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The Bush and Kerry campaigns are both vowing an all-out crusade to ensure that voting goes smoothly come November. But the legal and technical challenges of the electoral process are already stirring debate around the nation. NPR's Tavis Smiley discusses the issue with Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree and Ted Selker of the CalTech MIT Voting Technology Project.

Scott Simon speaks to Joan Biskupic, legal analyst at CNN and Supreme Court biographer, about Chief Justice John Roberts and his leadership within the Supreme Court.

Scott Simon discusses the NBA playoffs, Brittney Griner's continued detention in Russia, and Shohei Ohtani's awe-inspiring performance at Fenway Park, with Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media.

Most of us know that when the value of the dollar falls, we end up paying more for imported goods. But how else does this affect the U.S. economy? We turned to Mark Zandi, chief economist for the consulting firm Economy.com, for a primer on what the dollar's fall really means.

One of the best ways for a presidential candidate to prepare for a debate is to have someone act as a stand-in for their opponent. Sam Popkin helped President Jimmy Carter in 1980 by taking on the role of Ronald Reagan in mock debates. Popkin, now a political science professor at the University of California at San Diego, talks about what it's like to take part in the process. Hear Popkin and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Our search for the kitchen legacies of this country has uncovered rituals, recipes and now, an archive. We followed a listener's call to the Library of Congress and beyond — and discovered "America Eats," a Depression-era project chronicling the nation's food rituals.

Iraqi insurgents are doing their best to upset the voter registration process for Iraq's January parliamentary vote, and there are also bureaucratic problems. NPR's Mike Shuster reports.

Allegations of racial bias in choosing jury members are being heard once again by the U.S. Supreme Court. We take a closer look at the case of Thomas Miller-El and its potential impact on the often-murky process of selecting juries with Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, and Dan Young, CEO of Directed Decisions, a consulting firm that specializes in helping attorneys select sympathetic jurors.

In the latest Politically Speaking column, Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving wonders whether President Bush is rushing through his second-term Cabinet appointments.

Birth parents tend to have more power -- and more choices -- in the adoption process than ever before. They can choose which family raises the baby and how much contact, if any, they'll have as the child grows up. NPR's Tovia Smith spends time with one 16-year-old birth mother planning to place her child for adoption.

Once prospective parents decide to adopt, the options before them can be overwhelming: Open or closed? Domestic or international? Same race and ethnicity, or different? Negotiating the details is an intensely personal process. NPR's Elaine Korry profiles one Bay Area couple for whom that process led overseas.

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday that potentially invalidates the prison sentences of many federal inmates and changes the rules for mandatory sentencing. The court ruled in United States v. Booker the practice of federal judges adding time to sentences outside of the jury process is unconstitutional.

The Afghan government weighs the details of an effort aimed at national reconciliation with soldiers of the Taliban. In some provinces, the process has already begun.

Newly installed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on the job Thursday, and received a warm welcome from State Department employees. She enters the job after a testy confirmation process during which Democrats focused on Iraq policy.

President Bush hails the large turnout for Iraq's national elections as a success. In an address Sunday afternoon, the president called the Iraqi vote "historic" after millions of Iraqi citizens turned out to elect a national assembly. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and NPR's Tom Gjelten.

Tens of thousands of mourners turn out for the funeral procession of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri was killed Monday when a bomb exploded in downtown Beirut. Nick Blanford of The Christian Science Monitor discusses the ceremony and the rally that followed.

Ever since The Great White Hope left resident theater to Broadway and won the Pulitzer Prize, not-for-profit theaters are developing productions hoping for commercial success.

On the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Boston, party officials and delegates prepare for the process that will see Sen. John Kerry named as the party's candidate for the presidency. Anti-war protesters also began the demonstrations Sunday. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer, NPR's David Welna and NPR's Brian Naylor.

Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry barnstorms through Midwestern states. At some stops, he's made time to meet with small groups still trying to fill out a picture of the candidate from Massachusetts.

Gov. Greg Abbott says the court's ruling in 1982 has imposed an unfair burden on Texas.

In the latest Politically Speaking column, Congressional Reporter Andrea Seabrook finds the national political conventions are more about style than substance.

In a series of essays, commentator Steve Coll reflects on how terrorism binds voters in America, Afghanistan and Pakistan. His new book Ghost Wars chronicles the CIA's covert history in Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden's rise.

The New York Stock Exchange's new CEO proposes changes to the exchange's traditional open-outcry auction process. John Thain says the exchange needs to adopt a more automated system of trading, but auctioneers who work the trading floor see a threat to their livelihoods. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

Two federal judges rule that only poll workers may challenge voter eligibility in Ohio, warning that Republican and Democratic plans would disrupt the polling process. Appeals have already been filed in the key swing state. Hear Janet Babin of member station WCPN.

Efforts to streamline the balloting process by instituting computer and touch-screen voting have met with concerns over security and the lack of a backup system. Hear NPR's Pam Fessler.