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Gulf War veteran Louis Jones, Jr., admits he kidnapped, raped and killed a young soldier. He was sentenced to death for the crime in 1995. He says chemical exposure during the war caused organic brain damage, and he wants President Bush to grant him executive clemency. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Jones' lawyer, Timothy Floyd.

Host Scott Simon remembers singer Janis Joplin, who would have turned 60 this weekend had she not died of a heroin overdose in 1970. Joplin was cremated and her ashes scattered at sea.

Frank Browning reports on Hungarian jazz bass player Aladar Pege. Mr. Pege has played through the dark days of Soviet repression until today. He remains a mythic figure among jazz fans.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on what awaits all those death row inmates in Illinois now that their death sentences have been commuted to life in prison.

The $41 Kobe beef patty at Manhattan's Old Homestead Restaurant is the most expensive hamburger in New York City. Is it worth it? Hear from NPR's Scott Simon and Brooke Gladstone, host of NPR's On the Media.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Calvin MacKenzie, professor of political science at Colby College, about the report of the bipartisan National Commission on the Public Service -- a high-level panel of government experts that have issued recommendations on major reforms for the federal government.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) recently introduced the Universal National Service Act of 2003, calling for mandatory military service. Commentator John Ridley agrees and says if the military comprised only rich white males then war would only be a last resort.

The first crop of students have begun a course of study at the Heartland Community College Electric Vehicle Energy Storage training program. Eventually they will go out to repair the growing number of electric vehicles in the community.

The Council on American Islamic Relations is calling for a complete and independent investigation of the killing in Caldwell County, about 40 miles from Austin.

Fidel Castro, now 76, is the subject of Ann Louise Bardach's new book Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana. She believes rapprochement is near for Cubans and the stridently anti-Castro Cuban-American community in South Florida. Bardach speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep and NPR's Tom Gjelten.