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President Bush courted NASCAR fans and potential voters Sunday at the Daytona 500 in Florida. So-called "NASCAR dads" are considered key swing voters in this year's presidential election. Analysts say the group tends to vote conservative on social issues, although Democrats may be able to win votes on economic concerns. Hear NPR's Ari Shapiro.

The five Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination prepare for Wisconsin's Tuesday primary and Sunday night debate. Opinion polls show Sen. John Kerry holding the lead in voter support, as he often has in the string of primaries and caucuses held so far. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Scott Horsley.

Veneration of ancestors, supplication to the gods, and animal sacrifice -- these are among the suite of rituals that form a complicated canon of religious law for adherents of voodoo. NPR's John Burnett investigates what it takes to learn and practice these rituals in the second part of his Radio Expedition to West Africa.

In the final Radio Expeditions story on voodoo in West Africa, reporter John Burnett talks to defenders and critics of the religion. While voodoo is often condemned as superstition or worse, its practitioners say the good it can do for believers far outweighs the bad.

Despite losing to Sen. John Kerry in Virginia and Tennessee, Sen. John Edwards maintains his hopes of making the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination a two-person race. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and NPR's Adam Hochberg.

John Kerry has already begun looking beyond the primaries to a possible race against President Bush in the fall. Commentator Jay Bryant is a Republican political consultant, and he says that - if Kerry is the Democrat's choice - this could be two firsts for the 2004 campaign: the first time both parties' candidates have opted not to take Federal matching funds - and the first time it's been clear so early who the candidates will be.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the most famous practitioner of the a cappella singing style derived from traditional South African isicathamiya music. A quarter-century after its formation, the group gained worldwide acclaim when it collaborated with Paul Simon on his best-selling 1986 album Graceland. South Africa's most famous singing group has a new CD celebrating a decade worth of democracy in its homeland. Hear highlights from the group's performance in NPR's Studio 4A.

Malian guitarist Habib Koite issues a new live album, Foly!. The double-disc release is an attempt to capture the flavor of Koite's live performances, which bring out the many influences in his blend of Afro-pop, from jazz to classical and rock. Music critic Banning Eyre has a review.

Authorities confirm that the white powder found Monday in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is the deadly toxin ricin. Three Senate office buildings have been closed; Senate staffers and Capitol Hill police officers who were near the area where the ricin was discovered Monday have reportedly not been exposed to dangerous levels of the poison. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

As an actress, she's best-known for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies. She's also the author of the bestsellers Postcards From the Edge (which she adapted into a screenplay for the film of the same name), and Surrender the Pink. Like Postcards from the Edge, Fisher's new book The Best Awful is based on her own life. In it, Hollywood actress Suzanne Vale's husband leaves her for another man, and then she is diagnosed with bipolar illness.