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From shrunken heads to items literally too hot to handle, many museums collect items of note, but choose not to display them. Harriet Baskas takes a look around the back rooms of some of the nation's most prominent museums to see what they're not showing the public.

An apparent car bomb explodes outside of a mosque in the Muslim holy city of Najaf, killing at least 75 people, including prominent Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim. Al-Hakim led a political party that operated in exile for years in Iran during Saddam Hussein's regime, and had cooperated to a degree with occupying U.S. forces. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

Outfielders carry lifelong memories of how their first gloves smelled and felt. Catchers swear by their favorite glove model. On Morning Edition, NPR's Bob Edwards talks to Noah Liberman, the author of Glove Affairs, a book tracing the history and tradition of baseball players' favorite piece of equipment. Read an excerpt, hear interviews and see photos of players and their gloves.

In the latest installment of the series "Honky Tonk, Hymns and the Blues," NPR's Paul Brown explores the origins of the country fiddle — from Eck Robertson to the very word, "fiddle." Paul also explains why it's called "the Devil's box."

Alan Cheuse reviews The Best Short Stories of William Kittredge, a collection of stories from the Montana writer who started out his adult life as a rancher and farmer.

Robert Siegel talks with Ambassador James Dobbins, director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the Rand Corporation, about the challenges of rebuilding Iraq after Tuesday's bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

Alistair Campbell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's top media strategist, steps down amid accusations that he helped exaggerate evidence on Iraq's weapons programs. The British media had dubbed Campbell the "real deputy prime minister." Campbell cites family reasons for his resignation. Hear NPR's Guy Raz.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Against Love: A Polemic by Laura Kipnis (Pantheon).

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Magdalene Sisters by Scottish writer/director Peter Mullan. It's based on Ireland's actual Magdalene Asylums where Catholic girls accused of "moral crimes" (anything from getting pregnant, to being too attractive, to accusing a man of rape) were sent to work in laundries to atone for their sins. These virtual prisons finally closed their doors in 1996.

Three-and-a-half months after the fall of Baghdad, resentment to the presence of U.S. soldiers seems to be growing. When Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed and looting erupted across Baghdad, doctors at the city's Al Kindi hospital begged American troops to protect them. But now, relations between U.S. soldiers and the medical staff are strained. NPR's Anne Garrels reports.