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Mad cow disease and related illness are thought to be spread by an infectious protein, not a germ. But some prominent scientists don't agree. NPR's Richard Harris travels to a National Institutes of Health lab in Montana, where a group of scientists have been trying for several decades to get to the bottom of brain-wasting diseases.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new CD by newcomer Dan Reeder.

President Bush courted NASCAR fans and potential voters Sunday at the Daytona 500 in Florida. So-called "NASCAR dads" are considered key swing voters in this year's presidential election. Analysts say the group tends to vote conservative on social issues, although Democrats may be able to win votes on economic concerns. Hear NPR's Ari Shapiro.

The five Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination prepare for Wisconsin's Tuesday primary and Sunday night debate. Opinion polls show Sen. John Kerry holding the lead in voter support, as he often has in the string of primaries and caucuses held so far. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Scott Horsley.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales about the changing security situation in Iraq. Scales is the author of The Iraq War: A Military History.

Veneration of ancestors, supplication to the gods, and animal sacrifice -- these are among the suite of rituals that form a complicated canon of religious law for adherents of voodoo. NPR's John Burnett investigates what it takes to learn and practice these rituals in the second part of his Radio Expedition to West Africa.

A special grand jury was selected for the investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia.

In the final Radio Expeditions story on voodoo in West Africa, reporter John Burnett talks to defenders and critics of the religion. While voodoo is often condemned as superstition or worse, its practitioners say the good it can do for believers far outweighs the bad.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry claims victory in the Virginia and Tennessee primaries, saying the wins demonstrate his electability in any U.S. region. Kerry handily defeats Southern rivals Sen. John Edwards and retired general Wesley Clark. Clark, who placed third in both contests, is expected to drop out of the race Wednesday. Hear NPR's Mara Liasson.

John Kerry has already begun looking beyond the primaries to a possible race against President Bush in the fall. Commentator Jay Bryant is a Republican political consultant, and he says that - if Kerry is the Democrat's choice - this could be two firsts for the 2004 campaign: the first time both parties' candidates have opted not to take Federal matching funds - and the first time it's been clear so early who the candidates will be.