Monday, January 17, 2005
Singer Toni Childs was a crossover star in the 1980s. Then she disappeared. After a serious illness, and lots of time for soul searching, Toni Childs is back. We'll talk about her new music.

The audio for this program will be available at approximately 3PM ET, 12 Noon PT.

Friday, January 14, 2005
As part of our occasional series "My Fellow Americans," we'll profile a stay-at-home mom who gets her kicks by hitting the local halfpipe with her skateboard. Barbara Odanaka even wrote a kid's book about a skateboarding mom, and is the founder of the International Society of Skateboard Moms.

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My Fellow Americans: Barbara Odanaka, Skateboard Mom
Barbara Odanaka is a stay-at-home mom who skateboards to escape the stress of motherhood and homeschooling her son. She wrote the children's book Skateboard Mom and started a group the International Society of Skateboard Moms. The oldest member is 80.

Space Science Update: Big Stars, Titan Landing
NPR's Madeleine Brand speaks with Ira Flatow, host of Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about the most recent discoveries in outer space, including three giant stars, evidence of black holes and a space probe set to land on Saturn's biggest moon.

Slate's Teachings: Big-League Pitching Skills
In the second of a series of reports on mentoring, Slate contributor Eric Liu talks with Major League Baseball pitching coach Bryan Price of the Seattle Mariners about how to throw balls that make batters miss.

Banks Offer New Options for Low-Wage Workers
Millions of low-income working families don't belong to the formal banking system. They cash their paychecks at convenience stores and hide their savings at home. Now, some financial institutions are offering the non-banking population new services -- and financial hope.

Engineering Low-Cost Housing for Tsunami Refugees
NPR's Madeleine Brand reports on some low-cost but high-tech and efficient building structures proposed to house refugees displaced by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Tabla Master Aloke Dutta
NPR's Alex Chadwick profiles Aloke Dutta, a Los Angeles-based musician who has mastered the rare art of playing solo on the Indian drums, also known as the tabla.

Xeni Tech: Tsunami Disaster Web Blogs
NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Day to Day technology contributor Xeni Jardin about new ways people are using blogs in response to the tsunami disaster. Get links to blogs listing missing people, and see amateur videos of the tsunami wave hitting.

'Rapper's Delight' Turns 25
Music fans first heard the Sugar Hill Gang song "Rapper's Delight" a quarter-century ago. The hip-hop tune, propelled by a funky Chic bass groove, became an instant classic but its origins are controversial.

Jeremy Irons Takes On the Bard's 'Merchant'
Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons talks about his career and his latest role as the title character in a film adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice -- a play some consider to be anti-Semitic for its portrayal of the vengeful Jewish moneylender Shylock.

'Sliced by an Artist': A Child's Radio Play
Dustin Hoffman narrates an original play written by elementary school student Kenny Juarez. It's a fantasy about a drinking straw trying to avoid his father's fate of being shredded for a piece of artwork.