January 27, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

ENTITLEMENTS -- NPR's Brian Naylor reports that there is a growing consensus in Congress concerning so-called entitlement programs. Lawmakers are now agreeing that they must tackle the problems with Social Security and Medicare. (4:18)

MS. LEWINSKY GOES TO WASHINGTON -- The story of President Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and Paula Jones has been developing over the past few years... although the public only came to hear a great deal about it in the past week. NPR's Neal Conan provides a chronology of events that culminated in allegations against the President. (7:50)

FUTURE OF CHURCH IN CUBA -- NPR's Tom Gjelten reports on the future of the Catholic Church in Cuba in the wake of Pope John Paul the Second's historic visit. Fidel Castro gave the pontiff access to nationwide media to spread a message which included criticisms of Cuba's lack of democracy and religious freedom. Observers are now asking whether the Cuban Catholic hierarchy will be able to build on the Pope's success by securing a more prominent role for an independent church. (5:26)

AMERICANS IN CUBA -- Commentator Andrei Codrescu visited Cuba, and found that the barriers between the United States and Cuba have long been penetrable. He talked with several Americans in Cuba, and what they think about the ostensible lack of interaction with American interests there, from business to romance. (6:48)

ROMANOV BONES -- NPR's Andy Bowers reports from Moscow that a Russian commission has decided the question of the Romanov bones. Two decades ago, bones were discovered that were thought to belong to the last Tsar of Russia, who was murdered 80 years ago. The commission has determined once-and-for-all that the bones belong to Nicholas the Second and his family. Still unanswered is the question of where the bones will be interred. Three Russian cities are vying for the honor. (4:10)

SURFER OBIT -- Robert talks with Val Fenwick, the sister of surfer Rell Sunn. Sunn died on January 2nd of breast cancer. Sunn was an international surfing champion, and a founder of the first women's professional surfing tour. Thousands of people attended her memorial service at Makaha Beach in Hawaii. (4:02)

MR. STARR INVESTIGATES -- NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that the Whitewater investigation of independent counsel Kenneth Starr has been criticized for expanding beyond its original boundaries. The criticism has been especially sharp since revelations that Starr wired a former White House aide to record her conversations with an intern about her alleged relationship with President Clinton. But scholars differ over what the role of the independent counsel should be. Some say Starr is doing exactly what he should be doing. (8:52)

ASIAN EFFECT -- NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that the crisis in Washington over allegations of a sexual liaison between President Clinton and a former White House intern has caused considerable concern throughout Asia. People from Tokyo to Jakarta worry that a weakened or distracted U-S president would not be able to provide global leadership in addressing Asia's on-going economic problems. (3:37)

ASIAN STUDENTS -- The collapse of Asian markets is reverberating on college campuses in the States, where many Asian students are having to cut back. Some students say their friends simply didn't return to school after the holiday break. From member station WBUR, Tess Vigeland reports. (5:23)

RIVEN ROCK -- The latest book by novelist T.C. Boyle revolves around the madness of Stanley McCormick, whose father invented the mechanical reaper and left Stanley a fortune. The book details Stanley's descent into insanity and the efforts of his wife to keep things under control. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says that it's a piercing piece of historical fiction. ("Riven Rock" by T.C. Boyle is published by Viking.) (2:01)

ERADICATING A DISEASE -- Linda talks with Dr. Kazem Behbehani, the director of the division of the Control of Tropical Diseases for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. They discuss how the WHO hopes to eradicate the disfiguring disease elephantiasis, which affects 120 million worldwide, with the help of drug company SmithKline Beecham. The company announced yesterday that they will donate a drug for the program to approximately one-fifth of the world's population. (4:48)

DAIRY FARMERS -- The massive ice storm that darkened a million homes and businesses in the northeast hit dairy farmers especially hard. Vermont Public Radio's Steve Young visited two farms in upstate New York to take stock of the damage. (4:42)

SOUTHERN PROVINCIAL -- Commentator Scott Brunner talks about some of the peculiarities of Southern decor. (3:05)

TEACHERS' UNION MERGER -- NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports that the nation's two big teachers' unions - the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association - may be merging. A merger would create a 3-million member union, the largest in the country. (3:46)

PET SOUNDS -- Music critic Mark Jenkins has a review of the newly-released edition of the landmark album "Pet Sounds" by The Beach Boys. Although it was not a commercial success, the album established the producers and arrangers of rock albums as creative forces in their own right...and inspired the Beatles to head into the studio to record what many critics consider the greatest album of all time, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Now, Capitol Records has rereleased "Pet Sounds" in a deluxe, 4-CD set, featuring alternate takes of songs, component tracks, and layover dubs in addition to a repressing of the album itself. Jenkins says that it's an interesting artifact of how the album was made, but few fans beyond die-hard Beach Boys devotees will have much use for much of this deluxe package. ("The Pet Sounds Sessions" by The Beach Boys is available on Capitol Records.) (4:28)