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Commentator Andrei Condrescu is upset about the service he gets on airplanes these days. In the last few years he has been delayed, starved, squeezed, and subjected to bad jokes during air travel.

In the first of two reports, NPR's Michael Skoler reports on the escalating ethnic violence in the central African nation of Burundi. The United Nations is worried that fighting between the minority Tutsis and majority Hutus could erupt into the sort of mass killing that gripped neighboring Rwanda two years ago. A weak coalition government has been unable to stop the violence, as the Tutsi-dominated army battles Hutu rebels. Many average Burundians are losing hope that their political leaders can find a way out of the conflict.

Fresh Air Producer AMY SALIT interviews singer ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO. He''s formerly with the band True Believers. ESCOVEDO is esteemed for his songwriting ability and described as "poet of the ordinary event." His new solo release is "With These Hands," (Ryk

A new study by researchers at Duke University and the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs Medical Center found that television medical programs such as "ER" and "Chicago Hope" give viewers an overly optimistic impression of the effectiveness of certain medical procedures...particularly cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The percentage of people who survive cardiac arrest after receiving CPR is far lower than represented on television programs. Linda talks with one of the authors of the study, Dr. James Tulsky, about how the portrayal of miraculous recoveries on television may ultimately undermine trust in doctors and scientific data.

about the resignation of the Turkish Prime Minister.

A study released today suggests that the risk of becoming infected with the AIDS virus through oral sex may be higher than previously realized. The study, being published in the journal Science, found that monkeys exposed orally to the monkey equivalent of the AIDS virus became infected surprisingly easily. Experts say that while transmission of the AIDS virus through oral sex is probably relatively rare, the findings underscore the need to practice safe sex. NPR's Joe Neel reports.

TV CRITIC DAVID BIANCULLI tells us about "Xena"

Commentator Lydia Nayo (NI-o) recalls when during her childhood, her father would barter an old mantle clock for food at the local grocery. And he always came home with cornflakes. She has come to associate cornflakes with the mental and spiritual weight of poverty, and even though she is much more prosperous now, she still can't eat them. Nayo has come to believe that as long as she keeps them out of her cupboard, she will keep the wolf from the door.

NPR's Melissa Block profiles the New York Police Department's new cold case squad, set up this past February to investigate unsolved homicides. So far, they've closed 27 cases. Some of the work involves tracking down known fugitives, trying to figure out where they've gone. And for those cases WITHOUT a known perpetrator, the detectives start from scratch: lots of phone work, knocking on doors, digging around. The head of the unit calls it the "purest police work you can do."

- NPR's Adam Hochberg reports that later this month, the oldest textile mill in the south will be closing. It's the Rocky Mount mill in North Carolina. The mill opened in 1818, and its closing mirrors the fate of other mills in the U.S.

- Storyteller Carmen Deedee brings us back to her childhood in Cuba, and recalls how she almost wasn't able to bring out her doll when her family left Cuba for the United States in the early sixties.

The nominees for the 73rd Emmy Awards were announced on July 13 by Ron Cephas Jones and Jasmine Cephas Jones. The awards ceremony hosted by Cedric the Entertainer will air Sept. 19.