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NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin on efforts by former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to block public access to secret files compiled on him by the Stasi, the former East German secret service agency. Many members of the German parliment want those files opened.

Liane talks with Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Harmer, who has released her first solo album in the US, You Were Here. Harmer performed previously with the indie rock band Weeping Tile and put out three records with them, but never thought of herself as a solo artist. All that changed when she recorded a collection of old jazz and country songs as a gift for her dad. It became the album Songs for Clem, which garnered her critical attention and a record contract. (NOTE: SARAH HARMER'S ALBUM YOU WERE HERE IS AVAILABLE ON ROUNDER RECORDS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HARMER'S ALBUM SONGS FOR CLEM VISIT HER WEBSITE AT www.SARAHHARMER.COM)

"The film's allegiance is with the natives, and certainly with cultural humility toward the unfamiliar and the unknowable. Colonizing another is a brutal if not a fatal mission."

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris on the rising popularity of folk dancing among sophisticated Parisians. On weekends, thousands of people of all ages pack into balls featuring the folk dances of Brittany, Alsace, Provence and other regions. Partly, this is a way for people to make friends and fight the isolation of modern urban life. It's also a way to assert a distinctly French identity in an age of globalization.

Noah talks with Bill Hendricks, a reporter for the San Antonio Express-News, about the latest on the escape of seven Texas prison inmates. Hendricks says the reward for information leading to their capture has been doubled. The seven escaped December 13th.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports on trouble facing the nomination of Linda Chavez to be George W. Bush's Secretary of Labor. The nomination has run into some problems following the revelation that an illegal immigrant lived in Chavez's house for a period of time and apparently did some work for her. Opponents of the Chavez nomination point to similarities to Zoe Baird, President Clinton's first choice for attorney general, whose name was withdrawn after it was revealed she had what is now known as a "nanny problem."

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr notes that cabinet nominees are often on the defensive for personal missteps, as opposed to more substantive issues.

In the past few weeks we've frequently heard warnings that the once robust American economy could be headed for recession. But is it an appropriate term? Is the economy in the process of making a "soft landing," or a "hard landing?" Is it on the brink of a "down turn" or a "recession?" Robert Siegel addresses these questions to Jeremy Siegel (no relation), Professor of Finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of Stocks for the Long Run. (4:30)Stocks for the Long Run, is published by McGraw Hill, 1998.

Former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for racketeering and extortion during his term in office. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports.

Tonight, Ken Burns' multi-part documentary, Jazz, premieres on public television stations across the country. Like Burns' previous programs, The Civil War, and Baseball, Jazz took several years to produce. It traces the genre's origins, development and transformation throughout the 20th century. However, critic Ken Tucker says that even with a total running time of seventeen hours, many major artists in jazz are overlooked.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports that former dictator General Augusto Pinochet continues to defy Chilean courts. Yesterday, he refused to submit to a medical examination designed to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. Pinochet is accused in the disappearance of dozens of his political opponents during his rule. The president of the supreme court today said the high court has the means to enforce its decisions. It's unclear what action the courts might take against Pinochet, although arrest of the aging general certainly is a possibility.

Charles de Ledesma reviews the new CD from Ian Pooley called Since Then. Pooley is a techno-house musician from Germany, who has been getting a lot of attention for his particular brand of dance music, which is easy listening, light and breezy. (3:15) Since Then, by Alan Pooley is on the BMG-V2 label.