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19th Century composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt (frahnz list) was a deeply religious man who sometimes wrote music inspired by his faith. He wrote two pieces for piano dedicated to St. Francis; we'll hear one of them, Legend: St. Francis Preaching to the Birds, along with a brief explanation of the music by Tom Mastroianni, president of the American Liszt Society.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports from Birmingham, Alabama, where jury selection begins today in the trial of one of the last surviving suspects in the bombing of a black church in 1963. Thomas Blanton Jr., a former Ku Klux Klan member, is accused of helping to plant the bomb that killed four girls and injured more than 20 others.

NPR's Jackie Northam reports on members of a wandering band of young Sudanese refugees who are being resettled in the American Midwest. After losing their parents during the country's 40 years of civil war, thousands of orphans streaming into Kenya became known as the 'Lost Boys of Sudan.'

Two men died this week whose names may not be immediately recognizable, but whose ideas had a real impact on our society.

Reverend Carroll Pickett has stood alongside 95 inmates during their executions in Huntsville, Texas. Host Lisa Simeone speaks with Reverend Pickett about Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to allow injured victims and victim family members in the Oklahoma City Bombing to watch Timothy McVeigh's execution next month. To hear more from Reverend Pickett and other observers of Huntsville's death chamber, you can listen to the radio documentary Witness to an Execution produced by Stacy Abramson and David Isay. Just go to www.soundportraits.org.

Lisa talks with author Adrian House about his new bookFrancis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life. Francis, who lived from 1182 to 1226, started out as a party-boy. At age 24, he underwent a religious conversion, and began a spiritual journey that continues to inspire millions of people throughout the world.

Joey Ramone, lead singer of the punk rock group, the Ramones, died of lymphoma yesterday. He was 49. The Ramones helped to define punk in the 1970s with songs like I Wanna be Sedated and Teenage Lobotomy.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that Bush's proposed budget would cut funds used by the Energy Department to protect Russian bomb-making materials.

Commentator Peter Loge has some fun with President Bush's suggestion that the South Lawn of the White House be used as a t-ball field.

In the first of a two reports on wildlife rehabilitators, Nancy Cohen reports on a Massachusetts woman who has raised hundreds of animals. Some wildlife experts are worried about her unusual techniques.