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Inspiration isn't always a bolt from the blue. Over the next six months, Morning Edition will explore the ways artists inspire each other. NPR's Elizabeth Blair opens the "Intersections" series by examining famous artists -- such as Van Gogh -- who have publicly acknowledged a debt to others.

In the second of a three-part series on the politics of post-Saddam Iraq, NPR's Ivan Watson reports on Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims, long oppressed by the former regime but now feeling the power of their numbers.

Virginia Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Texas Republican Chip Roy say their bill to ban lawmakers from picking stocks is picking up steam. Top leaders have now signed on, showing momentum.

In the 1970s, Rev. Charlie Jackson strapped on an electric guitar and inspired the congregation in his hometown of Amite, La. He also recorded a series of blues tinged gospel 45s that became collector's items. Meredith Ochs reviews a new release, God's Got It, that compiles the 45s on a CD.

Continuing her "No Place Like Home" series, NPR's Susan Stamberg speaks with architect Sarah Susanka, who describes the theory and technique behind designing spaces that feel like home.

Marshall Chapman's father, a South Carolina cotton mill owner, was expecting her to grow into a delicate debutante. Instead, his daughter became a hard-living musician whose songs have been covered by Jimmy Buffett, Joe Cocker, Tanya Tucker and many others. Chapman's new memoir and accompanying CD are called Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller. Hear her extended interview with NPR's Bob Edwards' and songs from the CD.

NPR's ambassador to children's literature, Daniel Pinkwater, brings in the latest book by one of his favorite author/illustrator, D.B. Johnson. Henry Climbs a Mountain is the third in a series of books featuring a bear based on naturalist Henry David Thoreau. Pinkwater says it might be the best picture book he's ever read.

Before Peter Jackson emerged as the successful director of the Lord of the Rings movies, most of his early films were low-budget efforts that offered a mixed bag of characters and scenarios. Hear NPR's Neda Ulaby and Washington, D.C., video-store clerks Scott Mueller and Adam Robinson.

The Iraqi National Orchestra performs with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. The visit is financed by the U.S. Department of State, and President George Bush is expected to attend. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson has spent more than 20 years writing a cycle of plays that chronicle black life in 20th-century America, decade by decade. For Intersections, a Morning Edition series on artists and their inspirations, the playwright discusses how he first found the language of the black experience in blues legend Bessie Smith.