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For five decades, Dave Frishberg has been crafting deftly worded, wry songs that harken back to the golden age of the musical. The jazz composer says he learned the art of musical wit from Broadway legend Frank Loesser. For Intersections, a series on artists' influences, NPR's Ketzel Levine reports.

Members of the commission investigating U.S. counter-terrorism efforts grill CIA director George Tenet and FBI director Robert Mueller about their agencies' efforts to prevent more attacks like those of Sept. 11, 2001. Wednesday's hearings also touched on the creation of a single agency containing domestic and international units. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.

Air America, the new commercial liberal talk radio network, has been on the air for a little more than a week now. Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine -- the premier trade publication of the commercial talk radio industry -- reviews the network's performance.

The U.S. faces a very difficult military and political outlook as it prepares to meet a June 30 deadline for transferring power in Iraq, two former U.S. Army generals say. NPR's Bob Edwards discusses the situation with Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Retired Lt. Gen. William Odom. Hear the extended interview.

Is the Bush White House too secretive? William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, says no. A week ago, NPR's Liane Hansen interviewed Nixon-era White House counsel John Dean, who says in a new book that the current administration is the most secretive in his experience. Kristol tells NPR's Brian Naylor he finds this administration "relatively straightforward."

The National Council on the Aging says that a growing segment of senior citizens are taking out what's called a reverse mortgage in order to remain at home. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

Critic-at-Large John Powers reviews two recent DVDs, Kill Bill Volume 1 and Lost in Translation.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with journalist Matt Wald, author of an article questioning the optimistic vision of the so-called "hydrogen economy" published in the May 2004 issue of Scientific American. Wald talks about the shortcomings of fuel-cell technology, and why some experts say the technology may not meet expectations.

Singer Mari Anne Jayme and trumpeters Marlon Winder and Matt White are among a group of promising young musicians invited to Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Started by the late jazz singer in 1993, the annual event offers workshops and coaching for emerging artists. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Seth Coleman, lead author of a study on the mating preferences of female bower birds to be published Thursday in the journal Nature. He says older female birds respond more to strong character traits in their male mates than the shiny objects or ruffled feathers that younger male birds may try to woo them with.