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Preparations are underway for Medicare, the program for the elderly, to launch a new prescription drug benefit in 2006. Meanwhile, Medicaid -- the federal and state program for the poor -- takes center stage in what's expected to be a major budget fight. Hear NPR's Julie Rovner.

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. This week's winner is Terry Conour from Olney, IL. He listens to Weekend Edition on member station KUSI in Carbondale, Ill.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Annie Dillard offers a commentary on the unimaginable number of lives claimed by last week's tsunami. She asks how can we remind ourselves that the thousands of victims were individuals with lives and loved ones and not just faceless statistics.

Overweight "couch potatoes" burn fewer calories a day because they sit more than their naturally lean counterparts, who tend to be more fidgety and restless, a new study shows. The findings suggest small changes in daily activity could have a major impact on weight loss.

Robert Siegel talks with Alicia Munnell of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and Kent Smetters of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Munnell and Smetters, both former Treasury Department officials, address questions about Social Security.

The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales' nomination as attorney general. Committee Democrats are expected to focus on Gonzales's role in drafting controversial memos that redefined torture. Hear NPR's Nina Totenberg.

Shout! Factory Records releases a four-CD set celebrating the music of the city called Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans. Hear cuts from the big ol' box.

In the first of a series to help with the mad dash of holiday cooking, Alton Brown, host of The Food Network show '"Good Eats" and author of "I'm Just Here for More Food," offers some baking tips. He explains the secrets and science behind a perfect pie crust.

Spooked advertisers are steering their more controversial ads away from the Super Bowl and featuring them online. While the broadcast line-up will include family-friendly spots with patriotic themes and the Muppets, the Internet has become the destination for those seeking edgier advertising.

Etgar Keret is often called Israel's hippest young writer. His deadpan descriptions of life among ordinary people offer a window on a world at once funny and sad. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.