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A note on the sale of the Website featuring a computer-generated newscaster named "Ananova." The British mobile phone company Orange bought the site from the UK's Press Association. The price for Ananova -- well over 100-million-dollars.

Apart from its better-known roles in bluegrass and Dixieland, the banjo was once a sought-after status symbol in late 19th-century America. Young ladies learned to play parlor music on the banjo; there were banjo societies and banjo virtuosi; and manufacturers fought wars over who could make the fanciest banjos. On top of that, this was primarily a northern phenomenon. It's chronicled in a new book, America's Instrument: The Banjo in the 19th Century, by Philip Gura and James Bollman. Paul Brown reports. (7:45) (America's Instrument: The Banjo in the 19th Century is published by University of North Carolina P

Celeste Headlee of member station KNAU reports on a new classical work that incorporates Native American musicians, singers, and dancers. Guardians of the Grand Canyon, composed by Brent Michael Davis, honors the Havasupai tribe which owns a large part of the canyon.

NPR's Julie Rovner reports on the rising costs faced by HMOs participating in Medicare. Early indications from industry surveys suggest more companies than ever will pull out of the program for financial reasons, causing thousands of people to have to change their health care plans.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the possibility that Deutsche Telekom will acquire Sprint, if federal regulators succeed in blocking the proposed merger between Sprint and Worldcom. But a merger between the German telecommunications company and Sprint also could face opposition from regulators.

Anne Sutton reports from western Alaska on the political debate that could determine whether a family is able to survive. Many families in rural Alaska live off of fish from the rivers, berries from the trees and game from the mountains. Some residents say subsisting off the land is a tradition that keeps them alive.

The newest justice — picked by former President Donald Trump to fill the seat left open by Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death — said, "I think we need to evaluate what the court is doing on its own terms."

In Massachusetts, a group of resident physicians are using their downtime to call their unvaccinated primary care patients to talk about the COVID-19 shot.

Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low talk with NPR's Lee Hale about their newest album HEY WHAT and how they're still finding their sound.

The comedy about a relentlessly optimistic American football coach running a London soccer team has attracted British viewers with its comic look at the transatlantic culture clash.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is beginning to write guidelines that will spell out how workers in companies with more than 100 employees will get vaccinated or tested.

Laphonza Butler, the political organization's third president, will be the first Black woman and first mother to lead the group. She is a former senior adviser to Kamala Harris and Airbnb executive.