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The United States and Australia are sending hundreds more troops to Afghanistan in the run-up to September's parliamentary elections. In recent months, the Taliban and other militants have stepped up their attacks. The elections are seen as a step toward democracy, but warlords continue to hold considerable power.

The landmark New Orleans eatery turns 100 this year. Locals and celebrities, U.S. presidents among them, have queued up for a table over the years at a bistro celebrated in a biography by two regulars.

The painting is a touchstone of American culture, depicting an upright Midwestern family on the farm. Its story is the topic of Thomas Hoving's book American Gothic.

Charles Sennott is the London bureau chief for the Boston Globe. He was in London during the Underground and bus bombings on July 7. He discusses British reaction to the events and compares it to the American reaction to Sept. 11, 2001.

Teller, the usually silent half of the magician duo Penn and Teller, reviews the book, The Glorious Deception, by Jim Steinmeyer. It's a biography of the magician known to audiences as Chung Ling Soo, who Teller says was a genuine enigma.

Details of the United States' disastrous operation in eastern Afghanistan -- in which 19 special operations personnel died -- are now emerging. An attempted rescue of a team seeking Taliban and escaped prisoners led to 16 deaths when a helicopter was shot down.

George Johnson talks about his new book, Miss Leavitt's Stars: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. Henrietta Leavitt, while working at Harvard College's observatory in the early 20th century, discovered a way to measure distances between stars, which led astronomers to calculate the size of the universe.

Jennifer Ludden talks to Edward McPherson about his new biography of silent film star Buster Keaton, known as the "Great Stone Face." He says Keaton handcrafted every aspect of his movies in a way that would be unimaginable today

Nearly a year after President Bush declared the Taliban had been ousted from power, Afghanistan has seen its bloodiest year yet since the American occupation. NPR's Philip Reeves, in Kabul, discusses the Taliban's recent resurgence.

News of Thursday's bomb attacks in London meet with condemnation in Kabul. A moderate former Taliban official says he watched the TV coverage with anger -- like many in his area, he has relatives in London. But he also believes that the attacks will strengthen terrorist organizations, providing it's another reminder to their grassroots supporters that al Qaeda is capable of mounting sophisticated attacks on Western powers.