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Leon Kagarise indulged his passion for country music by dragging his bulky tape recorder to outdoor music festivals in rural Maryland in the 1950s and 60s. His collection now includes thousands of live recordings from the golden years of country and bluegrass music. Hear Johnny Cash and other performers, and see photos from the concerts.

Jane Turner Rylands' first book, Venetian Stories, is a fictional journey into the heart of Venice. It's a series of stories about the people who live in the Italian city, drawn from the 30 years the author spent there. Hear Rylands and NPR's Lynn Neary.

Bob Hope, master of the one-liner and world-famous comedian, dies of pneumonia at 100. A star in vaudeville, radio, television and film, Hope helped define the monologue. NPR's Lynn Neary asks visitors at the Library of Congress' Bob Hope exhibit for their thoughts on Hope's passing. And NPR's Michele Norris talks with longtime Hope writer Larry Gelbart.

In Chicago, doctors and former patients struggle to save the Cook County Hospital from the wrecking ball. The county agreed in 1988 to tear down the 89-year-old building once a new, state-of-the-art medical center was built next door. Hear Jay Field of Chicago Public Radio.

Oscar-winning British director John Schlesinger, whose films Midnight Cowboy and Bloody Sunday featured unlikely heroes who helped bring homoerotic themes into the open, died Friday in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 77. NPR's Neda Ulaby offers a remembrance.

N!xau, the Kalahari bushman who wooed audiences around the world with his starring role in the 1980s blockbuster The Gods Must Be Crazy, has died, police officials confirmed. In real life, he was a herdsman and farmer in southern Africa on the border between Botswana and Namibia. All Things Considered offers a remembrance.

Actor Buddy Ebsen, best known for his role as Jed Clampett on the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies, dies at age 95. Ebsen, who started his career as a dancer on Broadway shows and MGM musicals in the 1930s, also starred as a private investigator in the 1970s TV show Barnaby Jones. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

At a meeting of the World Archaeological Congress in Washington, D.C., archaeologists say post-war instability masks the full extent of Iraq's missing antiquities. But archaeologists stress that while looting is rampant in Iraq, similar destruction is occurring at museums and excavation sites around the world, including China, Guatemala and Afghanistan. Hear David D'Arcy.

The Legend of Suriyothai is based on the true story of the 16th century Thai queen Suriyothai. The movie comes to the United States under the auspices of legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan offers a review.

The latest show from artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney is a massive exhibit that fills Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum. A New York Times critic has dubbed Barney the greatest artist of his generation. But the new issue of Artforum says the Cremaster Cycle show may prove to be Barney's Waterloo. Jad Abumrad of member station WNYC reports.