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Noah talks with Tom Debaggio, an herb grower and writer with early onset Alzheimer's. His wife Joyce and son Francesco also participate. This is the third conversation Noah has had with Tom.

Comic Judy Carter explores how American stand-up and situation comedy has changed in the last few years.

In the first of a two-part series, NPR's Madeleine Brand reports on the new "Supermax" prison in Boscobel, Wis., built to house the most vicious criminals from other prisons. It cost $44 million to build, and yearly operating costs are projected at $10 million. It appears that economic and political considerations played an important part in the decision to build the facility, which has room for 500 inmates.

Comments by a German Bishop on a talk show over the weekend have fueled debate about whether Pope John Paul II might retire his post before he dies. Robert talks with Father Thomas J. Reese, Editor in Chief of the Roman Catholic magazine America, and author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. They discuss church canon, which does allow a Pope to retire if he feels he cannot fulfill his duties. Few have taken such a step. Reese explains what happens if a Pope becomes incapacitated before retiring. Reese's book, Inside the Vatican, is published by Harvard University Press, 1998.

How will this all end? Host Lisa Simeone asks Florida crime writer Edna Buchanan to write a final scene for "The Election That Won't End."

Scott talks to writer Hampton Sides about his new book Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission. It tells of the perilous rescue of American and British Prisoners of War held at the Cabanatuan camp in the Philippines following the Bataan Death March. (11:45) The book is published by Doubleday.

Host Lisa Simeone takes a tour of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian's Museum of American Art with curator Larry Bird, charting the birth and boom of the do-it-yourself art form called Paint-By-Number. She also has a hand in painting an outdoor banner on the Museum's facade, 40 feet up.

Noah speaks with L.M. Taylor, the mayor of Pavo, Georgia about the reason his town is featured in a country music video for Alan Jackson's song, "Little Man." The song laments the demise of small Southern towns, brought on by the emergence of strip malls and major national chain stores. Pavo, a town of 774 people, is a perfect example.

After a seven-year prison term, James went through a rigorous education process including job training, drug counseling and support meetings. James watched others in the program drift back to crime while he struggled to overcome the obstacles that ex-offenders face when trying to re-connect to family and society.

NPR's Tom Cole sits down with blues guitar legend Eric Clapton to talk about his childhood in Surrey, England, his difficult relationship with his family, and why "reptile" is a term of endearment.