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Brigham Young University's athletic teams are training with a new kind of sports drink: pickle juice. Some claim that pickle juice reduces cramps and benefits athletes during play. George Curtis is the head athletic trainer for BYU. He joins Linda from Provo, Utah to talk about the virtues of pickle juice.

NPR's Barbara Bradley reviews possible criminal and civil court actions that could be taken in relation to the Firestone tire failures. Both federal and state criminal charges seem unlikely. But several southern states are investigating possible civil suits, saying the tire maker should have reported tire failures and suspicions that the products might be defective.

We hear about the reaction in Japan to the Firestone hearings in Congress. Firestone is only one of several Japanese companies whose business practices are under scrutiny. Noah talks with LA Times Tokyo Correspondent Sonni Efron about how Japanese companies are dealing with the recalls within their corporate culture.

NPR's Diplomatic Correspondent Ted Clark reports on the closing stages of the Millennium Summit at the United Nations. Capping today's schedule — a signing by more than 150 world leaders of a final declaration in which they vow to spare no effort to end war, poverty and environmental degradation.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, in the United States for the first time since his last U.N. visit in 1995, has kept a generally low profile. Five years ago, he was wined and dined by the business, media, and foreign policy elite in New York. This year has been different. Castro will be the guest of honor this evening at a church reception, but media and business leaders have shown little interest in seeing him. Tom Gjelten reports that the growing U.S. interest in Cuba does not translate into greater eagerness to deal with Fidel Castro, who is increasingly seen as irrelevant to Cuba's future.

To marks California's 150th anniversary as a state , Bob looks back at the early years of the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush "jump-started" California, made it grow faster than anyone could have expected. We learn how disappointing those early years were for many of the people who went west. This story features commentary from historian Kevin Starr, and dramatic readings from diaries and other documents of the time. (8:15) Kevin Starr is the state librarian of California and author of 8 books about the state, including Americans and the California Dream: 1850--1915 by Oxford University Press (Trade); ISBN: 01950

Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg interviews actor Anthony Quinn, who is being presented this week with the Hispanic Heritage Award.

Scott reads letters from listeners. 2:30.

Linda interviews Julie Bell, lead archaeologist for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado about new sites discovered after a fire last week. Mesa Verde is the nation's largest archaeological preserve, with more than 4000 identified sites.

Commentator Lis Wiehl explains that tribal courts, which operate on many Indian reservations, function separately from the federal court system. These courts have not had to apply the U.S. Constitution directly, leaving out Constitutional guarantees like the right to free legal counsel. But one of the problems with suspending Constitutional protections, is that convictions obtained in tribal courts can be used against defendants later in federal and state courts.