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NPR's Scott Simon takes a moment to note a new animal rights law just past in Austria that prohibits, among other things, cropping your dog's ears.

For country music fans, this year's hot summer hit is 'Redneck Woman' from newcomer Gretchen Wilson. It's No. 1 on the charts and shows no signs of losing steam. Melissa Block talks with XM radio's Jessie Scott about the song and the reasons for its popularity.

When the game of chess spread from the Middle East to Europe, there was no piece representing a queen. When the icon emerged around the year 1000, it was the weakest piece on the board. But by the time Queen Isabel of Spain became more powerful than her husband in the 1400s, the chess queen's power was unmatched. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Marilyn Yalom, author of Birth of the Chess Queen.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to actor Eli Wallach about his seven decades on stage and screen. A remastered collector's edition of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is being released this month, featuring new dialogue by Wallach and Clint Eastwood for their classic roles in the film.

Actor Tony Randall died Monday night; he was 84. Randall, best known for his role as Felix Unger on the 1970s sitcom [The Odd Couple, had] developed pneumonia following heart bypass surgery in December. Randall's career spanned decades on both screen and stage, where he often worked with theater director John Tillinger. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Tillinger.

In the last years of the Depression, government photographers traveled the country to capture images of America: at play, at work, and struggling to survive. The black-and-white images that emerged became emblems of the time. But many photographs were also taken in full color -- and those images are now being released in a book, Bound for Glory: America in Color 1939-43. Hear NPR's Melissa Block.

NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with pianist and musicologist Guy Livingston. He's just released The Lost Sonatas a recording of the collected music of American composer George Antheil, on Wergo Records. Antheil, a self-proclaimed "bad boy of music," burst onto the international music scene in the 1920s with his outrageous Ballet Mechanique.

Tough-guy cop Lucas Davenport returns in John Sandford's latest thriller: Hidden Prey. The author speaks with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about his hard-boiled detective, who seems to be a little older and wiser in his 16th outing.

Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new recording by tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson and drummer Hamid Drake. It's called Back Together Again.

When the animated ogre Shrek became one of the biggest box-office stars in history, Hollywood was bound to bring him back for a sequel. Shrek 2 now attempts to duplicate the cross-generational appeal that drew audiences to the original. NPR's Bob Mondello has a review.