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After spending three years in Russia covering the country's political and social changes, NPR Correspondent Michelle Kelemen has returned to the US with a reporter's insight into life in the former Soviet Union. She talks with host Lisa Simeone.

Lisa Simeone talks with NPR's Brian Naylor about the more controversial of President-elect Bush's cabinet appointments.

Pioneering journalist Marvel Cooke died this past November at the age of 99. She was the first African-American to work for a major daily newspaper in New York. From her base in Harlem she covered many of the major political and cultural stories of her era. Host Lisa Simeone talks with historian Roger Wilkins, a nephew of Marvel Cooke.

Bandleader Les Brown died of lung cancer this week at the age of 88. For almost 70 years, Les Brown and His Band of Renown entertained US troops and music fans worldwide. In 1940, with a 17-year-old Doris Day on vocals, Brown recorded Sentimental Journey -- the biggest hit of 1945. Brown later joined Bob Hope's weekly radio show and then made the transition to television with him. Host Lisa Simeone has this appreciation.

NPR's Martin Kaste reports that former dictator General Augusto Pinochet continues to defy Chilean courts. Yesterday, he refused to submit to a medical examination designed to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. Pinochet is accused in the disappearance of dozens of his political opponents during his rule. The president of the supreme court today said the high court has the means to enforce its decisions. It's unclear what action the courts might take against Pinochet, although arrest of the aging general certainly is a possibility.

Host Lisa Simeone talks with Lucy Kaylin, author of For the Love of God: The Faith and Future of the American Nun. Kaylin interviews a wide range of women who live as nuns and chronicles their shift from cloistered to active communities within society. Although nuns are a mixed lot who work in most corners of the world, their numbers, in this country at least, are diminishing.

NPR's Jack Speer reports that several major technology companies are proposing new high tech systems for voting.

In Atlanta today, Martin Luther King Jr.'s family is marking the King holiday with a new push to change Georgia's state flag. Opponents have long argued the flag's Confederate battle emblem is racist. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.

A massive earthquake hit El Salvador Saturday. More than 400 people are dead. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports from El Salvador.

Film critic Kenneth Turan reviews Before Night Falls.