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The 19th-century actress Sarah Bernhardt is feted at The Jewish Museum in New York City. Co-creators Carol Ockman of Williams College and Kenneth Silver of New York University tell Scott Simon about the exhibit.

Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, testified for the first time on Wednesday at his trial in Baghdad. He called the proceedings a "comedy." The judge closed the session to the public when Saddam refused to follow orders.

John Taylor writes about the formative days of the National Basketball Associaton in The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball.

Saddam Hussein takes the stand and launches into a political speech, praising the insurgency and urging Iraqis to halt sectarian violence. Reporters are ordered out of the chamber when Saddam ignores the judge's orders to confine his statements to the charges against him.

Okkervil River is a body of water near St. Petersburg in Russia. It's also the name of a band based in Austin, Texas. Its songwriter and singer draws from the primal violence heard in some traditional folk tunes and the blues.

Puzzle master Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. (This week's winner is Margo Porras from San Diego, Calif. She listens on member station KPBS.)

Just in time for the change of the season, music commentator Miles Hoffman considers the lingering reputation of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring as the shocker that altered the art world. The work has been called "one of the most daring creations of the modern musical mind."

As presidential candidates deliver their messages across the nation, the author of "Born in the U.S.A." and "The Rising" is traveling the country delivering one of his own. The touring rocker talks about mixing music and politics.

"Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it's not my name — or, it's not the reality," Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah said, in a clip from an upcoming documentary.

R.E.M. isn't exactly religious, but spiritual themes do creep into its music. Singer Michael Stipe says he comes from a "place of faith," and that generations of men in the Stipe family have been Methodist ministers. Widely billed as R.E.M.'s best album in ages, Accelerate takes inspiration from religious issues.