October 30, 1998 All Things Considered (entire program) Requires the RealAudio Player

An index of the day's stories:

Countdown to Elections -- With four days to go until Election Day, All Things Considered host Linda Wertheimer talks with NPR reporters Melissa Block in New York, David Molpus in North Carolina, and Elizabeth Arnold in California. They discuss some of the issues on the ballots around the nation, the expected influence of campaign ads on the voting public, and who's expected to win which key races. (7:30)

Black Voter Turnout -- The Democratic Party is making a special effort to urge black voters to vote in this year's election. NPR's Debbie Elliott visited an Indianapolis congressional district where the black incumbent is in a tight race to talk to voters and see what's being done to get out the vote. (4:45)

Middle East Update -- NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports that while Israel may have agreed at the Wye Plantation talks to give more land from the occupied territories back to Palestinians, in at least one place in Israel-proper, land is being taken away from Palestinians who are actually Israeli citizens. (7:15)

Kentucky Senate Race -- NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Kentucky where two House members -- Democrat Scotty Baesler and Republican Jim Bunning - are vying to succeed 24-year incumbent Democrat Senator Wendell Ford. In a race characterized by relentless negative attacks, both sides say the lower the turnout, the better chance the GOP has of picking up the seat. (6:00)

Diploma Mills -- NPR's Anthony Brooks reports that the expansion of the world wide web has led to a proliferation of a number of so called "distance learning programs" that allow people to take course and obtain degrees without actually attending a formal class. One side-effect, a number of fraudulent operations have sprung up to take advantage of those eager to improve themselves. (6:30)

The Vanishing Man -- Commentator Michael Ivey travels to Gallatin, Tennessee to solve the mystery of The Disappearance of David Lang. Legend has it that Lang vanished in full view of his family and a visiting judge on the afternoon of September 23, 1880. The story has appeared in print for a century, and found its way to NPR producer Art Silverman who spurred Ivey into this investigation. With the help of the local bail bondsman, police chief, mayor and other town folks, they track down the exact location where Lang was either abducted or turned "sideways in time." Their attempts to find the portal to another dimension have surprising results in this pre-Halloween story. (8:00)

Pinochet Hearing -- Sarah Chayes reports from London that a British court has ruled in favor of granting conditional bail to Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator arrested this month after Spain requested his extradition. But the court refused to set a bail amount, and ordered that Pinochet remain under guard. A Spanish court, meantime, ruled that Spain does have the right to try Pinochet. All this legal maneuvering is being closely watched by international lawyers and human rights activists. (4:30)

Russia Espionage Trial -- NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Moscow that a judge has suspended the trial of Alexander Nikitin, a retired navy captain and environmentalist who is accused of high treason. The charges stem from Nikitin's work revealing accidents and poor maintenance in Russia's nuclear-powered Northern Fleet. While the judge put the proceedings on hold because of flaws in the prosecution's case, Nikitin remains confined to St. Petersburg and will likely be back in court again. (3:00)

Who's Running the Kremlin? -- All Things Considered host Robert Siegel talks with Andrew Meier, a reporter for Time magazine. They discuss the announcement by the Kremlin that Russian president Boris Yeltsin is ready to pick a constitutional panel to sort through proposed constitutional amendments that would limit Yeltsin's power. The panel would also set up a succession plan and could propose a candidate for the vice-presidency. (4:30)

New GDP Numbers -- NPR's John Ydstie reports economic growth in the third quarter was stronger than expected. The government says the Gross Domestic Product, the total output of the U.S. economy, grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate. That's a full percentage point higher than most analysts were expecting, enough to raise questions about the widespread belief that problems in the global economy are slowing U.S. growth. Economists said the GDP numbers were not as strong as they looked and that the overall trend toward slower growth will continue. (3:00)

Friday Sports Talk -- Linda talks with Stefan Fatsis, who reports on sports and sports business issues for the Wall Street Journal, in our regular Friday feature on sports news. They discuss this weekend's New York City marathon race. The marathon has had difficulty attracting top runners this year, now that world-class marathoners have been able to command big fees from competing marathons for endorsements and publicity. (4:45)

Ohio House Race -- In the 6th congressional district of Ohio, a tight race is being run between Lt. Governor Nancy Hollister and Congressman Ted Strickland. Strickland won the seat in 1992, lost it in 1994 and won it back in 1996. Each race was won by just a few percentage points and this year should be no different. Robert traveled to the district, which stretches across most of southern Ohio, to follow the race. (12:30)

'Celebration' -- Movie critic Bob Mondello has a review of a new film called "Celebration," produced by a Danish film production collective. He says it's an interesting experiment in film making: no special effects are allowed by the collective. He says the film is riveting, with a well-written script and interesting performances from the actors. (4:00)

'War of the Worlds' Anniversary -- Commentator Robert Trout tells about the atmosphere at CBS in the days and weeks preceding the infamous October 30, 1938 broadcast of the Mercury Theater's version of H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds." The broadcast conventions that director Orson Welles employed echoed the feverish coverage a month earlier of the Nazi's moves against the Sudetenland. Trout concludes that the people of 1938 were no more gullible than today's alien-fixated X-Files viewers and other present-day believers in the supernatural. (4:00)