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Scott Simon speaks with author Percival Everett about his latest novel, "The Trees."

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome that Pope John Paul the Second plans to beatify two of his predecessors next month. The two popes who will be elevated on the ladder toward sainthood influenced the Roman Catholic Church in very different ways. Pope Pius the Ninth is regarded by many as an arch-conservative, known for promulgating the doctrine of papal infallibility. He's also known as the pope who insisted a Jewish boy in Rome be raised a Catholic, against the wishes of the boy's parents. Pope John the Twenty-third, by contrast, is renowned for liberalizing the Church with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Commentator Paul Raeburn says Detroit should stop worrying about making environmentally friendly automobiles and start making cars with fins.

Still enjoying the lift provided by his speech at the Democratic national Convention, Vice President Al Gore campaigned through the Midwest this week in an open-collared shirt and an upbeat mood. NPR's Anthony Brooks reports that Gore is borrowing heavily from his father's populist campaign style and, for the moment at least, it seems to be working.

Russia has released of a Hungarian World War Two prisoner after 53 years. Andras Tamas had been diagnosed as psychotic by his captors, and ended up in a Russian psychiatric hospital. Two weeks ago, the head of the Hungarian National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology brought Tamas home to Hungary. Robert talks with Giles Whittell, the Moscow Bureau Chief for The Times of London, about his visit with Tamas in Budapest.

Scott Simon talks to John Crockett, who just translated from Italian a 19th Century book about British colonialism in New Zealand, which the British government suppressed, and then destroyed, when it was first published. The book, called History of New Zealand and Its Inhabitants is a scathing critique of the effects of British colonialism on the native Maori people. It was written by an Italian missionary named Dom Felice Vaggioli.

One of several tax cuts passed by Congress this summer -- a repeal of the tax on estates -- was formally dispatched from Capitol Hill to the White House today -- but not by the usual means. The document made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue on board the tractor of Lynn Cornwell, a cattle rancher from Montana. President Clinton has said he will veto the repeal, and Congress is not expected to muster the votes to override him. But Congressional Republicans are determined to keep the issue in the public eye. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

Robert talks about the state of the U-S Military with Gideon Rose, Olin Sr. Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council for Foreign Relations, and Senior Editor for Foreign Affairs magazine. Also joining the conversation is Andrew Bacevich (BAY-suh-vihch), Professor of International Relations at Boston University.

P.S.One Contemporary Art Center in a grim industrial section of Queens, New York has a different kind of summer offering on display - called Dunescape. It's like a day at the beach. From member station WBGO in Newark, NJ, Andrew Meyer has an audio post card

Host Renee Montagne talks to Irish Times Reporter Chris Anderson about the latest developments in Northern Ireland. British troops and police have stepped up patrols in Belfast after three killings this week. Authorities suspect that all three killings are the result of sectarian feuding.