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Without our interstate highway system, the United States would have far fewer suburbs, fewer fast-food joints, and "just-in-time" production would be all but unknown in America. The second of a four-part series explores how the vast road system has changed America, for good or ill.

The price of gold is shooting up and one modern-day miner has an ambitious plan to get to the ore still left in one of California's boomtown mines. But residents of that town, now a bucolic tourist draw, are wary of the environmental cost.

A group of adventurers has crossed frigid rivers and chased away bears in their quest to complete a 600-mile "unsupported" hike across Alaska. The three trekkers have completed about half their journey, using no outside support and carrying all that they need on their own backs. Alex Chadwick gets an update from trekker Roman Dial.

A Philadelphia newsroom filled with professional skeptics is trying to give new owners the benefit of the doubt. The big-business partnership that is buying the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News include the area's most influential entrepreneurs. Almost any article could generate a conflict of interest, as reporters dig up dirt on their new owners -- or their competitors.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is making the media rounds this week to rebut the latest doping allegations against him. In particular, he is denying sworn testimony from two witnesses who say he acknowledged in 1996 that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.

Senior English and Russian referees have been cut from the World Cup roster, after their controversial handling of previous matches. Graham Poll, who issued three yellow cards to one player in a match, and Valentin Ivanov, who worked the Portugal-Netherlands second-round match, were omitted.

Starting July 1, states are supposed to require all Medicaid recipients to prove citizenship in order to receive or keep their benefits. The provision is intended to purge Medicaid of illegal immigrants. But advocates for the poor have filed a lawsuit on behalf of citizens who simply lack the needed documents.

Technology contributor Mario Armstrong talks with Farai Chideya about the latest attempts by some telecommunications companies to gain greater control over the Internet. The so-called "net neutrality" debate pits delivery companies like Verizon against content companies like Google.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Hamdan case challenges a key part of the Bush administration's policy toward terrorism suspects. A main architect of the policy is Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington -- subject of a recent New Yorker profile by Jane Mayer. She talks with Alex Chadwick about Addington's career and influence.

An American labor group has investigated conditions in Jordanian garment factories and says that foreign workers are being enslaved in sweatshops. Under a free-trade agreement with the U.S., the factories are producing items for Target, L.L. Bean and other major American retailers.

Renee Montagne speaks with award-winning author Hanif Kureishi. Kureishi became popular in the 1980s for his depiction of life in London as a Muslim, and the divided loyalties of leading a modern life within an immigrant community. We ask him how relations in London have changed over the years since he first began writing about the issue.

Farai Chideya talks with Joe Richman, head of the nonprofit radio production company Radio Diaries, and Thembi Ngubane, a young, HIV-positive woman who recorded an audio diary charting her life in South Africa with Richman's help.

The U.S. Congress passes a $70 billion tax-cut package that would extend lower capital gains rates for investors. President Bush says he will gladly sign the bill into law. John Ydstie talks about the tax package with Len Burman of the Tax Policy Center.

Iran's supreme leader says his country does "not need" to hold talks with the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program. But state TV also reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran is ready to hold such talks if others recognize Iran's right to nuclear energy.

Congress is demanding answers from the Bush administration about published allegations that the National Security Agency is secretly collecting the phone records of millions of Americans. Lawmakers and privacy advocates say they're still not being told the full story about the domestic activities of the NSA.

The nation's largest Spanish-language media company has been sold. A consortium of investors has agreed to pay about $13 billion to acquire the company, which reaches into the homes of about 98 percent of Spanish-speaking households in the United States.

Confronted with illegal border crossing in Arizona, the Maricopa County Sherriff's office has turned to a traditional Western solution: the posse. Wednesday night, sheriff's deputies and members of the department's 300-member reserve force were sent to patrol the desert and round up illegal immigrants.

British guitarist and vocalist Romeo Stodart of The Magic Numbers talks about the band's music. The other members are his sister Michele, and Sean and Angela Gannon (also siblings). In sound, they've been compared to early Beach Boys and the Mamas and the Papas.

The past week has brought big changes to CIA headquarters. Former CIA officials tell NPR that there's a growing sense of optimism for the future. In particular, they generally like the choice of Gen. Michael Hayden to lead the spy organization.

Days after a peace deal was signed between the Sudanese government and the main rebel faction in Darfur, refugees are still fleeing their homes. Vanessa Van Schoor, head of Doctors Without Borders, in Nyala, Sudan, talks with Renee Montagne.

Ed Gordon talks with gospel and soul singer Candi Staton about her music career, and overcoming alcohol and domestic abuse. She has a new album, His Hands.

People around the world may lament the United States' disregard for soccer. But some immigrant communities around Southern California have soccer fever. Steve Inskeep reports.

In what may be an unprecedented collaboration, a rare and as yet incurable illness has brought together two unlikely communities: parents of children, and owners of dogs. The two groups are linked by the fatal illness, Batten disease.

Writer Veronica Chambers discusses her latest book, The Joy of Doing Things Badly: A Girl's Guide to Love, Life and Foolish Bravery. In her book, Chambers encourages women to shed perfectionism and embrace experimentation.

The World Food Program says it plans to resume food aid to North Korea. But under the new terms of operation worked out with the North Korean government, the U.N. agency no longer will be able to maintain offices outside of North Korea's capital, raising questions about its ability to monitor shipments.