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Actor John Malkovich is making his directorial debut with the new film The Dancer Upstairs. Malkovich has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for his work in the films In the Line of Fire and Places in the Heart. His other films include Heart of Darkness, Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire, Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog and Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Malkovich is also a founding member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Egyptian Sayyid Qutb's writings were the foundation for al Qaeda and other radical Islamic movements. But the America he visited in 1949 -- the conservative town of Greeley, Colo. -- doesn't really seem like the soulless, materialistic place that would inspire such hatred of the West. NPR's Robert Siegel visits Greeley to talk about the town as it was and as it is today. Read excerpts from Qutb's book about Greeley, and view photos of the town.

The U.S. Senate releases thousands of pages of transcripts from closed-door hearings held by Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The committee McCarthy chaired in the mid-1950s interrogated political and cultural figures in an anti-Communist crusade. Hear Associate Senate Historian Donald Ritchie.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Extended Play -- Live at Birdland, a new, live double album from the Dave Holland Quintet.

President Bush will soon send Congress a request for $87 billion to fund reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some Capitol Hill lawmakers pledge to approve Bush's request quickly, calling it essential for troops on the ground. But others say the request prompts new questions about the direction of the U.S. mission in Iraq. Hear NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

China's one-child policy often means that parents will abandon any child that is not physically perfect. An American aid worker is helping build a "children's village" that takes in unwanted babies and gives them a chance at adoption. NPR's Rob Gifford has the story, the latest in an occasional series on Americans living abroad.

The Bush administration circulates a draft resolution that outlines a larger role for the United Nations in post-war Iraq. It's an effort to convince more countries to contribute troops and resources to the stabilization of Iraq, but the resolution maintains a lead role for the United States in the country's affairs. NPR's Vicky O'Hara reports.

Commentator Andrei Codrescu laments the hard time non-blockbusters have catching browsers' attention on bookstore shelves. He details the thought-process that a potential reader goes through in making a bold determination if he or she should actual buy a lesser-known work. It is this detail that gives us insight into the difficulties of authors. Codrescu's latest book is It was Today: New Poems, available from Coffee House Press.

Gen. John Abizaid and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz discuss the cost of rebuilding Iraq in a closed-door session with members of Congress. An emergency spending request that could run as high as $100 billion is expected in coming days. NPR's David Welna reports.

Police are searching for at least one armed suspect in connection with the killing of the owner of a gun range in Georgia and his wife and grandson after a robbery Friday evening.