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At 6'11", high school basketball player Nerlen Noel is said to be devastating at blocking shots. He has agreed to play college ball at the University of Kentucky. He even had the UK logo shaved into the back of his head and showed it on ESPN.

Jacki talks to Lynda MacCartney, the curator of the C.I.A. exhibit centre in the C.I.A. HQ in Langley Virginia about the new exhibit on the film director John Ford. Ford, who received a total of 6 oscars, worked for the Office for Strategic Services, the precursor to the present-day C.I.A. during World War two. During his work with the OSS Ford pioneered aerial camera techniques that saved many lives and pushed the medium of film in new directions..

Host Bob Edwards talks with author Gore Vidal about his new novel, The Golden Age. In the final volume of a series of historic novels, Vidal writes about the 1940's, a decade that saw the end of World War Two and the dawn of American dominance in everything from business to ballet. Vidal says it was during this time that marked the death of the American republic, as the U-S transformed into a global empire. (6:38) {Stations: "The Golden Age" by Gore Vidal is published by Doubleday ISBN: 0-385-50075-0}

Noah talks with LAPD detective Gil Escontrias about the rash of spandex robberies. Detective Escontrias says armed gangs have been stealing the yarn and bolts of the synthetic fabric from textile mills. Last year, over $2 million dollars worth was stolen in Los Angeles. He says the yarn is worth 6 times that of other fibers, so it's easy to find buyers who don't care where it came from. He notes that underpaid textile employees are targeted by thieves looking for access to the material.

Robert talks to Mimi Sheraton, author of The Bialy Eaters: The Story of the Lost Bread and a Lost World, about the book. It recounts her journey to Bialystok, Poland, where the bread rolls with roasted onions in the middle get their name. There she found the story of a Jewish community which numbered 50,000 before World War Two, and now is reduced to just five people. No bialys remain, either. She then went on a round the world journey to find Bialystok survivors. (6:00) The Bialy Eaters: The Story of the Lost Bread and a Lost World, by Mimi Sheraton, is published by Broadway Books, 9/12/00.

In the first part of a series on female vocalists, NPR's Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg profiles singer Stacey Kent. Kent's, new album was inspired by the singing and dancing of Fred Astaire. It's called, Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire. (6:42) Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire by Stacey Kent is available on Candid-Navarre; ASIN: B0000

Host Renee Montagne talks to author, Michele Serros about her new book, How to Be a Chicana Role Model. The book tells the story of a Chicana writer who's trying to find a way to embrace two very different cultures--without losing her identity in the process. (6:53) Stations: How to Be a Chicana Role Model by Michele Serros is published by Riverhead Books; ISBN: 15732

Federal prosecutors say they will retry both Charles Keating and his son (Charles Keating, III) now that their convictions on federal fraud chages have been set aside by a federal judge. The elder Keating became a symbol of the Savings and Loan debacle after federal regulators seized Keating's Lincoln S&L, which cost taxpayers an estimated $2.6 billion. The convictions were overturned because members of the jury knew of and improperly discussed the elder Keating's earlier conviction on state fraud charges. That conviction has also been overturned.

Talk of tax cuts continues to dominate both chambers of Congress. The tax writing committee of the House this week approved a second phase of President Bush's proposed $1.6 trillion package of tax cuts, this one eliminating the so-called marriage penalty and increasing the child tax credit. But on the Senate side, talk turned to another concept -- the granting of a swift tax rebate that might pump new money into the consumer economy relatively quickly. No sooner did one Republican mention the idea than several leading Democrats adopted it. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports.

NPR's David Welna reports on the Democratic tax-cut proposal. Led by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Democrats are pushing for a $300 rebate to every taxpayer (and a $600 rebate to every couple), using about $60 billion from the budget surplus. They are also proposing an immediate cut in the lowest tax rate. Their proposal would be separate from President Bush's signature $1.6 trillion tax-cut plan, and Republicans fear that such a proposal would take the momentum away from Mr. Bush's program.