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NPR's Brooke Gladstone reports on the new Fall television season. She says there's quite a bit of variety in the programming and somewhat more racial diversity. Despite the popularity of last year's hits, Survivor, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, there isn't much innovation. Instead, several movie stars are featured in the new television lineup in traditional formats.

Political Analyst Alan Schroeder. His new book Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High Risk TV, (Columbia University Press, 2000) examines the history of the televised presidential debate. Drawing from his experience as a print journalist and TV producer, he details the decisions that influence every aspect of the event: the color of the backdrop curtain to the camera angles chosen. He also looks at the results of past debates, discussing strategies for political effectiveness. He is an Associate Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University.

Joshua Levs reports on the anxious search by parents and teens for the best way to teach new drivers. Schools are starting to drop driver education training from their responsibilities. Near Atlanta, one new business has teens beginning to learn to drive without getting behind the steering wheel of an actual car, or on a real road. (8:30)

Head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission, Dr. Sima Samar. She was appointed to the position in July. Previously, she served as the country's first Minister for Women's Affairs, appointed by the interim Afghan government. Dr. Samar is an internationally renowned feminist and human rights activist. Samar defied the Taliban and continued to operate schools for girls and health clinics in Afghanistan's provinces and refugee camps in Pakistan. Samar was born in Ghazani, Afghanistan, and is a Hazara, one of the most persecuted of the ethnic minorities.

As the Russian government slowly releases information about the special forces raid to liberate hundreds of hostages from a Moscow theater, we have learned that the initial reporting on the raid did not even remotely tell the whole story. NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that this practice of secrecy in dealing with catastrophe harkens back to the days of the Soviet Union. (3:00)

The president says that he's done raising campaign money for the year. But, says commentator Byron York, it seems that President Bush is quitting while he's ahead. He's broken Bill Clinton's record for campaign funds raised, but there isn't the same criticism focused on Bush that Clinton got. Byron York is White House correspondent for the National Review. (3:00)

Host of NPR's The Tavis Smiley Show, Tavis Smiley. His new book, Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from Black America (Doubleday), is a collection of personal narratives by ordinary African Americans. Smiley also provides commentary twice a week on ABC Radio's The Tom Joyner Morning Show. And he's a contributor for CNN and a contributing correspondent on ABC's Primetime.

President Putin says Russia won't give in to blackmail and that he will expand the military's power to strike against suspected terrorists. This announcement follows the three-day siege of a Moscow theater by Chechen rebels. Putin is facing criticism because more than 100 hostages died during a rescue effort at the theater. NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports from Moscow. (4:30)

Democratic candidates focus on corporate corruption, saying voter anger over corporate abuse will benefit the party during the midterm elections. But Republicans disagree. NPR's Mara Liasson reports. (5:00)

R.C. Sherriff's recently reissued 1931 novel, which follows a British family on their two-week holiday, is a reflection on how time changes shape in periods like a vacation — or even a pandemic.