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Apart from its better-known roles in bluegrass and Dixieland, the banjo was once a sought-after status symbol in late 19th-century America. Young ladies learned to play parlor music on the banjo; there were banjo societies and banjo virtuosi; and manufacturers fought wars over who could make the fanciest banjos. On top of that, this was primarily a northern phenomenon. It's chronicled in a new book, America's Instrument: The Banjo in the 19th Century, by Philip Gura and James Bollman. Paul Brown reports. (7:45) (America's Instrument: The Banjo in the 19th Century is published by University of North Carolina P

Mayor Lenny Curry's top administrator told City Council over the weekend he will file legislation for moving the Confederate monument out of Springfield Park at an estimated cost of about $1.3 million.

Blanton helped research information for The Cuban Missile Crisis. In the book, released documents and top-secret files reveal how close the US came to a nuclear entanglement. In 1987, the National Security Archive filed suit against the US government for failing to produce the documents they requested. Since then there has been more compliance with the archive, especially since the Russian government told the US to go ahead and release the Kennedy-Krushchev letters.

Host Bob Edwards talks to Richard Allen, National Security Adviser under President Ronald Reagan, about the tape recordings he made in the White House Situation Room the day President Ronald Reagan was shot. Most every top administration official was in the room that day, and the tapes provide a rare glimpse of their private conversations about who was in charge, whether the assassination attempt was part of a conspiracy, and what to do about Soviet subs closer than usual to U.S. shores. Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the attempt on Reagan's life. This interview is the first of two parts.

In the final part of her month long series on money, NPR's Susan Stamberg reports on the question of money in marriage and divorce. She focuses on a highly publicized divorce case involving a stay-at-home mother, whose husband was a top level corporate executive. The net worth of Gary and Lorna Wendt was $100 million in 1995, when he filed for divorce. She contested a settlement of 10 million dollars and was then awarded $20 million, plus $250,000 per year in alimony for life. (7:36) (Lorna Wendt is founder of www.equalityinmarriage.or

Vice Premier Qian Qichen is in Washington. He is the highest ranking Chinese official to visit since the Bush administration took office. Qian will meet with the president tomorrow at the White House. China's top concern right now is a decision Mr. Bush must soon make on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Taiwan wants to buy advanced anti-missile technology (Aegis destroyers) but China is adamantly opposed to such a sale. If the sale goes through, some analysts say China will drop the more moderate stance it has recently adopted toward Taiwan. Other analysts say China's views should not be a factor in any U.S. decision to sell weapons to Taiwan.

The program calculates anti-prime numbers used in everyday software. His discoveries won him top prize in the Broadcom Masters, an engineering competition for middle school kids.

Adele is the first female artist to have an album spend 10 consecutive years on Billboard's top 200. She's only the tenth artist to hit the milestone, joining the likes of Metallica and Bob Marley.

Director Brad Bird and actor Patton Oswalt talk about their film Ratatouille. The animated feature tells the story of a foodie rat who becomes a chef in a top Paris kitchen. Bird previously directed and wrote The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. Oswalt is a writer and stand-up comedian.

In the weeks and months immediately after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a working group of top military lawyers considered how to handle captured prisoners. Ret. Rear Admiral Donald Guter was the Judge Advocate General of the Navy at that time.