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Two men died this week whose names may not be immediately recognizable, but whose ideas had a real impact on our society.

Reverend Carroll Pickett has stood alongside 95 inmates during their executions in Huntsville, Texas. Host Lisa Simeone speaks with Reverend Pickett about Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to allow injured victims and victim family members in the Oklahoma City Bombing to watch Timothy McVeigh's execution next month. To hear more from Reverend Pickett and other observers of Huntsville's death chamber, you can listen to the radio documentary Witness to an Execution produced by Stacy Abramson and David Isay. Just go to www.soundportraits.org.

Lisa talks with author Adrian House about his new bookFrancis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life. Francis, who lived from 1182 to 1226, started out as a party-boy. At age 24, he underwent a religious conversion, and began a spiritual journey that continues to inspire millions of people throughout the world.

NPR's Jackie Northam reports on members of a wandering band of young Sudanese refugees who are being resettled in the American Midwest. After losing their parents during the country's 40 years of civil war, thousands of orphans streaming into Kenya became known as the 'Lost Boys of Sudan.'

Joey Ramone, lead singer of the punk rock group, the Ramones, died of lymphoma yesterday. He was 49. The Ramones helped to define punk in the 1970s with songs like I Wanna be Sedated and Teenage Lobotomy.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Bush's proposed budget would cut funds used by the Energy Department to protect Russian bomb-making materials.

NPR's Ivan Watson reports on the ship suspected of carrying scores of child slaves from the West African country of Benin. Early today officials boarded the ship, but found no sign of the children.

Host Bob Edwards talks with Rev. Damon Lynch, pastor of the new Prospect Church and president of the Cincinnati Black United Front. They discuss the atmosphere in Cincinnati in the aftermath of last week's violence there.

As part of an ongoing series of conversations with Bush administration cabinet members, Host Bob Edwards talks to Mel Martinez, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Secretary Martinez says making housing more affordable is a high priority. (4:56) Check out more coverage of Bush's cabinet.

Commentator Peter Loge has some fun with President Bush's suggestion that the South Lawn of the White House be used as a t-ball field.