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NPR's Andy Bowers reports that naturalist John Muir is back. Or so it seems. A man who has played Muir on stage for decades has just become a California county supervisor representing the Yosemite Valley... where he plans to take up Muir's environmentalist causes against a slate of property rights advocates.

President Bush has been defending his tax cut proposal by accusing his critics of engaging in "class warfare." NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr says that when the president invokes the phrase "class warfare" he does so in defense of the wealthy.

Host Michele Norris talks with Judith Richards Hope about her book Pinstripes and Pearls: The Women of the Harvard Law Class of '64 Who Forged an Old Girl Network and Paved the Way for Future Generations. Hope recounts the experience of the 15 women in her graduating law class. Each went on to lead a powerful and interesting career.

NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the White House plans to push harder to bridge the gap between Venezuela's president and opposition forces that want him out, and end the opposition strike that's paralyzed Venezuela's oil industry. The Bush administration wants Latin American leaders to join the effort. Opposition forces have been striking for more than six weeks against President Hugo Chavez.

For years, Japan has been trying to gain a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. NPR's Eric Weiner reports that the current Japanese government is pushing even harder. They believe that Japan's chances have now improved, due in part to its greater engagement in the international community.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reports on Robert Phillip Hanssen, the man arrested Sunday in Virginia on charges of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia. A 27-year veteran of the FBI, Hanssen has allegedly been selling vital U.S. national security secrets for the past 15 years. If convicted, Hanssen faces the death penalty.

El Salvador is trying to dig out from under the rubble left by Tuesday's earthquake which killed at least 274 people. Many more are missing, and over 100,000 are homeless. Host Bob Edwards speaks with Gino Lofredo, director of El Salvador Catholic Relief Services, about rescue and relief efforts.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports on the Bush nominee for Secretary of Interior. Gale Norton is a staunch supporter of state's rights over federal regulation and an advocate of so-called free market environmentalism, who's adherents believe the government should provide financial compensation to landowners for whom environmental laws restrict the use of their land in any way.

As the Clinton Administration prepares to leave Washington, NPR's Nina Totenberg examines the career of the nation's first female Attorney General, Janet Reno, and how she's survived eight turbulent years. Reno has held the post longer than anyone in the last 150 years. (12:30)Check out Nina's entire interview with Janet Reno.

NPR's Peter Overby reports Congress will have a busy week of confirmation hearings for President-elect Bush's cabinet nominees. Hearings for Mr. Bush's choices of John Ashcroft for Attorney General and Gale Norton for Interior Secretary are expected to be contentious. But other nominees, such as Tommy Thompson as Health and Human Services Secretary and Christie Whitman as EPA Administrator are likely to sail through with few snags.

Charles de Ledesma reviews the new CD from Ian Pooley called Since Then. Pooley is a techno-house musician from Germany, who has been getting a lot of attention for his particular brand of dance music, which is easy listening, light and breezy. (3:15) Since Then, by Alan Pooley is on the BMG-V2 label.

Tom Trowbridge reports that the governor of New Mexico is championing a bill that would make it legal to possess small amounts of marijuana in the state. The measure is now before the state's legislature. Lawmakers from both parties are lobbying for the bill, which if it passes, will be the first time the possession of marijuana has been legalized in 20 years.

Host Melissa Block talks with Houston singer/songwriter Eric Taylor, whose country-folk songs have been called "little movies." He's got a new album out, Scuffletown, and he says he enjoys writing songs like stories -- as long as he doesn't give too much away to the listener.

NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports on the Bush administration's warning to Russia not to resume selling weapons to Iran. Secretary of State Colin Powell met yesterday with Sergay Ivanov, Secretary of Russia's Security Council. He said Russia is only selling 'defensive' weapons -- those may be considered 'destabilizing' by the U.S.

Michael Harvey created the A&E cable show Cold Case Files, a documentary series that follows forensic experts and detectives as they investigate long-unsolved murder cases. Harvey has also written a novel, The Chicago Way.

Hollywood special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull has died. He brought to life the impossible landscapes in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner.

The Matrix Reloaded, the long-anticipated sequel to the Matrix, arrives on movie screens Thursday. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne reprise their roles as leaders of a human rebellion in a machine-ruled dystopia. Critic Bob Mondello reviews the film.

NPR's Phillip Davis reports that the Federal Aviation Administration announced new measures to scrutinize safety at Valujet. The measures include a review of any operational incidents reported on Valujet planes in the past, as well as an inspection of every plane in the airline's inventory. A Valujet DC-9 crashed in the Florida Everglades Saturday, killing 110 people.

NPR's Richard Harris reports that Philip Morris today proposed voluntary measures to reduce teen smoking. The tobacco company said it would agree to several measures, including a ban on cigarette vending machine sales, if the Food and Drug Administration dropped its plans to institute federal regulations.

Today is the deadline for hemophiliacs who acquired AIDS from tainted blood products to join a class action suit that would gain them 100,000 dollars in compensation. Critics of the settlement say this class of AIDS patients is being railroaded into accepting less money than they might receive from individual lawsuits. NPR's Vicky Que reports.

Commentator Bob Garfield was recently in Pittsburgh, and decided to check out the telephone information service provided by the University of Pittsburgh. The fact line will answer virtually any questions, as he found out...especially if your question involves where to get a class schedule or when spring break begins...but the student employees will also find out the meanings of obscure words and answers to trivia questions if you ask.

NPR's Anne Garrels reports from Moscow that the Russian national security chief, Alexander Lebed, is back in Chechnya trying to stop the most recent fighting. This second trip is raising hopes that he can close on a deal to end the war...a war that has killed at least 30-thousand people and created more than half-a-million refugees.

Jim Harrison adds "memoirist" to his lengthy resume with his most recent book Off to the Side. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with the prolific writer of poems, novels and screenplays about growing up in the Upper Midwest, and the perception that he's a "manly" man. (Off to the Side: A Memoir is published by Atlantic Monthly Press; ISBN: 0871138603.)

A new major exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles called "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution" includes works from 117 artists from 21 countries. The show explores the years between 1965 and 1980.

More details have emerged about the man who allegedly killed five people in Norway with a bow and arrows earlier this week.