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Are Americans getting dumber or smarter? Author Steven Johnson discusses his book Everything Bad Is Good for You. He argues that the complexity of modern TV shows and video games might make today's media consumer sharper than those of 30 years ago.

Ed Gordon talks with Grammy-winning R&B singer Toni Braxton about her music career, her new Oxygen Channel special and her latest CD, Libra.

Boats and helicopters are being used to search for people stranded by floodwaters in southwestern Louisiana. Sunday in low-lying areas of Vermilion Parish, less than 100 miles from the Texas border, rescue workers are hoping to remove the last of those who stayed behind. Beth Fertig of member station KRVS reports.

Katrina's destructive power reached beyond New Orleans into small towns on Louisiana's southern shores. Damage to oyster beds has sunk the regional economy, but not the spirit of the locals.

Amythyst Kiah's debut solo album, Wary + Strange, with its unusual combination of roots influences and alternative sounds, features the Grammy-nominated song, "Black Myself."

Novelist Louise Erdrich returns to the Ojibwe world in her latest work, but The Painted Drum also explores human relationships. The central character steals the title object in order to give it back to its rightful owners.

At a facility in Virginia, Customs handlers train dogs to detect explosives, narcotics and potential terrorists. Search-dog advocates say it's a low-tech approach that may be more reliable than costly detection equipment.

David Cronenberg's films consistently confound viewer expectations. Naked Lunch, The Fly and Crash subverted the line between reality and fantasy. Now comes A History of Violence.

Internationally renowned playwright August Wilson died Sunday at the age of 60 after a battle with liver cancer. Wilson achieved success with his plays Piano Lessons, Fences and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded American forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, died Monday night in Charleston, S.C. He was 91. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stanley Karnow talks about Westmoreland and his insistence that the United States "did not fulfill its commitment to South Vietnam."