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Defense officials ask Congress to approve new dual-use satellites that can distinguish between "airbursts" caused by random asteroids sneaking into the atmosphere and exploding warheads. NPR's Eric Niiler reports.

Vocational education programs such as shop and auto repair have disappeared from school offerings in recent years. But Ukiah High School north of San Francisco still has a wood shop, allowing students to experiment with hand tools and learn basic skills. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.

In January 1940, Irving Berlin, the most popular songwriter in America, raced into his office and asked his musical secretary to take down a new song. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports on the history of "White Christmas," a song Berlin said was the best he — or anyone — ever wrote.

As the terms of NAFTA gradually reduce protective tariffs on agricultural goods sent to Mexico, small farmers south of the border feel the effects. Many say NAFTA is destroying their livelihood. NPR's Gerry Hadden reports.

The city council in Holyoke, Mass., fights a federal plan to house Somali war refugees there. Council members argue Holyoke lacks the resources to handle the refugees, but many townspeople are working to help the newcomers to stay. Karen Brown of member station WFCR reports.

The new Todd Haynes film Far from Heaven pays tribute to the 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk, who gave the world All That Heaven Allows and Imitation of Life. Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert star in Haynes' homage. David D'Arcy reports.

A newly unsealed report suggests energy companies deliberately manipulated California's electricity market. The report details conversations between the Williams Cos. and AES Corp., in which employees talk about extending power plant outages to profit from higher prices. Hear NPR's Scott Horsley.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports on a program intended to help teachers regain a passion for their profession. The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching takes groups into the Great Smoky Mountains, away from the clamor and stress of the classroom and school politics, to encourage them to remember why they started teaching in the first place.

People who go to the cineplex for escapism are finding that an increasing number of films deal with the very issues they're trying to escape. But NPR's Bob Mondello says the approaches to those issues this fall are as varied as they are inventive.

House members work into Friday's early morning hours to wrap up the year's unfinished business. But the Senate expects its part of the lame-duck legislative session to continue into next week. NPR's David Welna reports.