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Host Jacki Lyden speaks with Geraldine Brooks of the Wall Street Journal from Sydney. An Australian native, Brooks was asked to participate in the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games. She recounts her service as a Field Marshal in the Parade of Nations.

A few years ago radio producer Dave Isay spent a lot of time hanging out in a couple of flophouses in New York City's bowery district. The result of his time there was an award winning documentary called The Sunshine Hotel. Now photographer Harvey Wang's images of those from the documentary are in a new book called Flophouse and are also on exhibit in a Manhattan gallery. Host Jacki Lyden and Producer Tracy Wahl hooked up with Isay and Wang to search out some of the subjects of that book. They wanted to find out if being part of a documentary and now the subject of a book has had any effect on their lives.

Reporter Alex van Oss reports on a theater production in Arlington, Virginia that shines the spotlight on one of Dostoyevsky's lesser known qualities, his sense of humor. The play is called Someone Else's Wife and the Husband Under the Bed and is brought to life under the guidance of Russian director Yuri Kordonsky.

Republicans in the US Senate currently hold an eight vote advantage over the Democrats. But a third of the Senate seats are being contested in elections this year. Robert talks to Bob Benenson, Managing Editor for Politics at Congressional Quarterly, about the party balance in the Senate, and what might change this fall.

Commentator Darrell West, who teaches political science at Brown University, says this could be one of the most exciting and important elections in four decades. But voters are not paying attention to what could be a very exciting race.

NPR's Tom Gjelten reports that the Clinton Administration today cautiously welcomed Alberto Fujimori's decision to step down as president of Peru and hold new elections. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart called Fujimori's announcement "a step in the direction of full democratization" in Peru. But U.S. officials cautioned that they need more information on the position of the Peruvian military, whose support will be key for the country to move further toward Democratic reform.

Robert talks to Mirko Lauer a columnist for La Republica, the main opposition newspaper in Peru, about Peru's deposed intelligence chief, who was detained today by the military there. Vladimiro Montesinos has been at the center of a bribery scandal. He was suspended from his position over the weekend when President Fujimori "deactivated" the country's spy agency.

United States intelligence agencies have obtained a 1000 page terrorist training manual on CD-ROM. The manual was intended for terrorist recruits and is believed to originate with Osama Bin Laden. There are sections on how to assemble bombs, how to manufacture explosives and the most effective way to kill a non-Muslim. Noah talks with Jack Kelley, a foreign correspondent for USA Today about the case.

NPR's Alex Chadwick examines Australia's national character in the latest National Geographic Radio Expedition. Australia is roughly the same size as America, but there are only 19 million Australians, still in search of their national identity.

NPR's Allison Aubrey reports that the Surgeon General is hosting a two-day national conference on children's mental health.