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Jennifer Schmidt of member station WBUR takes a look at the history of Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. The potion has been available in the United States for over a century, and its various marketing campaigns over the years have charted a century's changing responses to women's health problems.

Outgoing Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak reversed course yesterday and announced he would not join the cabinet of Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that Barak's decision deals a blow to Sharon's hopes of establishing a national unity government, and leaves Barak's Likud party in disarray.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports from Jerusalem. Israel's Labor Party has voted to accept Prime-Minister-elect Ariel Sharon's invitation to join a national unity government. The decision clears the way for Sharon to start coalition talks with other parties.

Israeli forces launched a second incursion into Gaza today, destroying a Palestinian police station. This incursion was smaller and briefer than yesterday's. Meanwhile, the Israeli press accuses Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of buckling under U.S. pressure because he unexpectedly called off yesterday's incursion when Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized it as "excessive and disproportionate." Robert Siegel talks with NPR's Jennifer Ludden.

More than 200 Iraqi delegates agree during a U.S.-led meeting in Baghdad to meet again within a month to select members of an interim government. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is considering moving a key base for U.S. air operations from Saudi Arabia to Qatar. Hear reports from NPR's Scott Simon and NPR's Jennifer Ludden.

This week with the Ethicist, we'll hear from some listeners who wrote in with suggestions for the ethical use of old furs. Also, NPR's Jennifer Ludden and New York Times ethicist Randy Cohen talk to a listener who's conflicted about supporting the Boy Scouts.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden talks with Frontline reporter Lowell Bergman about The Secret History of the Credit Card, a new documentary by PBS and The New York Times. The film traces the rise of America's credit card industry and raises concerns about some if its business practices.

Only about half of America's high school students think newspapers should be allowed to publish freely, without government approval of their stories. Host Jennifer Ludden talks with Hodding Carter III, the president and CEO of the Knight Foundation, about the findings of the findings of a recent study, "The Future of the First Amendment."

Jennifer Haigh's new novel, The Condition, is about a girl who has a genetic disorder that stops her development just before puberty. The "condition" gives her family an excuse to resist facing each other and fall apart.

The Bush campaign is elated about the president's performance at Friday's town-hall meeting with Sen. John Kerry. But Kerry campaign aides are also pleased -- especially with post-debate poll results. Hear NPR's Jennifer Ludden, NPR's Don Gonyea and NPR's Scott Horsley.