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Editor and chief of Simon & Schuster MICHAEL KORDA. He's written a new memoir: "Man to Man: Surviving Prostate Cancer," (Random House).INT 2 : Stand up comic JOHN KAWIE. The Arab-American hails from Springfield, Conn. He's worked in concert with fellow comics Dennis Miller and Howie Mandel, and has been a contributor to Comedy Central's "Politically Incorrect." He appears regularly on Comedy Central's "Stand-up, Stand-up."

2: Drummer ARTHUR TAYLOR. He's played with Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk and he's put together a new expanded collection of interviews he's done with fellow musicians: "Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews," (Da Capo Press). It's one of the few books about black jazz musicians by a black man, and because of that TAYLOR's subjects were able to talk freely about the role of black artists in white society. It includes interviews with Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Thelonious Monk and others.

2: A new monologue by DAVID SEDARIS. "Drama Bug" was featured on This American Life, a nationally broadcast radio program hosted by Ira Glass and produced at WBEZ in Chicago. SEDARIS is a playwright, NPR commentator and a house cleaner. Now known nationally for his humor writing, he launched his radio commentator career with his "SantaLand Diaries," broadcast during NPR's "Morning Edition in 1992. His humor has been described as a "caustic mix of J. D. Salinger and John Waters." (THIS IS NOT INTE

The Clinton Administration's chief housing official, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, has won Republican praise for some of his initiatives to help depressed urban areas. Those programs include elements of GOP housing policies and have alienated some Democrats. But Republican critics in Congress say Cisneros has not gone far enough toward the GOP approach. NPR's John Nielsen reports that the partisan dispute and the choice of former congressman Jack Kemp as the Republican vice presidential nominee have raised the profile of urban issues in the presidential race.

Robert talks with John MacMillan, an analyst who's been following the Archer Daniels Midland Corporation for Prudential-Bache Securities, about the suit that was brought against the food conglomerate. ADM pled guilty to price fixing in the market for lysine and citric acid, two corn-based products. MacMillan says that the fallout from the case may continue, especially since a parallel case involving the price of corn-based sweeteners was dropped.

Actress GENA ROWLANDS (jen-ah...roe-lenz). She won acclaim for her performance in "A Woman Under the Influence" and "Gloria." ROWLANDS collaborated with her late husband, actor/screenwriter/and director, John Cassavetes for thirty years. ROWLANDS is starring in the new film "Unhook the Stars"(Miramax Films) in which she plays Mildred, a middle-aged woman who finds herself at a crucial turning point in her life. The film was written and directed by ROWLAND'S son, Nick Cassavetes. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW

We air a portion of a stump speech of John Hagelin, a Presidential candidate from the Natural Law Party who's on the ballot in 45 states. The main focus of the Natural Law Party is to support the development of the human element--they see America's problems, crime, domestic abuse, pollution -- as human problems and they seek a government that seeks to elevate human behavior. And the way to do that, they say, is not with rules or laws but with education...that teaches people to take better care of themselves, their environment, etc. Governments can't generate health or wealth...it must empower the citizens of the country to best use the human resource.(5:00)

A government report finds that efforts to limit human exposure to toxins aren't helping kids as much as they are helping adults. The report, issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that children between the ages of 6-11 are sponging up the chemicals found in cigarette smoke and soft plastic toys. It also found that Mexican-Americans have abnormal levels of the pesticide DDT in their bodies and that pregnant women carry more mercury than expected. NPR's John Nielsen reports that federal officials say they are concerned but not alarmed by the findings.

In the first of three reports on how Americans feel about the state of the nation, John Ydstie speaks with residents of Westminster Village, a retirement community in Spanish Fort, Ala. All members of the group call themselves Republicans. War with Iraq is their main concern -- and some caution against going to war without being absolutely certain. They want to hear the president explain why there is a need for war. They also discuss the economy and health care.

Last week we asked listeners to phone in their questions concerning the standoff between the U-S and North Korea. Today we answer some of those question with the help of Ambassador Wendy Sherman who is the former special advisor on North Korea during the Clinton administration. She's now a partner at the international consulting firm -- the Albright Group. Also joining the conversation: Donald Oberdorfer, a professor at Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He's also the author of "Two Koreas: A Contemporary History." (12:30) Oberdorfer's book is published by Basic Books, 1999.

