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It's hard to imagine a graduation ceremony without Pomp and Circumstance. Music commentator Miles Hoffman stops by Morning Edition to explore the famous processional, which was by Sir Edward Elgar (left), and other marches of the season.

At 21, singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart has drawn an unusual mix of comparisons: Billie Holiday, Beck, Tiny Tim. Critics are calling his debut album — Oh Me Oh My... — a timeless, haunting and irresistible recording. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

Before the war in Iraq, the Pentagon assumed that much of the Iraqi army would survive the conflict and would help with postwar reconstruction. U.S. military planners hoped that surviving Iraqi forces would form the basis of a new national army, which would stabilize the country and protect it from outside aggression. But the war did such damage to the Iraqi military that U.S. occupation authorities have little to work with as they try to reconstitute an army. In addition, they have to contend with a demoralized officer corps and ethnic and religious differences in the ranks. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

As Cleveland's mayor in 1978, Rep. Dennis Kucinich saw his city plunge into financial default. The Ohio Democrat tells NPR's Bob Edwards that event, triggered by his refusal to privatize the municipal electric system, shows he's politically courageous enough to be president. Hear an extended interview.

Music critic Michelle Mercer reviews new recordings from two Brazilian artists: Natural by Celso Fonseca, and the self-titled Blue Note debut by the Tribalistas. She says both will put you in the mood for summer.

Christopher Buckley, the author of Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation's Capital, recently took NPR's Liane Hansen on a walking tour of his adopted home -- a city full of intrigue, history and hidden surprises. Listen to Buckley describe the truth and legend behind "the curse of Lafayette Square," and see photos of the tour.

Public concern is growing that the justifications for a war in Iraq were exaggerated, as those searching for weapons of mass destruction have turned up empty-handed. Commentator Andrea Carlisle ponders the fate of lost weapons of mass destruction.

A harsh new report on the state of the nation's oceans and coastal areas calls for a massive overhaul of the laws and agencies meant to keep those waters healthy. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

As U.S.-led forces continue their search for biological and chemical weapons in Iraq, Congress and the British Parliament consider launching investigations into whether intelligence findings about possible illegal weapons in Iraq were exaggerated to justify going to war. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.

U.S. Army engineers begin excavating a rubble-filled crater in Baghdad that was the site of an April 7 bombing which officials believe may have killed Saddam Hussein. Residents of the area say the former Iraqi ruler's remains were not among those pulled from the devastated home. NPR's Nick Spicer reports.