationship between North Korea and the rest of the world, tension that Walter Clemens dissects in his new book, "Getting To Yes In Korea." Clemens is a political science professor at Boston University and an associate at Harvard's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

We'll get a roundup oft he week's sports new: in a surprise move, the Boston Celtics signed former rival Shaquille O'Neal to a two-year deal; the Texas Rangers are sold in a roller coaster auction fit for reality TV; New York Yankee's Alex Rodriguez finally hits his 600th homer, though many would say it's tainted by his doping admissions.  And speaking of doping, there's more trouble for Lance Armstrong. We speak to Boston Globe sports writer Bob Ryan.

Scientists at the University of Arizona have genetically modified a mosquito, making it completely resistant to the malaria parasite. With malaria considered the world's second greatest public health threat, the new mosquito could eventually be the top tool in the arsenal against the deadly disease. But what are the potential consequences? We talk to University of Arizona entomologist Michael Riehle, the lead researcher who developed the mosquito.

Author Lorrie Moore knits together the shadow of 9/11 and a young girl’s bumpy coming-of-age in a luminous, heart-wrenchingly story. We revisit our 2009 conversation with Moore about her first book in 15 years, "A Gate at the Stairs."

• Moby, "Inside"
• The Wee Trio, "About a Girl"
• Thelonius Monk, "Caravan"
• Ahmad Jamal, "Patterns"
• Volcano Choir, "Sleepymouth"
• Herbie Hancock, "Watermelon Man"