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Liane Hansen speaks with New York-based composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel. His CD of chamber works written over the past decade, called Soul Garden, is on CRI Emergency Records. Bermel also fronts a rock band, Peace by Piece, with a CD available on Miscellaneous Records.

It's a tableau of biblical proportions, from the Nativity scene, to the tomb of Jesus, to the site of Mary's annunciation. Replicas of Christian shrines are on display at a Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C. NPR's Jacki Lyden visits Holy Land of America.

After the Marx Brothers' movie Duck Soup flopped, the talk around Hollywood was that America's most popular comedy team was washed up. But their follow-up, A Night at the Opera, became their biggest hit. Jeff Lunden looks behind the curtain of the 1935 classic as part of the Present at the Creation series on cultural icons.

A Kansas family barely noticed the spiders sharing their home, until their daughter discovered they were living with the infamous brown recluse. A nightly six-month hunt turned up some 2,000 recluses in their house. Yet no one in the family was ever bitten. Researchers say the shy spider has been wronged by its fearsome reputation.

Trial lawyers in Texas are fighting a different kind of legal battle, opposing legislative efforts to cap awards in medical malpractice cases. Though some research indicates otherwise, doctors insists limits on awards keep health insurance rates down. NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports.

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) seeks to hang on to his post as Republican leader in a Senate newly controlled by the GOP. A torrent of criticism has greeted recent remarks by Lott that appeared to endorse America's segregated past. He apologized again Friday, but resisted calls to resign his leadership post. NPR's David Welna reports.

The bacterium D. radiodurans can survive thousands of times more radiation than any other living creature -- because it has a unique ability to repair genetic damage extremely efficiently. Scientists have been trying to discover how the bug pulls of this nifty trick for 40 years. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

In her 40 years of public service she worked for civil rights, helped write the guidelines that are now established in the Sexual Harrassment Act, worked for reform in South Africa and has argued before the Supreme Court. She has been the Commissioner on Human Rights in New York, the first woman appointed to head the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a law professor. Holmes Norton is the subject of the new biography Fire in My Soul, written by a long-time friend, Joan Steinau Lester.

August 2000: Trapped at the bottom of the Barents Sea, 23 Russian sailors waited in vain for rescue. Eighty-eight of their fellow sailors were killed in an explosion aboard the submarine Kursk -- the pride of Russia's evaporating navy. All Things Considered host Robert Siegel talks with journalist Robert Moore about his latest book, A Time to Die, detailing the mistakes and political fumbles that led to the tragedy.

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Ali Farquhar from Westin, Mass. She listens to Weekend Edition on member station WBUR in Boston.)