If you're gluten-free, going to the grocery store used to mean spending hours reading labels to avoid anything with wheat, barley or other grains. But with the rising number of people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance, more stores and restaurants are offering gluten-free foods. We'll discuss the rise of gluten-free diets.

Talks resumed on Wednesday between House Speaker John Boehner and the White House about how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff -- the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect in January. But time for a deal is running out. We get the latest on the negotiations.

Christine Bronstein says the word "friend" isn't adequate to describe the women in her life. Instead, she calls them her "wives": the women who supported her through marriage, divorce and postpartum depression. Now Bronstein says that sisterhood can make women stronger as a whole -- and she's turned it into a private social network called A Band of Wives. Made up of 5,000 members, topics range from career and glass ceilings to motherhood and abortion. Bronstein and other women discuss that sisterhood and their new book, "Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God: 51 Women Reveal the Power of Positive Female Connection."

The United Nations officially recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state last week. Meanwhile, Israel has announced plans to construct approximately 3,000 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank. What impact will these recent developments have on the peace process?

For half a century, the Esalen Institute in Big Sur has been at the forefront of radical ideas, many of which have now become mainstream -- movements like yoga, holistic medicine and organic food. The institute has also hosted scores of influential thinkers over the past 50 years, from Ansel Adams and Henry Miller to Aldous Huxley and Susan Sontag. We'll look back at the history of Esalen and its future.

Two new studies are fanning the flames of an ongoing debate over the use of fire-retardant chemicals in furniture. We'll examine the new research and look at efforts in California to phase out use of the chemicals, which may pose health risks.

Drakes Bay Oyster Company is fighting back after the federal government refused to renew its lease in Point Reyes National Seashore last week. The National Park Service and its environmentalist allies want to return the area to marine wilderness. But the company is suing to overturn the decision, and many oyster lovers are rallying to its defense.

Howard Schatz photographs a lot of beautiful people, from ballerinas jumping midair to women swimming gracefully underwater. But his newest book "At the Fights" gets up close and gritty with the bruising world of professional boxing. Schatz photographs boxers' muscled bodies at their athletic best. But he also goes behind the flashy showmanship by taking before-and-after fight photos.

The American Psychiatric Association voted this weekend to remove the diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome from the so-called bible of psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders. People with Asperger's will now more likely be diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder. The APA says the change will lead to more accurate diagnoses for people with autism -- but critics say removing the diagnosis may result in fewer people getting the services and care they need.

From grizzly bears in northern Alaska to jaguars in Mexico, the reach of the Rocky Mountains is comprised of unique and diverse wildlife and wildlands. Author Mary Ellen Hannibal calls that 5,000-mile stretch the "spine of the continent." Her new book documents a historic and ambitious project to save the region's wildlife by creating linked protected areas from the Yukon to Mexico. She joins us to talk about the book, and the unique people who are determined to preserve the Rockies and beyond.

KQED has teamed up with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Public Radio Exchange (PRX) to launch Matter Ventures, a start-up accelerator designed to foster media innovation. Popular in Silicon Valley, start-up accelerators offer investment, mentoring and other assistance to entrepreneurs. But can such a model work for public media?

Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party became Mexico's 89th President on Saturday. How will the new leader affect Mexican-American relations? What can we gather from his recent meeting with Obama? And will we ever see an end to Mexico's drug cartels?