Jenna Montgomery

Since 2006, more than 40,000 soldiers, police officers, traffickers and citizens have died in Mexico’s bloody drug war — from the mountains where pot and poppies are grown to the streets of Mexico City. Journalist Ioan Grillo tracks the rise of the cartels and their increasing influence north of the border in his book, "El Narco." He joins Steve Scher with a report from the front lines of the Mexican drug war.

Journalist Ray Suarez just finished writing a new book called "Latino Americans." The way he sees it, American history as it's currently taught tends to ignore Latinos. He hopes to change that. His book starts in the 17th century and goes up until yesterday, when he sent the book off to his publisher. Suarez gives Ross Reynolds the long view of "Latino America." Below are highlights from the interview, along with excerpts from his 2010 speech, "The Browning of America."

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond joins Ross Reynolds in front of a live studio audience. For decades he has studied Papua New Guinea cultures. He writes about what we can learn from traditional social organizations in his new book "The World Until Yesterday." Below are highlights from the interview.

Coming up on Spotlight, December 31 at 8:00 p.m.

In this hour of BackStory, we're all about the boozin'. Along the way, we ask when and why consumption and production has ebbed and flowed. We look at why rum became the drink of choice among revolutionary troops, why American Indians were rejecting alcohol two centuries before the rest of the country, and follow the long march toward Prohibition.

Originally produced a few years ago, this episode has been revised to include new segments and reflect fresh insight into the subject.

Dan Savage is a sex columnist, author, advocate and more.  He is behind the It Gets Better project, an archive of hopeful videos aimed at troubled gay youth, and the author of "The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and My Family." Savage talks to Ross Reynolds about marriage and what he plans to do now that same-sex marriage is legal in Washington state.

In the next four years, the United States will have one fundamental energy policy challenge: How to make the country more self-sufficient. Listen to stories about the next frontiers of energy development and the fields of exploration that may help the US produce more energy at home and import less from abroad.

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will challenge each other on foreign policy in tonight’s third and final presidential debate. How do the candidates plan to handle hot spots like Libya, Syria, and Iran?