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Charles de Ledesma reviews the new CD from Trilok Gurtu, called African Fantasy. Gurtu is a composer and percussionist from Bombay, well known for incorporating the sounds of his native India with other music, like jazz and rock. This CD explores the common musical ground of India and Africa. The Label Is The Verve Music Group.

In the 1980s, Dungeons and Dragons inspired millions of kids to spend their spare time pretending to be wizards and dwarves. A new version of the D&D rule book comes out tonight, and the designers are betting it will lure today's kids away from video and computer games.

NASA has decided to take advantage of the next landing opportunity on Mars and put two robotic rovers on the planet's surface. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports on what will be the the first-ever "twin-rover" expedition to explore the surface, and the first touchdown since last December's crash landing of the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander mission.

The Reform Party opened its national convention in Long Beach California today, still divided over the official standing of presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. Supporters of the firebrand conservative insist he has won a mail-in primary for the Reform nomination, while other party members say he has been disqualified. Buchanan supporters had the upper hand in the convention hall, so the dissenters walked out. NPR's Andy Bowers talks to Noah live from Long Beach.

Researching family history, short-story writer Desiree Cooper turns to classified ads from the 1700s which describe runaway slaves. She wonders if the man who fled wearing a blue suit and carrying a fiddle might be a distant relative.

Janet Babin of member station WCPN reports that scientists at a small company in Ohio have come up with what they see as a solution to a growing problem in many U.S. lakes. Eurasian water milfoil is a weed that grows so large and fast that it clogs the water and makes boating difficult. The company is using a tiny beetle which feeds on the weed to control it.

Noah talks with Sam Norris a biologist with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and a former president of the West Virginia Mycological Association. He says it's been an unusually good year for mushrooms due almost daily warm rains in the highlands of West Virginia. They've collected large amounts and rare varieties including one mushroom which changes to the color blue when picked.

Linda and Noah read from the All Things Considered listener mailbag, including reactions to commentator Carol Wasserman's Aug. 8 essay on the realities of aging.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin that the under the pressure of globalization, the German government is moving to loosen up the country's highly regulated economy. German officials are considering whether to abandon the country's strict regulation of shopping hours. Shops are still forbidden to open on Sundays and must close by 8 pm during the week.

The famous North Beach bookstore founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is about to be named a historic landmark in San Francisco. From member station KQED, Cy Musiker reports.