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Istalif, an hour's drive north of Kabul, sits in the heart of Shomali Plain, once the breadbasket of Afghanistan. The Taliban forced hundreds of thousands of people from the region and destroyed their farms, shops and homes. Now the villagers are starting to return. On Morning Edition, Renee Montagne reports on their efforts in the debut of a series on rebuilding Afghanistan.

Writer Michael Pollan. His book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World takes a look at four plants cultivated by humans: the apple, the tulip, potatoes and marijuana. Pollan demonstrates that plants and humans have developed a reciprocal, co-evolutionary relationship: do we plant potatoes, or do potatoes seduce us into planting them? Pollan questions the assumption that we are in charge of our agriculture. The book is now in paperback.

Robert Jay Lifton is professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Graduate School University Center and director of The Center on Violence and Human Survival at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York. He'll talk with us about the psychological impact of the threat of terrorism and the potential for nuclear war between Pakistan and India. Lifton specializes in the study of extremist religions and cults. He's written books on many topics, including the Japanese cult which released poison gas in the Tokyo subways, Nazi doctors, Hiroshima survivors and Vietnam veterans.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a number of CDs devoted to the music of Hoagy Carmichael: Stardust Melody (Bluebird); Hoagy Sings Carmichael (Pacific Jazz); Stardust Melody: Beloved and Rare Songs of Hoagy Carmichael (A-Records); Bill Charlap: Stardust (BlueNote).

Writer Alec Wilkinson is the author of new memoir, My Mentor: A Young Man's Friendship with William Maxwell (Houghton Mifflin) about his relationship with writer and editor William Maxwell. Maxwell was fiction editor for the New Yorker from 1936-1976 and worked with such authors as J.D. Salinger, John Cheever, John Updike, Eudora Welty and scores of others. Maxwell was the author of a number of novels, including Time Will Darken It, and So Long, See You Tomorrow, as well as several short story collections. He died at the age of 91 in August 2000. Wilkinson is a staff writer for the New Yorker, and has been there since 1980. He's the author of several books including, Midnights, Moonshine, and Big Sugar. We'll listen to a rebroadcast of a 1995 interview with Maxwell (3/29/95), and to an interview with Alec Wilkinson shortly after Maxwell's death (8/4/2000).

Weekend Edition Sunday host Lynn Neary talks with rising opera star Juan Diego Florez, who some say will take over from Luciano Pavarotti as the world's top tenor. Sunday, May 12, 2002 .

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Jeanne Jagdeo from Houston, Texas. She listens to Weekend Edition on member station KUHF in Houston.)

Since the 1973 release of his first album, Closing Time, Tom Waits has won fans over with his original songwriting and distinctive, gravelly vocal style. He has two new CDs out this month: Alice and Blood Money.

He's The Guardian's Zimbabwe correspondent. He covered the presidential election in Zimbabwe and was jailed for 33 hours for violating the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act which punishes journalists for publishing "falsehoods." The law was one of several instituted by President Mugabe in a crackdown on the media. Meldrums court date has not been set yet. Meldrum was previously on Fresh Air in February.

Pianist Guy Livingston commissioned dozens of composers to write 60-second compositions for him. He talks with Weekend Edition Sunday's Lynn Neary about the resulting album, Dont Panic! 60 Seconds for Piano, and about why anyone would possibly take on such a project.

Her sister's hospitalization for depression sent Virginia Gonzales Torres on a mission to reform her country's mental health system. Some 25 years later, she's founded a series of group homes and set the standard for how developing countries can treat the mentally ill. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.

For years, Amy Borkowsky has been collecting hilarious and embarrassing messages left by her mother on her answering machine. Now she's put them on a CD and wants the world to hear them. On Morning Edition, host Bob Edwards reviews some of the messages with the former ad executive turned standup comedian.