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John Ydstie goes to a club called the Birchmere in Alexandria, Va., to hear the opening act, Mary Gauthier. Gauthier was an adopted child, a troubled teen, then a philosophy student, and later a restaurant owner. Now she writes and sings songs. Mary Gauthier talks about songwriting and how it relates to philosophy. (12:30) Mary Gauthier's new CD is called Filth and Fire It's on the Signature Sounds label.

NPR's Liane Hansen talks with soprano Renee Fleming about her new CD Bel Canto, which includes scenes from an opera she's performing at the Met, Il Pirata (The Pirate) by Vincenzo Bellini.

The labor union argues that nurses and other licensed healthcare professionals working at the hospital have been understaffed throughout the pandemic.

Americans vote in midterm elections that could shift the balance of power on Capitol Hill. All 435 House seats and 34 Senate seats are contested. There are also 36 races for governor and hundreds of local ballot issues. Listen to NPR News.

Americans have expressed concern with issues ranging from the economy, health care and national security. But a series of polls by NPR News, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government show that no single issue dominates among voters of this year's midterm election. NPR's Marcus Rosenbaum reports.

Charlie Christian introduced the electric guitar to a wide audience. And even though he died in 1942 at 25, guitar enthusiasts remember his name — and his sound. Now there's a new collection of Christian's work. Tom Vitale reports.

At a rare forest clearing in central Africa, elephants gather to munch on mineral-rich soil. And researchers gather there to learn more about the social lives of the threatened animals — and how to save them. For Morning Edition, NPR's Alex Chadwick reports. (8:07)

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the San Francisco band The Residents, a group that's credited with pioneering punk rock, art rock and techno. They presaged the future of independent labels, music videos and CD-ROMs. So, why have so few people heard of them? NPR's Neda Ulaby came up with some answers.

On Friday, the 16th Party Congress of the Chinese Communist Party -- used by political leaders to lay out their policies for the next five years -- opens with great fanfare, and heavy security. NPR's Rob Gifford reports on the major changes to be considered, and the behind-the-scenes wrangling for power. Read profiles of the outgoing leaders, and the contenders to lead the world's most populous nation.

Pub-goers in London cheer Queen Elizabeth II's announcement that Parliament will soon consider allowing pubs to stay open 24 hours. Currently, pubs must close at 11 p.m. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with London pub manager Charlotte Renick. (This story was corrected on air on Nov. 14, 2002: "It's Thursday, the day we read from your letters, and we start with a correction to yesterday's program. I said that Britain's pubs have closed early, ever since World War II. Our thanks to Charles Day in Bozeman, Montana, Marc James Small in Roanoke, Virginia and Peg Willingham in Arlington, Virginia. All pointed out that closing the pubs early was a World War I innovation, part of the Defence of the Realm Act. Mr. Day notes that the law was "affectionately known to the British' by its acronym 'DORA.' The logic of the pub closings was, he writes, 'to keep factory production levels high. Factory workers, particularly the ammunition factory workers, would be home from the pubs at a reasonable hour so that they would show up well rested on the factory floor the next morning.'"