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Commentator Edward Wheatley says 600 years after Chaucer's death, the father of English poetry is still having an effect on the lives of people who don't even know his name. Words that he was the first to use are still part of the language.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Jerusalem reports Israel's symphony orchestra played the music of Richard Wagner in concert Friday, the first time the orchestra has ever presented works by Hitler's favorite composer.

Companies are recalling foods containing genetically modified corn that has not been approved for human consumption. But as NPR's John Nielsen reports, government officials are still struggling to determine whether the corn presents a health hazard.

Linda talks to Dennis Boroczk, who is overseeing a project to retrofit a Boeing 747 airplane with an infrared telescope and doors that can open to allow the telescope to be used during flight at an altitude of 41-thousand feet. Boroczk is Program Manager at the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy at Raytheon Labs. The high-flying telescope will allow scientists to make infrared measurements of a variety of heavenly objects, such as stars, galaxies, and quasars. The effort is a joint project of between NASA and the German Aerospace Center, with Raytheon making the modifications.

Commentator Lenore Skenazy says Halloween has taken on the commercial importance of Christmas, much to her chagrin. It used to be a relatively unadorned festival. Now it's full of lawn ornaments, lights and plastic tchotchke.

With a little more than a week before Election day, things are heating up between the presidential campaigns. An ad supporting Governor Bush is causing some controversy. We have two reports, first from NPR's Anthony Brooks with the the Gore campaign, then NPR's Peter Kenyon with Governor Bush.

Scott speaks with NPR's Brian Naylor about how Republican leaders and the President are odds over a tax and spending bill right before the election.

Scott speaks with Wired magazine's John Heilemann about his article in the November issue about Microsoft and the government anti-trust case against the software giant.

Noah talks to sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about the latest pro-basketball news, in advance of the National Basketball Association's new season, which starts next week. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been fined three-point-five million dollars and stripped of their next five first-round draft picks. The league says the Timberwolves violated the salary cap by making an under-the-table deal with player Joe Smith.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on a cyber-break-in at Microsoft's headquarters this week. Microsoft says hackers accessed blueprints for software -- but didn't see codes for the most popular products such as Windows ME, Windows 2000 or Microsoft Office. The company said the programs that were involved were still under development and had not been corrupted or tampered with.