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Host Howard Berkes talks to Shannon Curfman, a 15 year-old blues prodigy from Fargo, North Dakota. Curfman fell in love with the blues at the age of 10 and has since been studying, writing, and performing all over the country. She says the raw aspect of blues is what appeals to her, and she expects to make music her career.

Tripp Sommer of member station K-L-C-C reports on the conditions that are sustaining the wildfires in the Western states. As the fires continue to burn out of control thousands of people are forced to evacuate their homes. Some of the fires are slowing their advance because of cooler temperatures.

NPR's Bob Mondello discusses of a trio of new French films. Their titles are: Alice and Martin, An Affair of Love and Girl on the Bridge.

NPR's Larry Abramson reports on the struggle between new high-tech businesses and unions over whether employees are allowed to organize. Union membership has been dropping in recent decades, while high-tech jobs are growing, so the industry is key to the future of labor relations.

Noah talks with Jonathan Zittrain, asst. prof. of law and is co-dir. of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, at Harvard School of Law. They talk about the efforts of the French legal system to deal with internet access from France to an online auction of Nazi memorabilia by Yahoo. France has a law against the buying and selling of Nazi items. Mr. Zittrain talks about the legal precedents for the law, and the technical difficulty to enacting it.

Commentator Jeffrey Tayler was in the Belarusian town of Polatsk. He opted to spend the evening at the restaurant in his hotel. As he writes in his journal, he was pulled into the drunken conversation of two young women. The women mistake him for a Pole, and take offense at his unwillingness to share their bottle of vodka with him.

Scott speaks with NPR's Don Gonyea, who is covering Al Gore's presidential campaign as he makes his way to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles.

NPR's Aaron Schacter reports that as the Democrats prepare to open their convention this Monday, groups of activists are holding their own conventions. But unlike the multi-million dollar affair taking place at Staples Center, this group of activists decry the influence of money in politics - and the two-party system itself.

NPR's Bob Mondello takes a look back at the life and career of actress Loretta Young. Young, who won an Oscar Award in 1947 for her role in The Farmer's Daughter, died today of ovarian cancer.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Robert Altman's film Nashville. Altman discusses his film career with Jacki Lyden. The director of M*A*S*H and The Player has been nominated for Academy Awards four times.