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Ballet in America would not be what it is without Lincoln Kirstein (KURR-steen), who died today in his Manhattan home at the age of 87. NPR's Melissa Block reports that as a dance patron, Kirstein brought choreographer George Balanchine to the United States in 1933. Together they founded the School of American Ballet and later, the New York City Ballet. Kirstein ran both for many years and wrote several books on dance.

Daniel talks with Jodi Cobb, a National Geographic Photographer, about her new book 'Geisha'. Cobb's book provides a rare glimpse behind the scenes in the Geisha houses where she shows us the women not only in their usual ritual costumes, but also with their hair down, after their clients have gone home. Cobb says that contrary to popular belief in the west, Geisha's do not provide sex for their clients. Rather the Geisha's role is more to preserve the high arts of traditional Japan.

The government's worst-kept secret is being released today. The Medicare Plan A trust fund -- which is used to pay hospital and home health bills for more than thirty-seven million elederly and disabled people -- will go broke in 2001 instead of 2002, unless something is done to fix it. NPR's Joanne Silberner looks at the Medicare Trustees report and what it means for the future of the program. Most economic analysts find very little difference in the Republican or Democratic proposals to make it solvent.

Commentator Lydia Nayo (NI-o) recalls when during her childhood, her father would barter an old mantle clock for food at the local grocery. And he always came home with cornflakes. She has come to associate cornflakes with the mental and spiritual weight of poverty, and even though she is much more prosperous now, she still can't eat them. Nayo has come to believe that as long as she keeps them out of her cupboard, she will keep the wolf from the door.

The Bootleg Fire has destroyed several homes in Klamath County, Oregon, and also damaged a major power transmission corridor that provides electricity to California.

Having spent the last year and a half quarantined at home, many people ditched the business-casual wear and dressy outfits.

The Audubon North Carolina Pine Island Sanctuary on the Outer Banks is home to 183 bird species. But it's being eroded by rising seas and a changing climate.

Construction on new homes has fallen short by 5.5 million units over the last two decades, a new report by the Association of Realtors finds.

An investigative committee in Sacramento has concluded that the county's child-protective system places too much emphasis on family preservation at the expense of children's safety. The committee, which was formed after 3 year-old Adrian Conway was beaten to death at his home, also says that training for case workers could be improved. Robert Siegel speaks with the committee's chair, retired Superior Court Judge Eugene Gualco.

Legislators in California, exasperated with the explosion of graffiti, have proposed a new law to ban portable, aerosol paint cans. NPR's Mandalit DelBarco reports that Chicago tried a similar tactic, but graffiti continues apace there. The paint industry is opposed, saying it will hurt legitimate users, from home hobbyists to costume designers in Hollywood. Graffiti writers scoff at the ban: they say they'll just use other tools.