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The fine art of "hacking," or elaborate practical joking, is a storied tradition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Students at M.I.T. have perched a life-size police car on top of a domed building, wrapped an enormous jock strap around the athletic center, and performed a host of other diabolical pranks. Liane speaks with the school's Assistant Safety Officer, David Barber, who is in charge of dismantling these pranks the next day.

Six Tibetan teenagers trek to the top of the 23,000-foot-high Lhakpa Ri peak, on the north side of Mount Everest — a trek that might well be worthy of documenting even if the climbers weren't blind.

A massive heat wave continues to broil many parts of the United States, with temperatures topping 100 degrees for the third consecutive day in many places. And with high humidity and other factors, the heat index shows that the temperatures often feel even hotter.

Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, visits the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in his first official visit outside of Baghdad since arriving in the country last week. Bremer denies reports that the United States plans to postpone the formation of an interim Iraqi government, but does not give a firm date for its creation. Hear NPR's Guy Raz.

Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi talks about Sunday's elections. He has spent the past week urging Iraqis to vote, while campaigning at the top of the Iraqi List slate. He discusses his legacy as interim leader and his determination to keep the polls open, regardless of security concerns.

Rina Sawayama packs a Shania Twain reference, an over-the-top guitar solo, a rebuke of paparazzi callousness and a kiss-off into the space of a glammy, country-pop inspired banger.

Before his own rise up the music charts, Kanye West spent his time producing hits for other top rappers, including Jay-Z. Convinced of the need to display his own unique skills, he released the hugely successful disc College Dropout in 2004.

The Bush administration has made Social Security reform a top priority in its second term. In arguing for partial privatization of the system, the president and his supporters warn of dire consequences unless something is done. Bush's critics say he is arguing for overly drastic measures. NPR Don Gonyea reports.

The cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast after the hurricane could top $200 billion -- roughly the same cost of the Iraq war. But President Bush says the money to pay for it should come from spending cuts, not new taxes.

By 15, Scottish singer-songwriter Amy MacDonald was performing in pubs and open mics in Ireland. Now 21, her album This Is the Life just came out in the U.S. after topping the U.K. charts on the strength of its rich and sometimes dark lyrics.

The city of Atlanta is known for producing top R&B talent. Now coming up in the ranks is Georgia native Anthony David. Farai Chideya talks with the singer/songwriter about his new CD Acey Deucy, the first album release on India.Arie's new record label, Soulbird Music.

After the wave of accounting scandals, business schools added ethics classes. Following repeated scandals involving print and electronic media, five top journalism schools say it's time to rethink the education they provide to aspiring journalists. We discuss how to build a better reporter.

Insurgents fire grenades at an Iraqi civil defense facility as Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, visits. Abizaid was not hurt in the attack, which caused no American casualties. The attackers escaped. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Eric Westervelt.

Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss improving security within Iraq. The meeting comes two days after an explosion at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad killed more than 20 people, including the top U.N. envoy in Iraq. Hear retired Gen. William Nash and Nancy Soderberg, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Testifying before a judicial inquiry, top British intelligence official John Scarlett denies that his office was pressured by Prime Minister Tony Blair's staff to exaggerate evidence showing that Iraq posed an imminent threat to Britain. New polls suggest 67 percent of Britons believe Blair misled the public about the Iraqi threat. Hear NPR's Guy Raz.

A soon-to-be released book by journalist Bob Woodward -- of Watergate fame -- says President Bush asked top military leaders to plan for war in Iraq even as U.S. soldiers were attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan. The allegations were largely confirmed by the White House press secretary. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

An artist in Cologne, Germany, is working to memorialize individual victims of the Nazis. He's embedding thousands of small concrete blocks, each topped by a brass plate, in sidewalks across the country. Each of these so-called "stumbling blocks" bears the name, and fate, of one person killed by Adolph Hitler's regime. Kyle James reports.

The Trilogy, the latest project from French actor-director Lucas Belvaux, consists of three films with distinct plots populated by the same cast of characters. The project has already won France's top critics prize. Each film -- a crime drama, a romantic farce and a forlorn love story -- will open sequentially in U.S. theaters over the course of three weeks. Pat Dowell reports.

Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ has astonished Hollywood by recording blockbuster ticket sales. The Passion remains the nation's top film for a second straight weekend, taking in $53.2 million. In the 12 days since its release, the film has earned a total of $213.9 million. NPR's Kim Masters reports.

USA Today editor Karen Jurgensen steps down four months after the revelation that former foreign correspondent Jack Kelley fabricated stories under her watch. Jurgensen had held the paper's top editorial post since 1999. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with Marvin Kalb, senior fellow at Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.