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There have been five major mass extinctions over the last half-billion years, when the diversity of life on Earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists are currently monitoring an era of mass extinction predicted to be the most devastating since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. But this time around, says Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction, it's humans that are causing it.

The gap in earnings between young people who have a college degree and those who don't has continued to widen over the past several decades. And while total student loan debt in the U.S. continues to rise, millennials say a college degree is still worth it.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner has said for months that he would not let the United States default on its debt, and he made good on that promise: The House voted Tuesday evening for an increase of the debt limit with no strings attached, just as President Obama had wanted.

In Chattanooga on Wednesday, workers at Volkswagen's auto plant will vote on whether to unionize. This is billed as the most closely watched unionization vote in the South in decades.

Scientists think an asteroid killed the dinosaurs. In today's extinction, humans are the culprit.

Each month NPR Music asks public radio hosts and DJs to pick a favorite new song. Today we'll hear from Jason King, host of I'll Take You There, NPR Music's new 24 hour Soul and R&B stream. He's talking about his pick for Heavy Rotation: "No More" by Jeremih and Shlohmo.

Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, has been writing about how corporations work in opaque ways to shape debates. He also explains the revolving door between Congress and lobby groups, and how non-profit think tanks aren't always what they seem.

U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen has ruled Virginia's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. Steve Inskeep talks to Mark Herring, Virginia's attorney general, about the ruling.