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Commentator Andrei Codrescu and girlfriend dine out on rabbit stew and turtle soup. Their meals cause them various pains.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from Berlin that on this day in the year 1516, Frederick of the First of Bavaria introduced a law guaranteeing the purity of beer. The law -- known as the Rheinheitsgebot -- has regulated German brewing ever since. It strictly limits what ingredients can go into beer, so German brewers won't produce beverages like blueberry beer or hemp beer.

NPR's Nina Totenberg has the first of two reports on what to expect when the Senate begins considering President Bush's nominees to the federal bench. Many of the vacancies exist because the Republican-controlled Senate refused to confirm judges nominated by President Clinton. So there is understandable resentment among Democratic Senators, who say they'll apply the same standards and tactics used for the last few years by their Republican colleagues. The Senate Judiciary Committee today meets behind closed doors to discuss ground rules for considering Bush nominees. The meeting is expected to be acrimonious.

Blending into a new city can be a difficult thing in any country, and foreigners living abroad often need to find ways to decompress. Commentator Shai Oster describes the almost religious experience of the morning commute in Beijing.

NPR's Howard Berkes reports on the advertising campaign that's bringing Smokey Bear into the new millennium. The public service announcements alter the bear's famous warning about "forest fire" prevention, to one concerning "wildfires," in order to emphasize that deserts and grasslands are also prone to destructive fires.

Host Bob Edwards talks with the BBC's Charles Scanlon in Tokyo about the man expected to be Japan's next prime minister. Junichiro Koizumi is a renegade in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and is expected to win a second-round vote by party lawmakers Tuesday.

A tornado touched down in Hoisington, Kansas over the weekend, damaging hundreds of buildings. Linda Wertheimer talks with Gloria Adams, a resident of the town who huddled with four people in the walk-in freezer of the Dairy Queen to survive the tornado. All of the building was destroyed, except for the freezer.

Susan Hansen reports on the death of a teenage Vermont girl. The case has exposed a prostitution ring run out of New York City that uses girls who were supposed to be in Vermont state custody.

From Member station WKSU Mark Urycki reports on a new movie set in Australia entitled, The Dish. It's the first feature film to explore Australia's role in the Apollo 11 mission. In the tiny town of Parkes stands a 210 foot radio telescope that helped to capture the weak TV images Apollo 11 sent from the moon.

President Bush this afternoon announced he would proceed with developing a missile shield that would protect the United States from at least some forms of missile attack. The president said the system would be designed to stop a limited number of missiles that had been fired by minor powers, by terrorists or by accident. He said he thought this could be done without withdrawing from the 1972 treaty that banned anti-ballistic missile systems. NPR's Don Gonyea reports from the White House.