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Christopher O'Riley, host of NPR's From the Top, considers Elliott Smith to be one America's greatest songwriters. Smith died in 2003 before ever achieving massive fame. O'Riley's latest release, Home to Oblivion, is a classical translation of Smith's work.

In 1959, jazz pianist Dave Brubeck topped the pop charts and shook up the notion of rhythm in jazz with an odd-metered song called "Take Five." On the occasion of its golden anniversary and a new reissue of Time Out, Brubeck explains why it was such a hit.

President Bush's top getaway, his ranch in Crawford, Texas, is also the place where Laura Bush seems to find the most solace. NPR's Ketzel Levine gets a rare tour of the ranch with the first lady, who discusses her efforts to restore native grasses and plants to the 1,600-acre property. See photos of wildflowers at the Bush ranch.

One of the world's top female wrestlers is featured in this week's installment of the Weekend Edition Sunday summer reading series. Toccara Montgomery will compete in Athens in the 72-kilogram weight division. She talked about books with NPR's Liane Hansen before leaving for the Summer Games.

Folk artist Mose Tolliver's subjects were nature, people and animals. His medium was house paint. His canvasses were cabinet doors and discarded table tops. His paintings put him at the forefront of the Outsider Art movement.

The Senate Banking Committee grills top regulators and several of the nation's largest lenders about problems with sub-prime mortgages — and what regulators did and did not do to address them. About 14 percent of outstanding subprime loans are now delinquent by 30 days or more.

The newly released "positive experience index" of 138 countries finds that people in Paraguay had the rosiest outlook (again). The U.S. made the top 20 in the annual Gallup index.

The Obama administration has asked its top lawyer to investigate how the name of the CIA station chief in Afghanistan showed up on documents distributed to reporters.

SplashData, an Internet security services firm, has released its annual list of 25 worst Internet passwords. Topping the list: "123456" and "password."

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey's visit comes as the U.S. prepares to deploy 1,500 military advisors to Iraq.