John Burnett reports on Mexican billionaire Carlos Hank Rhon. The Fed holds a hearing on Oct. 23 to remove Hank Rhon as the major shareholder in Laredo National Bank in Texas, saying he lied to bank regulators when he acquired majority stock. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration suspects that Hank Rhon is connected to Mexican drug cartels and uses the Texas bank to launder money. Hank Rhon and bank president Gary G. Jacobs deny all wrongdoing. Jacobs is a friend of George W. Bush and has had coffee at the White House with Bill Clinton.

In the Port of Aden, Yemen, divers are searching water-filled areas of the U.S.S. Cole for bodies of the crew members caught in last week's explosion. They're using metal cutters to clear their way through the wreckage. The Defense Department says a small boat armed with explosives rammed the side of the Navy Destroyer in a terrorist attack, killing 17 sailors. Noah talks to John Burns of The New York Times, who is stationed in Yemen, about the ongoing search for victims, the investigation into the attack, and the cooperation of the Yemeni government.

Robert Siegel talks to NPR's David Welna, who is in Missouri covering the announcement by Jean Carnahan, the widow of Gov. Mel Carnahan, that she will accept appointment to the Senate if her late husband is elected next week. Mel Carnahan was campaigning against Republican Senator John Ashcroft when he died in a plane crash two weeks ago. His death came too late for his name to be removed from the ballot, and so Democrats are urging a vote for Mel Carnahan -- the late Mel Carnahan -- as a tribute. Mel Carnahan's successor, Roger Wilson, had said he would appoint Mrs. Carnahan to the Senate if Ashcroft were to be defeated.

Lisa speaks with John Chowning, Vice President of Church and External relations at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville Kentucky about some of the things a town goes through when a factory shuts down. Two years ago the small town lost its largest employer, Fruit of the Loom, but some of the jobs were replaced by Amazon.com. In the last few weeks, residents there have been facing the fear once again of potential job loss, but so far the town has escaped job cuts, at least for now. (5:30).

In the third part of his series on the oil century, John Burnett reports that high technology has reinvented the oil and gas industries. Companies can now find oil in places once considered impossible, such as deep beneath the ocean. They also can use high-tech instruments to find oil in spent and all but forgotten places, such as the Spindletop oil field. The new wildcatters say oil supplies may be finite, but the reach of knowledge is infinite. (12:30) More information and previous audio segments can be found on our Spindletop feature page, which accompanies this series on the oil and gas industry.

In the second part of our series on the oil century, NPR's John Burnett reports on the environmental legacy of oil and gas production. For every barrel of oil and gas produced, some 50 barrels of salt water or brine are created. The salinity fouls the well and the land around it. A lot of big oil companies have sold their leases to smaller independent companies and many of them have decided not to take care of their wells, leaving a large number of orphan wells leaking brine. In Texas, both the government and the oil industry are in favor of plugging up these polluting wells. The state plugs 1300-1500 wells a year. The activists in this case are not environmentalists, but land-owners.

One day after President-elect Bush's choice for labor secretary withdrew her nomination, the debate continues over another controversial nominee. Bush wants conservative former Senator John Ashcroft as his attorney general, a choice that's drawn fire from labor unions, abortion rights groups, and civil rights groups. NPR's Steve Inskeep examines some of Ashcroft's record as a Senator. In six years, Ashcroft battled to block the Senate from confirming numerous judges and other officials whom he considered too liberal. Now he faces his own confirmation hearing, and some Senators are asking if Ashcroft is too conservative.

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Athens, where Pope John Paul begins a three-nation pilgrimage tomorrow following the journeys of St. Paul the Apostle. It will be the first visit to Greece by a pope since the Great Schism that split Christianity into eastern and western branches in the year 1054. The population of Greece is overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian. A spokesman says the Greek Orthodox Church wants the pope to make what he called a humble and bold gesture of love to help heal the deep distrust between the Orthodox world and Roman Catholic world. After Greece, the pontiff will visit Syria and Malta.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby called the event a "breakdown in process" and not the result of negligence, angering many of the ground in Kabul.

Critic-at-large John Powers reflects on what he thinks is the single greatest movie ever made about the city of Los Angeles — Killer of Sheep, an independent film made in the late '70s by Charles Burnett. It's on the Library of Congress' National Film Registry; it will be showing in selected theaters in the next few months, and it comes out on DVD this September.