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Robert Siegel talks with Alan Sokal, a professor of physics at New York University, about his parody of practitioners of "science studies." He tells how he deliberately wrote an article questioning the validity of measuring physical "reality" using nonsensical phrases, and submitted it to a well-respected academic journal. The editors published it as a serious treatise, not realizing it was written as a joke. (Sokal's article, "A Physicist Experiments with Cultural Studies," appeared in the May/June 1996 issue of Lingua Franca.

Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR's Lynn Neary in Wilmington Delaware, where a panel of Episcopal bishops ruled that church doctrine does NOT specifically ban the ordination of non-celebate homosexuals. The ruling means that a retired bishop who ordained a non-celebate gay man in 1990 will NOT have to face a heresy trial. Today's opinion by a special panel of Episcopal bishops did NOT deal with the church's position on the morality of homosexual relationships.

the GOP is arguing over their budget strategy and health insurance legislation, the Democrats in Congress have unified behind raising the minimum wage... a measure suggested by President Clinton last year.

Canada's armed forces that dates back to early 1993, when they participated in the U-N peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Some Canadian troops allegedly were involved in the torture and killing of Somali civilians. Canadian officers are accused of trying to cover up their knowledge of the affair.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports on Defense Secretary William Perry's visit to Japan, in which he announced a new confirguration of US bases in that country. The plan reduces the amount of land the US military occupies but not the number of troops.

In the first part of a profile of Israeli voters, Robert Siegel speaks to a religious family about next week's elections. This family is in the minority among Orthodox Jews because they support the peace process. Although many religious Jews support Likud candidate Benjamin Netanyahu, the Meverach family claims that he lacks an ideology.

SUNDAY MAY 26,

Commentator Marianne Jennings wonders about people who are addicted to their day planners...they are obsessed with organizing everything in their lives. It takes so much time to keep up with your day planner--there's so much writing and reviewing she wonders how anyone gets anything done...and says we all managed just fine without them.

President Clinton has ordered the sale of U.S. oil reserves, and Republicans in Congress are calling for a repeal of the 1993 gasoline tax. The increase has hit California the hardest... where oil companies must sell more expensive, cleaner-burning fuel to help keep down the state's high rates of air pollution... a gallon of gas in California is selling for as much as a dollar-and-73-cents.

of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Organizers compared it to Woodstock and predicted a quarter of a million people from church groups all over the country would attend -- but the crowd never got that big. Yesterday, Christian rock bands kept the kids entertained... today, the emphasis shifts from music to guest speakers like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.