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Host Melissa Block talks with Houston singer/songwriter Eric Taylor, whose country-folk songs have been called "little movies." He's got a new album out, Scuffletown, and he says he enjoys writing songs like stories -- as long as he doesn't give too much away to the listener.

Actress Kate Winslet, 24, became a star with her role in the blockbuster Titanic. Her breakthrough role came earlier, in Heavenly Creatures, a film based on a true story of two young girls who murder one of their mothers. Her other films include Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility, and Jane Campion's Holy Smoke. She's currently starring in the film Quills.

Commentator Judy Muller says she winces when she hears words such as 'efforting,' and she wonders how so many nouns are being turned into verbs.

NPR's Jason Beaubien reports that a plaque was erected in the New Hampshire State House to honor the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The 12-member group fought in the Spanish civil war to support the Loyalist government. But some say the plaque is memorializing Communists and Communist sympathizers.

Journalist Bill Sloan is the author of –I Watched a Wild Hog Eat My Baby! A Colorful History of Tabloids and Their Cultural Impact—. Sloan is a former tabloid insider having worked for –The National Enquirer,— Montreals –Midnight— (now called –Globe—), and the –National Tattler.— Sloan was also an investigative reporter for the Dallas Times Herald.

Fighting has flared up again in the Balkans, in a demilitarized zone between Kosovo and Macedonia. NATO troops in the area are attempting to suppress that violence between ethnic Albanians and Macedonia security forces. But even as the region heats up, the Bush administration is moving to trim the ranks of Americans now on a peacekeeping mission in neighboring Bosnia. President Bush has said he wants the European Union to shoulder more of the burden in the region. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

NPR's Kathy Schalch reports on the last days of the U.S.-Canadian softwood lumber agreement. The agreement expires at the end of the month, to the relief of many who argued it subsidized Canadian lumber and hurt American businesses and consumers. Environmentalists hated it as well. But a new agreement regulating lumber trade is likely to create as much controversy as the old agreement.

Michael Montgomery of American Radio Works reports that since NATO-led peacekeepers moved into Kosovo nearly two years ago, hundreds of Serbs and other minorities have been killed. Many others have disappeared and are feared dead. The majority ethnic Albanians are reluctant to give information about missing Serbs. They harbor anger over the killings and destruction wrought by Serbian forces during the Kosovo war, and they fear reprisals by other Kosovars. International officials say the disappearances seem to be part of a campaign to discourage displaced Serbs from returning to Kosovo, and to drive out those who remain out in the province.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on the White House meeting today between President Bush and Japan's Prime Minister Yoshio Mori. Both countries are experiencing economic slowdowns, but the two leaders, in a joint statement, pledged to work together and expressed optimism about the future.

Banning Eyre reviews the new CD Oh What a World by Irish singer-songwriter Paul Brady. Brady used to be known as one of the greatest voices in traditional Irish music, but now his reputation as a pop songwriter is quickly growing. He's written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Tina Turner, Carlos Santana and many others, a fact that causes a little anguish for die-hard fans of traditional Irish music. Paul Brady's CD is Oh What a World on Compass Records, catalog number 7-4304-2. Compass Records can be contacted at info@compassrecords.com.

NPR's diplomatic correspondent Vicky O'Hara reports on Ariel Sharon's first day of talks in Washington as Israel's prime minister. Sharon is meeting with the secretaries of state and defense, and the national security adviser. He is due to meet President Bush tomorrow.

President Bush's effort to channel more social service money to faith-based organizations has run into problems with some religious leaders. Several high profile spokesmen have said the president's initiative, while welcome, would pose too many risks of government interference in the work of religious charities. But today, a group of African-American ministers came to Washington to proclaim their willingness to work with White House and federal agencies under the program. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.