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NPR's Chris Arnold profiles a man considered a "social entrepreneur", who gave up a big-city law career to defend death-row inmates and prisoners denied medical care. That lawyer, Steven Bright, goes about his work at the Southern Center for Human Rights with a zeal usually associated with those in the high-tech sector.

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports French voters will cast ballots this month for mayors and city councilors under a new law requiring political parties to field equal numbers of male and female candidates. The idea of mandating gender parity on party lists originally met resistance. The French public, however, has now embraced the idea enthusiastically. Until now, France has had the lowest rate of participation in politics of any European Union nation.

From member station WNYC, Andrea Bernstein reports on a new CD that pays tribute to New York's gay history. A Gay Century Songbook features music about gay life in New York during the 20th century. It was recorded by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus. (A Gay Century Songbook DRG Records 19015)

Will a new, 200-million dollar motor speedway revitalize the fortunes of Kansas City, Kansas? Local officials and residents hope so, since taxpayers have picked up most of the tab for the Kansas Speedway, which can accomodate 75,000 spectators. While some predict an economic boom from the new track, other are not so confident. Frank Morris of member station KCUR reports.

Weekend All Things Considered begins a new monthly feature. It's called Along For The Ride. Each month, we invite a creative person to act as a guest reporter and share with us a special point of interest to him or her. Today, writer Amy Wilensky, takes us to the cheese department at Fairway, a New York City grocery, where cheese guru Steven Jenkins has a passion, if not an obsession for cheese!

A glance at the political news from New Jersey might lead onlookers to think there's a resurgence of corruption in the state. Investigators are looking into allegations against New Jersey's acting governor, Donald Di Francesco. And a list of lower officials -- the Bergen County sheriff, the mayor of Camden, a city engineer in Paterson -- have all made recent headlines with their own scandals. Robert Siegel talks to Daniel Barry, a reporter on the metropolitan desk of the New York Times.

NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports from Chicago on the city school board's new safety policy. It requires that students released from jail or juvenile detention, be evaluated to determine whether they should be allowed to return to their regular school or be sent to an alternative school. The school board says the policy intends to protect other students from violence. Akers visits the "Second Chance" alternative school in South Chicago.

Chicago police officers refusing to comply with the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate have won a temporary victory in court.

Physics professor Vinod Menon was recently sorting through a pile of mail at The City College of New York when he found a box with $180,000 inside. The money had been sent by a grateful graduate.

NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Emmitsburg, Md., that this weekend, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will honor the firefighters who died last year in the line of duty. Every year at this time, the Foundation places the names of fallen firefighters on a memorial at the National Fire Academy. There will be a special vigil this year to honor the New York City firefighters who died on Sept. 11. The names of those firefighters will be placed on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial this time next year.