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Matt Groening is the creator of the highly acclaimed animated Fox sitcom The Simpsons. He tells us how the show and its characters evolved, and discusses his role in the production of some 300 episodes. Groening also created the TV series Futurama and still draws the weekly comic strip Life in Hell.

NPR's Daniel Schorr ponders possible changes on the Supreme Court this year.

NPR writers and critics pick the best albums of 2004. Included is music by Modest Mouse, Tinariwen, The Hilliard Ensemble, Brian Wilson, Guy Davis and Wilco.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Theodore Sizer, a former high school principal and the founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Sizer talks about what's wrong with American high schools and how they might be improved. Sizer is also the author of The Red Pencil: Convictions from Experience in Education.

The U.S. trade imbalance with the rest of the world, especially China, is forcing American manufacturers to find ways to boost their exports in order to stay afloat. NPR's Adam Davidson visited two factories in Erie, Pa., that are focusing on niches that cheap labor in China cannot easily fill.

For the first time, scientists successfully use gene therapy to regenerate hair cells in the inner ear and restore hearing in deaf guinea pigs. The results suggest it may someday be possible to use a similar approach to treat deafness in humans.

President Bush is getting a brand new cowboy hat, just in time for his second inauguration. The hat, the second to be made for Bush by Trent Johnson, is a gift from the National Cattleman's Beef Association. Brian Larson of member station KUMC in Greeley, Colo. reports.

The Senate subpoenas some of the biggest names in Major League Baseball to testify before Congress about alleged steroid use. However, current and former stars including Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi and Mark McGuire are reluctant, and the league is challenging the invitations.

An Atlanta golf club's conflict with two of its gay members over spousal benefits for their partners is pitting a gay-friendly city against a conservative state.

Robert Siegel talks to critic Paul Goldberger of the New Yorker about architect Philip Johnson, who died at the age of 98. Johnson was a promoter of the "glass box" skyscraper and designed the AT&T Building in New York.