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Host Howard Berkes talks to Historian Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, about her research into the countries of origin of African-Americans. While preparing her 1992 book, Africans in Colonial America, Hall discovered court documents that indicated where enslaved Africans said they came from. The information was overlooked for more than 200 years, largely because the documents were in French or Spanish. Hall's findings are of particular interest to African Americans who want to trace their ancestry.

NPR's Scott Horsley reports on a commercial database that keeps track of millions of Americans who have bounced checks. More than 85-thousand bank branches subscribe to the database, called Chexsystem, and use it to screen potential customers. But critics say a single bad check can place someone's name on the database, and once listed, it's unlikely they'll be able to open an account for up to five years.

NPR's Eric Weiner reports that Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid handed over the daily running of the government to his deputy Megawati Sukarnoputri. Wahid made the change in an effort to appease top legislature who accuses him of failure to lead the country out of years of economic and social crisis.

Turns out the most popular TV star in China is actually Canadian: Mark Rowswell's character, Dashan is adored by millions of Chinese fans, and NPR's Rob Gifford reports he's the first foreigner to be accepted in an elite group practicing the art of Chinese comedic language.

Leonard and Phil Chess were two Polish immigrants who started a record company and gave us the sounds of post war urban America - from Muddy Waters' blues, to Chuck Berry's rock & roll, to the jazz sounds of Gene Ammons and Ramsey Lewis. Biographer Nadine Cohodas tells Liane the story of Chess Records. Her book is called Spinning Blues into Gold (St. Martins Press) (17:00).

Jacki speaks with NPR's Washington Editor Ron Elving about what presidential candidate Al Gore will need to do to overcome his opponent's double-digit lead in the polls. On Tuesday Gore is scheduled to announce his choice for running mate.

A note on a lawsuit stemming from the use of a picture of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara in a vodka advertising campaign. Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, who took the photo in 1965, still lives in Cuba, and has filed suit against the British ad company representing Smirnoff Vodka for the use of the picture.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem on the uproar caused by an orthodox rabbi's derogatory remarks about Arabs, and about Jews who died in the Holocaust. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the leader of Israel's ultra-orthodox Shas party , has been busily trying to backtrack on his charges over the weekend that Arabs were unfit to live with or near and that the Jews who died in the holocaust were "reincarnated sinners," or Jews whose secular ways had offended God. In one single sermon he offended both Israelis and Arabs. Yosef's part was until recently a part of the governing coalition.

NPR's Tovia Smith profiles the man Al Gore has asked to join him on the Democratic ticket. Joseph Lieberman began life as the son of a liquor store owner who never went to college. But he studied hard, got a scholarship to Yale and then attended law school there. After that it was the state legislature, the state attorney general's office and an upset win over a senior Republican senator in 1988. Now, thanks to his reputation for religious commitment and moral fiber, Lieberman suddenly finds himself on the national stage.

Linda talks to Abe Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), in New York City, about Al Gore's choice of Senator Joseph Lieberman for the Vice Presidential slot on the Democratic presidential ticket. Lieberman is an orthodox Jew, and Foxman discusses what this choice means for the American Jewish community.