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At the San Francisco Zoo, six new penguins have had the rest of the group swimming in circles for the past month. The newcomers appear to have sparked a "migration" trend after the rest of the flock had enjoyed 19 years of sedentary life. The behavior is rare in captivity. NPR's John Ydstie speaks with zookeeper Jane Tollini.

Host John Ydstie talks with WorldCom employee Jeff Regan about how the new economy affects his job and his family. Regan is a 14-year company veteran who suddenly finds himself worrying about being able to pay monthly bills. Despite his new financial struggles, he remains hopeful of his and his company's future. This interview begins an occasional series of conversations with people and their financial concerns.

The Bush administration files a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the University of Michigan's affirmative action program. Three white students allege the university uses a quota system that unfairly benefits minority applicants. NPR's Libby Lewis reports.

Many species of shark are in decline, a development some researchers have been slow to note. The shark plays a pivotal role in the health of all marine life, and some fear the population dip could throw the underwater ecosystem out of balance. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

He wrote the screenplay for the film Undercover Brother, which began life as a Web site animation. The film, now out on DVD, is an action comedy [that] pokes fun at black action films of the 1970s and racial stereotypes. Ridley's latest novel is A Conversation with the Mann, about a black comic in the civil rights era of the early 1960s. This interview first aired January 10, 2002.

The State Department tried disseminating a positive message about the United States in Arab countries. The idea was to counter anti-American sentiment by explaining U.S. values rather than U.S. policy. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

The military gives small doses of amphetamines to fighter pilots who must endure long flights without sleep. The policy is based on research by the Air Force and Columbia University that shows small doses improve performance. But the use of the drugs has been called into question at a hearing for two pilots who mistakenly bombed Canadian forces in Afghanistan. NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports.

Turkey and five Middle Eastern nations urge Iraq to do more to satisfy U.N. disarmament demands. The appeal follows a foreign ministers' meeting in Istanbul. But the six participants -- Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria -- also voiced opposition to any new war in Iraq. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Health care workers in Connecticut are set to be the first U.S. civilians to receive smallpox vaccinations. It's the first step in a new federal program aimed at protecting Americans against a biological attack. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's proposed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il would be the latest effort at serious talks between the bitter rivals. Sandwiched between China and Japan, Koreans on both sides of the DMZ have a long history of negotiating from a position of relative weakness. Their strategies reflect that history. NPR's Eric Weiner reports.

The Senate passes a measure to temporarily block funding for the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness program. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and others want further review of the domestic information-gathering effort, fearing its impact on civil liberties. Wyden speaks with NPR's Bob Edwards.

Not all of the designs offered for the site of the World Trade Center have come from some of today's most important architects. A design originally proposed for the same site in 1908 by the well-known art noveau architect Antonio Gaudi will be entered into the competition this Spring. The proposal is the idea of a group of artists from Gaudi's native region in Spain. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Marc Mascourt i Boix the head of the Barcelona group about the proposal and Gaudi.