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The number of attacks in Iraq rises and falls, but that is just one way to try to measure progress in the war. Other factors are harder to quantify. One is the way Iraqis view the American troops who still patrol their cities. Philip Reeves spent a day with an American platoon in and around the northern city of Mosul.

Iraqi insurgents kidnap a Western contractor, identified as Australian Douglas Wood, amid an upsurge of violence in Iraq. Two bombs explode in Baghdad Monday morning. More than 100 people, including 11 U.S. soldiers, have been killed in the last four days.

Gary Schroen is one of the CIA's most respected and experienced spies. Two days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, his bosses handed him a new mission targeting Osama bin Laden: "bring his head back in a box." Days later, Schroen and his team were on a plane.

Food guru Mark Bittman and chef Chris Schlesinger have been at odds for years over just the right way to cook. They debate simple vs. fancy techniques for summer grilling.

He's won the American Teacher Award, been awarded the National Medal of Arts, and made an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire. For 24 years, Rafe Esquith has taught at an inner city school in Los Angeles, inspiring his fifth graders to excel far beyond the low expectations often placed on poor, immigrant children.

Jonathan Eig's new book, Luckiest Man, looks at the life of New York Yankee hero Lou Gehrig, on and off the field. Gehrig was the unstoppable "Iron Horse" as he hammered home runs while playing in 2,130 straight games. But his life was cut short by the disease that now bears his name.

Brian Burrell, author of Postcards from the Brain Museum, discusses efforts to understand Einstein's intellect through the study of his brain.

In a new book, Feet on Street: Rambles around New Orleans, humorist Roy Blount, Jr. celebrates the corners and characters of the city. Blount takes Debbie Elliott for a stroll through the French Quarter.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is considered one of baseball's top strategists — and a likely resident of baseball's Hall of Fame. Pulitzer-winning author Buzz Bissinger's new book is about three games La Russa managed in a tense pennant race.

In a colorful new cookbook, Alabama chef Frank Stitt shares moutwatering recipes from his award-winning restaurant Highlands Bar and Grill. He talks with NPR's Debbie Elliot about the tradition of food in the South.