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Host John Ydstie talks with Pamela Haag about spawning new interest in technology among women and girls. While the number of technology jobs is skyrocketing, the number of women interested in those jobs is on the decline.

NPR's Richard Harris reports from Bangkok that Thailand is leading the world in testing AIDS vaccines. That's because the nation has a strong scientific tradition, a good medical infrastructure, a willing populace and the political backing to conduct studies involving thousands of volunteers. Many of these ingredients are missing elsewhere in the world, where AIDS vaccines are more desperately needed.

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews the movie X-Men, which opens nationally in theaters today. Based on the popular Marvel comic book series, the cast includes Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Francis Xavier and Anna Paquin as Rogue. The film is directed by Bryan Singer the man behind the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports on the newly signed trade agreement between the United States and Vietnam, which will open the two countries' markets to each other and encourage bilateral trade. It's the first diplomatic agreement signed by the countries since the end of the Vietnam War. Congressional approval of the trade pact is expected.

In the second part of her month-long series on celebrity gardens, NPR's Ketzel Levine visits the home of T. Coragghesen Boyle in Montecito, California. Boyle is the author of eight novels and several short story collections. Levine describes his work as 'dark and quirky,' and says, He's not so much a gardener as a referee among the thousands of plants in his jungle."

NPR's Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that, when it comes to taking action, state governments, rather than the federal government, are being much more decisive. Shorr says that Washington seems almost paralyzed, at this point, by special interests and lobbying money.

Nancy Marshall reports on the long-running dispute over how and whether slavery should be represented at Civil War battlefield sites. Congress recently passed an Act requiring that exhibits on slavery be placed at all Civil War battlefield visitor centers.

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Judy Pozar from Leverett, Massachusetts. She listens to Weekend Edition on member station WNPI, Amherst.)

Liane reads letters from listeners.

NPR's Melissa Block reports on the race for the Senate in New York State. Both Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, and GOP Congressman Rick Lazio are taking to the streets, and to the airwaves, to try to drum up votes.