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Ten years after the Earth Summit in Rio, delegates gather for another United Nations global conference. With Rio's failed global treaties as a backdrop, organizers are looking for small successes. And this time around, the emphasis is not on the planet, but on global poverty. NPR's Richard Harris reports for All Things Considered.

Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro meld their voices in beautiful harmony, but the songwriters-turned-performers couldn't stand each other when they first met. They did learn to work together -- if not to always get along. Lowen & Navarro chat with Morning Edition's Bob Edwards about their career and perform some of their songs.

Until about 70 years ago, musical instruments remained pretty much the same as they were for centuries. Then a new invention changed modern music and popular culture as well -- the electric guitar. For the continuing series Present at the Creation, NPR's Christopher Joyce traces the origins of an instrument that changed popular music forever.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History opened a new exhibit Monday featuring the Cambridge, Mass. kitchen where Julia Child filmed many of her television shows -- and where many Americans learned to be less afraid of French cooking. See photos and a video of the exhibit -- and learn about Child's life as a World War II spy. See http://americanhistory.si.edu/kitchen/index.htm.

West Nile virus has hit Louisiana hard this summer. Nearly 90 people there have contracted the mosquito-borne fever, and seven are dead. It's the largest outbreak in the United States yet, and with three more months of warm weather ahead, local health officials fear it will only get worse. NPR's John Nielsen reports for All Things Considered.

He won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel Empire Falls which was also a national bestseller. His subject matter is working-class unpretentious people, but as one reviewer writes he transforms 'every day people and seemingly ordinary events - into the quintessential'. Hes written five novels in all, including Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobodys Fool (which was made into a film starring Paul Newman). His latest book is a collection of stories, The Whores Child and Other Stories. (Knopf).

He was one of the big hitmakers of the 60's with such songs as Devil or Angel, Take Good Care of my Baby, The Night has a Thousand Eyes, Rubber Ball, Run to Him, and Come Back When You Grow Up. He got his start at the age of 15 when his band filled in for Buddy Holly at the concert Holly failed to appear at because of his death in a plane crash. Vee released a tribute recording to Holly in 1999.

A recently released study in the United Kingdom reveals a dramatic increase in the use of pop songs at funerals. Sweeping ballads like Wing Beneath My Wings and My Heart Will Go On seem to be overtaking traditional hymns as suitable send-offs for the departed. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Lorinda Sheasby, marketing manager of FuneralCare.

Host Liane Hansen talks with Rachel Swarns of The New York Times about this week's World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Organizers say the talks will center on practical solutions to the problems of the developing world.

Now appearing on All Things Considered: The comedy troupe responsible for such classic spoofs as I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus. Today, Firesign Theatre tackles the issue of homeland security, and the government's program to get civilians to "tip" the government to suspicious activity.