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NPR's John Neilsen reports that during the Clinton Administration federal use of wiretaps has been up sharply. Now the FBI and Justice Department want to make it easier to monitor conversations on everything from telephones to computers. Civil liberties experts say the changes will not help reduce the terrorist threat.

Cellist Anja Lechner and pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos perform music by Greek Armenian composer G.I. Gurdjieff on a new CD, Chants, Hymns and Dances. The CD also features music composed by Tsabropoulos and interpretations inspired by Byzantine hymns. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel's conversation with Lechner and Tsabropoulos.

Grammy-award winning keyboardist-composer Don Grusin pulled together 18 of the most respected musicians of the day to record an album that incorporates sounds from the jazz, pop and world music scenes. He recently had a conversation with NPR's Allison Keyes about the DVD of the group's performances, The Hang.

Since 1996, Sunny Day Real Estate's Jeremy Enigk has experienced band break-ups, reunions and a widely publicized conversion to Christianity. What remains is a man who's grown up and brought his lovely voice and sweet melodies out from behind layers of blaring bluster.

Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong is denying new allegations that he used banned substances. In sworn testimony, two former friends cite a 1996 hospital-room conversation. They say Armstrong told a doctor he had used "growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone."

Comedian Marc Maron has built a very popular podcast on long, searching discussions with personalities from the world of comedy. Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz talks to Maron about the dark side of comedy, how he started his podcast, and the dying art of conversation.

Conservative lawmakers (including Senator Bob Dole) are angry over a proposal by U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali to raise money for the world body by levying fees on financial transactions such as airline tickets and postage stamps. Trevor Rowe reports.

The Senate panel investigating campaign fundraising today reached a bipartisan agreement on sending subpoenas to some conservative non-profit groups. Democrats want to investigate whether some of the groups ilegally coordinated campaign efforts with the Republicans. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

The White House has so far refused to apologize to the Chinese for the reconnaissance plane incident, a stance that pleases conservatives in the president's own party. But NPR's National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson reports that some want the president to take a still harder line.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Cornwall, England, where the curtain goes up tomorrow on the world's largest greenhouse. The "Eden Project" -- with its tropical rain forest under a giant geodesic dome -- is a huge conservation project for endangered plant species.

Scrutiny of Harriet Miers, President Bush's choice for the Supreme Court, continues, while the president reiterates his support for her. Some Republican senators have expressed doubts about the choice, and a number of conservative commentators have suggested the nomination should withdrawn.

New York Gov. David Paterson named two-term Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand the next U.S. Senator from New York. Gillibrand is considered relatively conservative, in step with her Upstate New York district's rural constituents.

Sen. Sam Brownback, a social conservative who played a key role in recent Supreme Court nomination battles, doesn't deny being interested in running for president. But the Kansas Republican says it's too early to talk about 2008 yet.

Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, is hospitalized for thyroid cancer. Rehnquist underwent a tracheotomy Saturday at a Maryland hospital. The court's conservative leader is expected to return to work next week. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Nina Totenberg.

The Islamist Hamas group is gaining ground against the ruling Fatah movement ahead of Palestinian elections Wednesday. Hamas' popularity has grown in part due to the increasingly prominent role of its female candidates, who are reaching out to conservative Palestinian women.

The French presidential election is no longer the simple two-horse race that political pundits had predicted, as a third candidate, Francois Bayrou, has shot up in the polls. Bayrou, who calls himself a centrist, is running just behind the Conservative and Socialist candidates.

"Adventures in Solitude" closes the band's fine new album without conserving hooks: Opening with a few spare verses and memorable interludes, the song soon blooms into a series of rich, warm-blooded choruses, as Neko Case rushes the spotlight and the strings sweep in.

In April 1975, Bich Minh Nguyen and her family fled Saigon and settled in Grand Rapids, Mich. Her memoir, Stealing Buddha's Dinner, captures what it was like to be Vietnamese in the conservative, largely white town — and the role that food played in her assimilation.

In Fair Game, Valerie Plame Wilson tells her side of the White House scandal over the leak of her identity. The former CIA agent's cover was blown by a conservative columnist after her husband criticized the Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq war.

Both candidates delivered speeches at a summit for the conservative group Americans for Prosperity on Friday. While Mitt Romney seemed at times to be a corporate executive at a board meeting, received with warm applause, Herman Cain came on as a kind of conquering hero, greeted by standing ovations.