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Critic Bob Mondello has a review of the new film "Courage Under Fire," starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan, about the first woman to die in combat as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

- Storyteller Carmen Deedee recounts a conversation in which she tried to explain to her Catholic how she came to adopt the religion she currently practices.

Ursula Hegi commentary. Hegi teaches creative writing, writes fiction, and... critical to both pursuits... she is a voracious reader. Hegi, whose works include "Stones from the River" and "Salt Dancers," seeks out a certain kind of reading, and tells her students to do the same. It is essential, she says, to find a book whose pages suck the reader in, causing him or her to forget the real world altogether.

NPR's Michael Skoler reports from Nairobi that a key Somali militia leader, Mohamed Farah Aideed (FAIR-uh eye-DEED), has died. Aideed died as a result of gunshot wounds he received last week. Aideed was the subject of a massive manhunt led by the American military in 1993, because the United Nations labeled him the main obstacle to peace. But after his militia killed 18 U-S Rangers in a 1993 street battle, the United States pulled out of Somalia. It is unclear whether Aideed's death will create an opportunity for the country's warring factions to finally negotiate a political solution to a five-year conflict which has left the country in a state of anarchy.

Most Americans looking for a place to vacation in the summer go to the mountains, or the sea shore, or a lake... Someplace where the scenery is beautiful and the weather is cool. Another place that's packed every summer: Death Valley National Park on the California-Nevada border... usually the hottest place in the country. This time of year, the overwhelming majority of visitors come from Europe..... and they consider Death Valley a don't-miss part of their tour of the American West. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports.

- Daniel speaks with Beth Fertig, of member station WNYC, about the latest evidence from TWA Flight 800 that investigators have pulled up from the waters off Long Island.

- NPR's John Burnett spends a morning with a man who has written a book about Hummingbirds.

Scott with an essay on the neglect of our nation's capital. >

NPR's Mark Schramm profiles Norwegian Olympic speed skater Johann Koss. Mr. Koss a multiple gold medalist in the 1994 Olympics has become a model philanthropist.

- NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports that investigators of the downed TWA Flight 800 are comparing the forensic evidence from that crash to the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the crash of a French plane over the Sahara Desert, both of which were downed by terrorist bombs.