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Jockey Jimmy Winkfield was the last African American to win the Kentucky Derby, 100 years ago this year. For Weekend Edition Saturday, NPR's Howard Berkes reports on Winkfield's legacy and the history of African Americans in horseracing.

At 17, Jesse Jean was a failing student in danger of falling victim to Washington, D.C.'s, street crime.

Turns out Ray Magliozzi of Car Talk has a secret passion for bonsai and magnolias in addition to carburetors and exhaust systems. On Morning Edition Ketzel Levine of Talking Plants takes us on a tour of Ray's Massachusetts garden. Hear excerpts of their rainy-day conversation and view a collection of photos online.

In the small border town of Roma, Texas, the award-winning high school band Mariachi Santander is helping keep the traditional music of Mexico alive. The students gain pride and national recognition in the process. For Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR's John Burnett reports.

Science fiction writer Sheri S. Tepper is the author of over a dozen novels including, The Fresco, The Family Tree, Grass and her newest, The Visitor. (Harper Collins).

An expert in climate change research, Paul Mayewski led the National Science Foundation's Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2. The project extracted ice cores chronicling 100,000 years of climate history. Mayewski, with co-author Frank White, writes about their expeditions in the new book, The Ice Chronicles: The Quest to Understand Global Climate Change (University Press of New England). Mayewski is also co-director of the Institute of Quaternary and Climate Studies at the University of Maine.

Thomas Keneally talks about his new book examining the life of the rakish congressman who beat a murder rap after killing his wife's lover -- then went on to gain fame (and lose a leg) as a Civil War General. And let's not forget the affair with Queen Isabella of Spain. (American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles {Doubleday; ISBN: 0385501390}).

If Cole Porter and George Gershwin provided a soundtrack for the city, then Hoagy Carmichael was the voice of America's heartland. A new Carmichael biography and song collection — both called Stardust Melody — lead a resurgence of interest in the prolific songwriter's work. Sing along Wednesday on All Things Considered

Journalist Jon Cohen writes for Science Magazine. He just got back from the 14th International AIDS conference where he reported on the AIDS vaccine and anti-HIV drug therapies. His article "Designer Bugs" in the July/August edition of The Atlantic Monthly is about how scientists have the ability to create synthetic viruses in the lab, like mousepox and polio, and the controversies and dangers this presents.

Researchers and activists are in Barcelona this week to talk about the global AIDS epidemic. But another epidemic of similar size is sweeping the globe: tuberculosis. A major push is on to expand TB treatment, and as NPR's Richard Harris reports from Kenya, the treatment is working, even under some of the most challenging conditions.