There aren't many people on the broad Kansas prairie, but there is industry.

At G.L. Huyett, boxy machines jammed into a big metal building grind steel into heavy transmission parts.

"We're a supplier of last resort," says Tim O'Keefe, who owns the company. If you have disruptions in the supply chain and someone can't meet a shipping time, he says, G.L. Huyett can step in.

2011 was a good year for the word "swag". Not trinkets, or party favors, not an acronym for Stuff We All Get, "swag" comes from swagger. This year a term that hip-hop artists have been using for nearly a decade enjoyed a moment in the spotlight.

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More hospitals in Massachusetts and across the country are saying no to elective deliveries of babies before 39 weeks unless medically necessary. Doctors cite increased health risks associated with early deliveries, not costs — though Texas' Medicaid program has stopped paying for such births.

Iowa voters will go to local caucus meetings on Jan. 3 in the first round of the presidential nominating process. In the Republican race, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul lead the polls, but it's unclear whether there will be a big winner in Iowa, Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving tells Robert Siegel.

The new bio-pic My Week with Marilyn chronicles the making of The Prince and the Showgirl, in which Laurence Olivier acted with and directed Marilyn Monroe. Sarah Churchwell, author of The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, talks to Robert Siegel about what elements of the film ring true.

Forget the ABCs or childhood friendships. Brooklyn band the Deedle Deedle Dees infuses its music with subjects as diverse as Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence and the letters of John and Abigail Adams, coupled with catchy, sing-along choruses.

A five-star hotel in Afghanistan may seem a risky business proposition. But not to the Marriott chain, which is going to manage a six-story hotel under construction in Kabul. Part of the U.S. and NATO security bubble, it will likely draw foreign businesspeople hoping to sign reconstruction deals.