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The National Urban League releases its annual State of Black America report, which measures racial disparity in the United States. The most noticeable differences are in the areas of home ownership and economic parity -- black earning power is about 73 percent that of whites. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and Robert Bowser, mayor of East Orange, N.J.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu tells about an opera called Violet Fire, based on the life of pioneering inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla lived from 1856 to 1943. While he has been relegated to obscurity, Tesla helped create the bedrock of modern technology.

A new study suggests that our flavor preferences are significantly influenced by the first flavors we taste as infants. Researchers offering infants bitter and sweet milk formulas found that babies can easily get used to a bitter taste if it's introduced in the first months of life. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and Julie Mennella of Monell Chemical Senses in Philadelphia.

Members of the Sept. 11 panel think National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's testimony this week will illuminate what went wrong with U.S. anti-terror policy before the attacks. Republicans hope Rice will rebut Richard Clarke's charges that the White House ignored the growing threat. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR News Analyst Cokie Roberts.

Actor Ricky Gervais stars in, writes and directs the hit BBC sitcom, The Office. The show can be seen in the United States on BBC America. Gervais stars as the self-obsessed middle manager David Brent. The satirical The Office is shot in documentary style and follows the goings-on at a suburban paper company where life is stationary. It was just awarded the prestigious Peabody Award. The second season of The Office is available on DVD this month.

After 18 years as a quartet, the vocal ensemble Anonymous 4 is retiring. Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Jacqueline Horner and Johanna Marie Rose are currently performing their last concerts and making their last recordings. And before they go their separate ways, they're spending an hour with PT to sing music from their newest CD, American Angels. In this first set of songs, "The Morning Trumpet," followed by two versions of "Amazing Grace" — a quiet version and a livelier "camp revival" version — and "Sweet Hour of Prayer."

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Ed McDonald, director of exhibit projects at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, about moving a 252-foot long, 700-ton German submarine to its new home in an underground exhibit hall. The U-505 submarine was captured during World War II off the coast of Africa and has for years been resting outside the museum. McDonald describes how they will move the boat to its new home 1,000 feet away and 42 feet below ground.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the Sept. 11 panel, amid a highly politicized atmosphere fueled by allegations that the White House ignored the al Qaeda threat. White House officials are looking to Rice to vindicate their plans to address terrorism prior to the 2001 attacks. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Larry Abramson.

Former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke says National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the Sept. 11 commission does not change his assertion that the Bush administration's focus on Iraq undermined its capacity to deal with the threat posed by al Qaeda. Clarke speaks with NPR's Robert Siegel.

In Shakespeare's Songbook, a book and CD collection, author and musician Ross Duffin presents a collection of 160 songs from the comedies and tragedies of the great playwright.