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NPR's Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on a case before the Supreme Court. Tobacco companies are challenging a Massachusetts law that would limit outdoor advertising for their products. They say it's a violation of the right to commercial free speech; Massachusetts says its law is written carefully to prevent the companies from marketing to children.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on today's arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court over limits imposed on tobacco advertising by the state of Massachusetts. At question is whether the state has the power to restrict ads for a product that is legal for adults, illegal for children, and dangerous and addictive for everyone.

Americans spend millions on beauty products, trendy clothes, and plastic surgery. Is America obsessed with beauty? That's a question filmmaker Darryl Roberts explored in his new documentary, American the Beautiful.

NPR's Allison Aubrey examines the danger that common food allergies pose to some Americans. Common allergens, such as peanuts and certain grains, are often unlisted as ingredients on food packaging, or contaminate other food prepared in the same factory. Such problems lead to product recalls every year and have prompted the Food and Drug Administration and food processors, to find ways to test for allergens.

The Edward Albee play featuring one of American drama's most notorious married couples returns to Broadway. Bill Irwin plays George, and Kathleen Turner plays Martha in the new production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Maurice Sendak, best known as the author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are, also created the sets for a 1983 production of the holiday ballet The Nutcracker. He joined Bob Edwards to talk about his collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The original E.T.A. Hoffmann story, with Sendak's illustrations, has been reissued.

Oil prices fall to their lowest level in four months as traders grow confident that war-related damage to Persian Gulf production will be limited. Some oil wells were set ablaze by Iraqis, but U.S. and British forces have seized key terminals in southern Iraq. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

In the first of a four-part series on the Wal-Mart chain, NPR's Wade Goodwyn reports that the retail giant has its roots in small town capitalism. The company has now developed one of the most sophisticated information management and product distribution systems in the world.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is presenting a two-play cycle called Continental Divide. The David Edgar production portrays a governor's race from the separate perspectives of the Republican and Democratic parties. Dmae Roberts reports.

In Brazil, a theater director is charged with indecent exposure for his unusual response to an unhappy audience. Responding to a rain of boos and catcalls, director Gilbert Thomas mooned the audience of a production of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

Twenty years ago, composer John Cage premiered a composition called "Apartment House 1776" which brought together four cultures -- Native American, Jewish, African and White Anglo-Saxon Protestant -- and situated them under one roof. Makota (mah-KOH-tah) Little Eagle remembers her father, Swift Eagle, who was part of that production.

Noah Adams talks with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, who's happily playing the blues at 72. He has a new album out called Long Way Home. Gatemouth is on the album by some new and old friends like Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Ry Cooder and Maria Maldon. [GITANES JAZZ PRODUCTIONS] (6:00) (IN S

NPR's John Ydstie reports the President's new team of economic policymakers are not expected to take the country in any surprising new directions. The emphasis will be on figuring out a way to balance the federal budget while trying to make investments, particularly in education, that will allow the country to increase productivity and living standards in the future.

NPR'S Elaine Korry reports on the newfound attention to the global problem of child labor. The Clinton Administration wants to make U.S. retailers responsible for making sure the products they sell aren't the fruit of child labor. But retailers counter that, the nature of the global economy is such that, it's impossible for them to monitor the practice, much less stop it.

As the FDA adds more restrictions on cigarette sales and advertising, tobacco companies are coming up with unique ways to attract new smokers. Cigarette companies are coming to nightclubs with offers to sponsor bands and help them pay for advertising. In exchange, they get exclusive rights to market their cigarettes inside the clubs, even using club employees to push their products.

Businesses are beginning to feel the sting of California's electricity crisis. By one estimate, the emergency cost the state 1.7-billion dollars in lost wages, sales and productivity last week alone. But opinion is divided on whether the harm will be long-lasting or merely a temporary annoyance to a resilient and economically powerful state. NPR's Elaine Korry has the story.

During a decades-long struggle to stay alive, America's regional theaters have produced some of the country's most innovative productions. As the fringe becomes mainstream, increased success carries its own threat.

Google keeps on rolling out new products -- the latest is a full-text search program that scours a computer -- and all of them are free. And the company's stock is still sky-high. New York Times technology columnist David Pogue discusses the company's continued success.

The state of Alabama forbids the sale of sex toys, a restriction that was recently upheld in federal court. Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick joins NPR's Noah Adams to talk about the constitutional issues involved in buying and selling so-called adult products.

Day to Day looks back 60 years to the execution of George Stinney Jr., the youngest U.S. convict since the 1800s to be put to death. Karen Callahan and Eliza Bettinger of the independent production company Sound Portraits produced the story.