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The United Nations reports that some 14 million people in southern Africa are at risk of starvation, due mostly to drought and the effects of AIDS. But in Zimbabwe, the food shortage is made even worse by a government land-reform plan that has shut most of the nation's most productive farms. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

NPR's Larry Abramson takes a look at the new technology of self-healing plastics. The technique involves filling plastic with microscopic liquid bubbles that break open to fill in the tiny cracks that occur in plastic under impact or stress. The "healed plastic" retains most of the strength found in the original. Soon, this new type of plastic may be used in products ranging from aircraft wings to the doors of your car.

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.

In the latest Radio Expedition from NPR and the National Geographic Society, Alex Chadwick examines how an ore used in the production of electronics has been linked to the massacre of wildlife at a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Coltan is a metal used in computers and cell phones. The miners who extract coltan have killed thousands of elephants and gorillas for food. (8:39)(S

When Peter Brook was 7 years old, he staged his own production of Hamlet -- using little cardboard figures. Even then, he says, he felt Hamlet could be a little long. Now a legendary director, Brook is staging a shorter version of the play in a minor league hockey arena. Marcie Sillman of member station KUOW reports.

NPR's Jack Speer reports that many businessess are eagerly anticipating the release of U.S. census numbers. Companies use the information to track demographics, helping them to plan where to open branches and to what group of people they'll market their products. The Census Bureau say no one should be worried about privacy, since an individual's information cannot be tracked.

Director Sam Mendes. He made his feature film debut in 1999 with American Beauty which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Mendes also won an Oscar for directing. Prior to that Mendes made his mark directing theatre productions in London (revival of Cabaret and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice)and on Broadway (The Blue Room). He directed the new film Road to Perdition starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law.

Brazilian physicist Marcelo Gleiser is the author of the new book, The Prophet and the Astronomer: A Scientific Journey to the End of Time (WW Norton). In it he explores our relationship to the sky and how it has influenced religion and then in turn - science. He writes, 'one of my goals. . is to humanize science, to argue that our scientific ideas are very much a product of the cultural and emotional environment where they originate'. Gleiser is Professor of Natural Philosophy and professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College.

Finding a young woman who wants to be a "dairy princess" isn't always easy in the fading days of family farms. The winner spends a year touting dairy products. Gregory Warner of North Country Public Radio followed a recent pageant in upstate New York.

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.

Matt Groening is the creator of the highly acclaimed animated Fox sitcom The Simpsons. He tells us how the show and its characters evolved, and discusses his role in the production of some 300 episodes. Groening also created the TV series Futurama and still draws the weekly comic strip Life in Hell.

Iraqis can't get their hands on fuel despite the nation's abundant oil supplies, and the situation continues to drive frustration and even recent rioting. U.S. and British officials say production facilities have been crippled by sabotage. They're also battling a smuggling operation that has sent oil to neighboring Kuwait. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Cirque Du Soleil, the renowned performance troupe, is capitalizing on the success of its ongoing Las Vegas show "O" with a new production for adults only. "Zumanity," which opens Saturday, may be the riskiest show the Montreal-based company has ever produced. Jeff Lunden reports.

Slate advertising critic Seth Stevenson gives his assessment of the new Samsonite luggage ad, featuring a globe-trotting four-wheeled suitcase bouncing from destination to destination to the beat of a catchy samba tune. Stevenson says the effectiveness of the ad lies in its focus on product.

Actor Michael C. Hall plays David Fisher, the gay brother who co-runs a funeral home on the HBO hit series Six Feet Under. The American Film Institute has nominated Hall for Best Male TV Actor-Drama for his role in the series. Hall comes to TV from the stage. Most recently, he was on Broadway as the emcee in Cabaret. Prior to that role, he was in a number of off-Broadway productions.

Host Cheryl Corley talks with author and NPR Commentator Bebe Moore Campbell about her latest book, What You Owe Me. The story of betrayal and reconciliation centers on the hot marketplace for African-American beauty products and takes its characters from the late 1940's to the present.

Democrats accuse the Bush administration of hiding the scope of a post-war Iraq oil contract awarded to a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corp., formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the "operation of facilities and distribution of products" does not represent an expansion of Halliburton's role. Hear NPR's John Ydstie.

The British rock band Supergrass arrived in 1995 with a mixture of '70s glam-rock, wall-of-sound production and sweet bubblegum refrains. Critic Tom Moon of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the group's fourth release, Life On Other Planets, is more in tune with current trends.

Actor, director, producer and comedian Mel Brooks talks about his new Broadway musical Young Frankenstein, the movie and potential stage production of Blazing Saddles, and his long and successful career.

Waiting in long lines means lost productivity, but there can be bigger costs to sloppy security.