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Autism is a disease that often drives people apart. It separates children from parents, and can leave parents feeling abandoned by researchers who offer no cure and little hope. But the MIND Institute, founded by fathers of autistic sons, is trying to change that by making parents key players in the search for a cure. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

The National Park Service unveils a plan to heighten security around Philadelphia's Independence Hall, home of the Liberty Bell. But some businesses and residents criticize the proposal, saying it prioritizes security over liberty. Joel Rose of member station WHYY reports.

The Bush administration proposes a plan that would use the gambling winnings of deadbeat parents to make up for unpaid child support. Under the plan, jackpot or ticket winners would be checked against a national database of deadbeat parents. NPR's Jack Speer reports.

The Martha Graham Dance Company begins its first official season in almost three years after a long legal battle over rights to the late Martha Graham's dances. The company will showcase a spectrum of her work, spanning eight decades of modern dance. Alicia Zuckerman reports for Morning Edition.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with Whitney Dow and Marco Williams, producers/directors of the POV documentary Two Towns of Jasper airing on PBS stations next Wednesday. Dow and Williams talk about how they each directed a separate film crew in Jasper, Tex., during the trials of three white men for the murder of a black man, James Byrd, Jr. He was chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged to death in 1998. Dow's crew of white filmmakers only interviewed white residents of the town. Williams' crew of black filmmakers only interviewed black residents of the town. The deliberate segregation of the film crews allowed residents to speak with a candor seldom seen on camera.

Her new book is A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness. It's about Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned apartheid death squads. Gobodo-Madikizela served as a psychologist on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and she spent many hours interviewing de Kock in prison, where he is serving a 212-year sentence for crimes against humanity. The book raises questions about the nature of evil and the limits of forgiveness.

Ceremonies from Virginia to Oregon are marking the 200-year anniversary of the beginning of the epic journey of discovery by Lewis and Clark. But as NPR's Brian Ceremonies from Virginia to Oregon are marking the 200-year anniversary of the beginning of the epic journey of discovery by Lewis and Clark. But as NPR's Brian Naylor reports, the actual starting point was a fairly routine matter: a letter from then-President Thomas Jefferson to Congress, asking to fund the expedition. See photos from Jefferson's home, Monticello, of some of the re-enactors marking the letter's anniversary.

Bianculli reviews Clone High, a new animated series on MTV.

Bruce Kluger and David Slavin poke a bit of musical fun at the six announced candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. TV's Friends has six fun folks -- could this be the start of something big?

Smallpox vaccinations for half a million health and emergency workers are scheduled to begin later this month. There have been some concerns about the safety of the vaccine for the recipients and the people around them who might also become infected with the vaccine virus. For commentator Anne Burt, anxieties are closer to home. Recently, she caught her daughter singing a version of Ring Around the Rosie, and it seemed ominous. After all, it's a retelling of the story of the Bubonic plague. "All fall down" is the result -- death. But after some research she discovered that Ring Around the Rosie is really a Victorian game, and "all fall down" is a curtsey at the end. Anne Burt won the 2002 Editors' Prize in fiction from Meridian Literary Magazine.