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Pirates are as popular as ever this summer. But many myths surround Blackbeard and his brothers. Gail Selinger, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates, addresses what's fact and what goes overboard.

Dai Vernon was among the most influential magicians of the 20th century, but one trick continued to elude him. His quest to learn its secret led him from one sleazy dive to another. The answer finally came in a little white house in Missouri.

The California-based novelist T.C. Boyle originally thought John Cheever's short stories were "antiquated," when he read them as a young writer. He soon realized how wrong he was, growing to recognize the enduring beauty of Cheever's writing.

In Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami spins whimsical and daring short stories about a talking monkey, man-eating cats on a Greek island and the girl from Ipanema. The writer himself appears in a few of them.

Michael Gordon, chief military correspondent for The New York Times, discusses efforts to recruit Iraqis for the Iraqi army, and looks back at the invasion of Iraq. He co-authored the recent book Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. Gordon is also a correspondent for The New York Times Magazine.

Joan Cheever, author of Back from the Dead, followed former death row inmates who were released when the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972.

Astronomers meeting in Prague are considering a new definition for the word "planet." Under the new rules, Pluto would still qualify as a planet, despite its small size. But some say the rules would open the door to dozens of new planets.

Charles Vitchers and Bobby Gray, authors of the book Nine Months at Ground Zero: The Story of a Brotherhood of Workers Who Took on a Job Like No Other, talk about their experiences clearing the site in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The chairman of the Sept. 11 Commission, Tom Kean, and vice-chair Lee Hamilton have written the new book, Without Precedent: the Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission. The two write about the challenges of completing their work on the commission with little money, a tight timeline, constant wrangling to gain access to classified documents, and the necessity of forging a consensus among Republican and Democratic commissioners.

Darrell Mease, a convicted murderer, was scheduled to die in Missouri when his prayers were answered. Pope John Paul II won Mease, a Christian convert, a commutation of his death sentence during a 1999 Missouri visit.