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NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Russell Shorto, author of The Island at the Center of the World, about the legacy of Dutch settlements in the 17th-century New Netherland colony that would later become New York City. Shorto profiles colonist Adriaen van der Donck, the man who won a municipal charter for the city of New Amsterdam under Dutch rule, and explains why the city of Yonkers bears testament to van der Donck even today.

Former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke's assertions that the Bush administration downplayed the threat presented by al Qaeda before Sept. 11, 2001, spark debate over national security. Critics of Clarke, who testified this week before the Sept. 11 panel in Washington, say he is merely promoting his book, Against All Enemies. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Dana Milbank of The Washington Post.

NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks with the members of Anonymous 4 — an a cappella singing group — about their latest CD: American Angels: Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory. Unlike their earlier albums, this album focuses on 18th century American spirituals and shape-note music.

He is the creator, executive producer and head writer of the new HBO series Deadwood, a western drama set in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Milch left a teaching job at Yale University to go to Hollywood and work on the show Hill Street Blues. He also worked on NYPD Blue, for which he won two Emmys. Milch is a former heroin addict and alcoholic.

Olympic hopeful Chris Shull is an extreme sport enthusiast who shatters the stereotype of the calm, placid archer. He has an outgoing, hyper-competitive personality, well suited to archery's current head-to-head match play format. NPR's Tom Goldman reports.

In Wisconsin, friends and family of Capt. John Kurth are mourning his death, though they say he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he died. The 31-year-old West Point graduate was killed last Saturday in Tikrit when a road side bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol. From Wisconsin Public Radio, Gil Halsted has this profile.

Actress Jennifer Garner appeared last week on the Web site of the Central Intelligence Agency. Garner plays a CIA case officer in the ABC show Alias. Her video encourages people to consider a career at the CIA. NPR's Robert Siegel takes us on an audio tour of the CIA's recruitment Web site where, with the help of NPR's Frank Tavares, we hear about exciting job opportunities at the agency.

In cities around the world -- including 250 in the United States -- demonstrators turn out to protest the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Many urge American leaders to end the occupation that began with a military invasion one year ago and bring U.S. troops home. Hear NPR News reports.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean launches a new political organization called Democracy for America. Dean has thrown his support to Democratic frontrunner John Kerry, though he has not yet officially offered his endorsement. Looking back on the early primary season, Dean says his campaign started to stall in the days before the Iowa Caucuses.

Insurgents in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, kill four U.S. contractors traveling in two SUVs. A rowdy crowd at the scene then dragged the bodies through the streets. Nearby, five U.S. soldiers were killed in a separate bombing attack. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.