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It's been many years since political conventions offered any real drama or suspense. Still, they're a nonpareil opportunity for partisans to unite and try to win over voters who are largely uninterested in the parties.

The French port city of Marseilles is in the grip of gang warfare, as young men fight for control of drug trafficking, often using sophisticated weapons left over from the Balkan wars. The gangs are pushing professional criminals and syndicates aside. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley describes the mood with host Scott Simon.

With dense forests and rugged beauty, Grindstone Island is a favorite summer getaway for visitors — and some of them never want to leave. The island near the Canadian border has one official cemetery, but locals say that hundreds of people are buried there, in unofficial gravesites.

President Obama celebrated Labor Day in Ohio with unionized auto workers — many of whom say they owe their jobs to the federal government's rescue of Chrysler and General Motors. The president also took some time out from politicking to visit a flood-damaged area in Louisiana that was hard hit by Hurricane Isaac.

Thor Hanson's new book looks at the evolutionary significance of feathers in birds. Hanson tells Fresh Air that he's amazed by birds' magnitude of feathers, how feathers grow and how they're the "most efficient insulation known."

One question on the minds of voters is what kind of relationship the administration of the next four years will have with Congress after the stalemate of the last two. National Review senior editor and Bloomberg columnist Ramesh Ponnuru talks to Steve Inskeep about what he thinks will happen if President Obama is re-elected or if Mitt Romney wins.

Once again this week, European officials sat down and tried to figure out what to do about the debt crisis. Investors seem to like the plan they came up with, and stock prices rose. But the program still faces hurdles, including a major court ruling in Germany next week. Host Scott Simon speaks with NPR's Jim Zarroli.

Mitt Romney will formally accept the GOP nomination for president tonight. The trick for his acceptance speech will be finding applause lines that fire up the base, without turning off moderate and independent voters.

Urban schools in New York state face a special challenge. These schools need more funding to teach larger numbers of children, many of whom need special…

Host Scott Simon catches up on the week in sports with Howard Bryant of ESPN. They cover the findings of the independent investigation on the cover-up of child sexual abuse at Penn State.