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As the Second Combat Brigade of the Army's Third Infantry Division faces the daily challenges of occupying Iraq, a shortage of Arabic interpreters causes communications problems. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

American military forces stage a major raid on a downtown Baghdad villa, killing several Iraqis. U.S. officials make no immediate comment on the target of the raid, but neighbors suspect the troops were looking for Saddam Hussein. The raid caps the deadliest weekend yet for U.S. troops since major hostilities ended. NPR's Eric Westervelt talks to NPR's Jacki Lyden.

On the whole, Kansas has never really been thought of as a driving challenge. A glance at a state road map reveals a grid-like layout with relatively few twists and turns. Doctoral student Brandon Vogt knew that from personal experience. He frequently drove the width of the state, making the trip from Boulder, Colo., to Colombia, Mo. And he began to wonder just how flat Kansas really was. Vogt's research now confirms his suspicions: Kansas really is flatter than a pancake. Robert Siegel talks with Vogt about his findings, which are published in the Annals of Improbable Research.

The 1862 Homestead Act provided 160-acre parcels of land to settlers willing to populate the Western United States. With many original homestead towns dying, two senators have proposed new homestead legislation to revive the Great Plains. NPR's David Welna reports from the Capitol.

Poet Tim Seibles celebrates the irrepressible force of nature in his poem "Fearless," recorded this week at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival at Hillstead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut.

Michele Norris talks with Valerie Lewis of Hicklebee's Bookstore about what makes for a good children's book. We've chosen three books that caught our attention this summer. For kids age 4 and under, we suggest Snuggle Puppy: A Love Song, by Sandra Boynton (Workman Publishing). For kids age 4 through 9, there is Toni and Slade Morrison's book, Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper? (Scribner. And for young adults there is Georgia Byng's Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism (Harper Collins). Valerie Lewis is the author of Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children: A Lively, Opinionated Guide (Avon Books). She also runs Hicklebee's Bookstore in San Jose, Calif.

Host Steve Inskeep speaks with Jim Clupper, a librarian in Islamorada, Fla., about the town's monument to the victims of the nation's worst hurricane on record, which hit the Florida Keys in 1935. The memorial to the hundreds of victims is one of the sites featured in a book about not-so-famous, but noteworthy sites across the country catalogued in a book called James Dean Died Here: The Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks. (# Santa Monica Press; ISBN: 1891661310.)

Two U.S. soldiers are killed when their convoy comes under attack in northern Iraq. Recent attacks on American soldiers have prompted the U.S. Army to adopt an informal system of reward and punishment. Soldiers hand out food and water in neighborhoods free of attacks, while they set up roadblocks and conduct searches in areas where violence persists. Hear NPR's Eric Westervelt.

The White House releases an eight-page section of a larger document outlining the basis for a now-discredited claim that Saddam Hussein's regime sought to purchase uranium from Africa in an effort to develop nuclear weapons. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Tom Gjelten.

Three soldiers from the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division were killed today in a grenade attack while guarding a children's hospital near Baghdad. At least one Iraqi bystander was injured. Eight U.S. soldiers have died since U.S. forces announced the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons. NPR's Ivan Watson reports.