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Pope John Paul II closes out the jubilee year, shutting the door in St. Peter's Basillica that he opened to mark the beginning of the third millennium of Christianity. Some 25 million pilgrims have visited Rome this jubilee year, to reaffirm their commitment to the faith. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

Tomorrow, January 7th, is Orthodox Christmas. Weekend All Things Considered essayist Madeline Hnatowich-Dean recalls the day when she was eight years old and played the accordion in the Christmas pageant at St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in Stamford, Connecticut.

Lisa talks to Chris Thomas King, a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Louisiana who's on the cutting edge of the blues. Chris Thomas King talks about his music, and about his role in the new Coen Brothers' movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? King's latest cd is Me, My Guitar and the Blues. (Blind Pig Records BPCD 5064)

The 1939 recording by Glenn Miller and his orchestra remains a classic, and one of the most influential songs of the 20th century.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports on The Archers, a popular British radio drama that's celebrating it's 50th anniversary this month. The show started as an extension of the post-war need to boost farm production, but has since gone on to dramatize both the everyday and the exceptional moments of rural life. It's even taken on topical issues such as mad cow disease and genetically engineered food.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports American Airlines is in talks to acquire Trans World Airlines, as part of a complex deal in which American would also agree to buy significant assets from US Airways. No deal is certain and the talks may still fall apart. TWA is the nation's eighth-largest airline. It has struggled for years and would have to file bankruptcy for a third time before any deal could go forward.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris on the rising popularity of folk dancing among sophisticated Parisians. On weekends, thousands of people of all ages pack into balls featuring the folk dances of Brittany, Alsace, Provence and other regions. Partly, this is a way for people to make friends and fight the isolation of modern urban life. It's also a way to assert a distinctly French identity in an age of globalization.

President-elect George W. Bush met today in Austin with top leaders from both parties on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The group talked about the Bush administration's plans for re-energizing the nation's military. As a candidate for president, Bush said military morale could be improved with higher pay and a redefined mission. NPR's Steve Inskeep has this story.

NPR's Jack Speer reports that several major technology companies are proposing new high tech systems for voting.

Host Lisa Simeone talks with Brigadier General James Cross (Retired), who remembers his years as the Chief Pilot of Air Force One during the administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson. General Cross also served as Military Assistant to LBJ.

NPR's Rob Gifford tells us about an former American prisoner of war who after being taken captive during the Korean war, remained in Asia even after he was freed. Now fifty years later he still lives in China.

Film critic Kenneth Turan reviews Before Night Falls.

NPR's Michael Sullivan reports on the Afghan refugee crisis. Even though the border is technically closed, Afghan refugees are streaming into Pakistan, fleeing drought, war and winter. Aid agencies are finding it difficult to cope.

In Atlanta today, Martin Luther King Jr.'s family is marking the King holiday with a new push to change Georgia's state flag. Opponents have long argued the flag's Confederate battle emblem is racist. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.

Host Lisa Simeone talks with Lucy Kaylin, author of For the Love of God: The Faith and Future of the American Nun. Kaylin interviews a wide range of women who live as nuns and chronicles their shift from cloistered to active communities within society. Although nuns are a mixed lot who work in most corners of the world, their numbers, in this country at least, are diminishing.

A massive earthquake hit El Salvador Saturday. More than 400 people are dead. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from El Salvador.

All the pomp and circumstance of Saturday's inauguration may seem like a simple observation of protocol, but what did the inaugural planner do in 1789 at George Washington's swearing in when there was no protocol? Host Lisa Simeone speaks with historian C.L. Arbelbide about how some of the rituals of the inauguration came to be.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, a young poet from San Francisco, revisits Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, and laments the distortion of his message in the current age. His poem is titled, Savage Inequalities.

Host Bob Edwards talks live to NPR's Cokie Roberts about the Senate confirmation hearings this week on John Ashcroft, President-Elect Bush's nominee for Attorney General. The hearings are expected to be contentious.

Host Bob Edwards speaks with Rich Jones of the National Conference of State Legislatures about what might be accomplished and what legislative items might be left behind in the evenly divided U.S. Senate. Jones also discusses state houses around the country which are also evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Harsh winter weather this year means ski resorts have been busier than usual...even in the South. Melanie Peeples reports on skiing as far South as Georgia and Alabama.

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.

Today is the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, and the day was honored at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta with a service that featured remarks from King's widow, Coretta Scott King. We hear some excerpts.

Host Bob Edwards talks with commentator John Feinstein live about the first major tournament on the tennis tour.

Host Bob Edwards talk with Cultural Geographer Derek Alderman about how Martin Luther King, Jr. has been memorialized in more than 500 cities and towns across the United States. Professor Alderman of East Carolina University says the issue of whether to have a street named after King is rarely controversial. More divisive questions include what kind of street it should be, and where the street should be located.