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Senate debate begins this week on ways to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Fifteen years ago, Congress passed such a measure, only to repeal it a year later under a storm of criticism. NPR's Julie Rovner reports for Morning Edition.

Running 135 miles across Death Valley and halfway up a mountain -- all in the middle of summer -- sounds a bit crazy, if not life-threatening. NPR's Andy Bowers reports for All Things Considered on the motivations of some of the 79 runners who this July competed in what's often called the toughest foot race in the world: the Badwater Ultramarathon.

Writer Max Allan Collins. His graphic novel Road to Perdition is the basis for the film. Mickey Spillane said of the novel, "I know mysteries, and I know comics and Road to Perdition is one great ride!" Collins twice won the Private Eye Writers of Americas Shamus award for his Nathaniel Heller historical thrillers, True Detective and Stolen Away. His comics credits include Dick Tracy, Batman, Ms Tree and Mike Danger.

NPR's Jacki Lyden visits Castle Leslie, made famous when Paul McCartney was married there, and finds an 84-year-old disco-dancing host and his collection of ghostly artifacts.

Songs of longing and despair are a national tradition in Portugal — a music called fado. And a singer named Misia is the reigning queen of the mournful, melancholy musical genre. Misia talks with guest host Jacki Lyden about fado and Portugal's emotional inner life.

Diane Arbus' mysterious photo of girl twins is one of modern photography's most recognizable images. On Morning Edition, as part of NPR's Present at the Creation series, Madeleine Brand has the story behind the famous 1967 photo of sisters who are identical but not the same.

Writer Michael Pollan. His book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World takes a look at four plants cultivated by humans: the apple, the tulip, potatoes and marijuana. Pollan demonstrates that plants and humans have developed a reciprocal, co-evolutionary relationship: do we plant potatoes, or do potatoes seduce us into planting them? Pollan questions the assumption that we are in charge of our agriculture. The book is now in paperback.

All Things Considered asked NPR listeners to send in questions about the conflict over Kashmir, and then posed those questions to South Asia scholars. Hear the experts' answers, and see their suggestions for online resources on the Kashmir region and conflict.

Robert Jay Lifton is professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Graduate School University Center and director of The Center on Violence and Human Survival at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York. He'll talk with us about the psychological impact of the threat of terrorism and the potential for nuclear war between Pakistan and India. Lifton specializes in the study of extremist religions and cults. He's written books on many topics, including the Japanese cult which released poison gas in the Tokyo subways, Nazi doctors, Hiroshima survivors and Vietnam veterans.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a number of CDs devoted to the music of Hoagy Carmichael: Stardust Melody (Bluebird); Hoagy Sings Carmichael (Pacific Jazz); Stardust Melody: Beloved and Rare Songs of Hoagy Carmichael (A-Records); Bill Charlap: Stardust (BlueNote).