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NPR's David Molpus profiles the new band Mofro as part of our series on emerging Southern Artists. The band's music has been described as "juke joint," but along with the funky beat there's an environmental message about Florida's disappearing swamplands. The band's co-founder, John J.J. Grey, says his music is a good way to groove and get a point across.

NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg talks with first lady Laura Bush about the joys of reading. Mrs. Bush announced yesterday the creation of a National Book Festival and the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries. The first lady says she is taking on the problem of aliteracy -- people who can read, but don't. She shares stories about her own reading habits and her favorite book.

NPR's David Molpus reports on the people who are putting careers and parenthood on hold in order to care for their aging parents. These college students and "30-somethings" are part of a generation born later in their parents' lives - and that means eldercare is beginning much earlier for them.

NPR's Howard Berkes talks with Flagstaff author Brad Dimock about Glen and Bessie Hyde. The newlywed couple disappeared on a Colorado River trip through the Grand Canyon in the late 1920's. Some people say Bessie killed Glen, and others claim to have met her decades later on the river. Dimock and his new bride built a boat similar to the Hyde's and took the same trip down the Colorado.

A sea creature known as a brittlestar has a natural fibre optic system far in advance of anything technology has yet devised.

A new book pays tribute to Antonio Prohias, the Cuban-born creator of the "Spy vs. Spy" comic strip still seen in MAD magazine 40 years later.

Lisa talks to Professor Andrew Levy of Butler University about a little-known early American named Robert Carter, who freed his slaves at a time when George Washington and Thomas Jefferson didn't. Levy's article on Carter appeared in the Spring issue of The American Scholar.

In the second installment of Morning Edition's series on emerging Southern artists, NPR's Debbie Elliott profiles Louisiana writer Louis Edwards. Edwards' second novel, N, follows journalist Aimee Dubois she tries to solve the killing of a black high school student. The noir-style mystery takes place in New Orleans' historic French Quarter and in the black neighborhood across town. (8:47-9:36) {Edwards, Louis, N, Plume Books, New York: 1997. ISBN: 0-525-94182-7}

Melissa Block talks to bluegrass master Del McCoury and his son Ronnie. Del McCoury got his big break in the early 1960s, when he was hired by legendary bandleader Bill Monroe to sing tenor and play guitar. McCoury started his own band a few years later. The group's current lineup includes two of his sons, Ronnie on Mandolin and Rob on banjo. The Del McCoury Band has a new CD called Del & The Boys.

Since the 1800s, Montana has been mandolin country. Ten musicians from Bozeman together produce a dramatic sound - they call it the "Montana Sound" - inspired by the freedom and open spaces of their home state.

Ten years ago Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev was placed under house arrest as group of communist hardliners attempted a coup. The grab for power quickly failed and Gorbachev returned to power. NPR's Martha Wexler attended a news conference a few days ago, where Gorbachev talked about those days of chaos in the summer of 1991.

One of the Bush administration's earliest pledges was to review and modernize the U.S. military. Now, with money short, Pentagon officials face the difficult job of deciding just what changes the Military can actually afford. NPR's Tom Gjelten explores the story of the much anticipated Navy ship, the DD-21: the Destroyer for "the Navy After Next."