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Noah speaks with Saud Abu Ramadan, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza, about a 17-year-old youth who was recruited by Islamic extremists to become a suicide bomber. In describing the recruitment process, Abu Ramadan says extremist leaders keep an eye out for especially religious youths and brainwash them into believing that their impoverished lives on earth are failures. He says they then convince these young people that the awards of paradise await them if they become martyrs for the Islamic cause.

Storyteller Kevin Kling tells of a day on the ball field. This small tale grows to such epic proportions that it would make Homer proud.

A new book recreates the story behind one of England's greatest love affairs — the 17-year relationship between Charles II and Nell Gwyn. Charles Beauclerk is a direct descendant of the pair, and delved into family archives for the inside story.

Noah talks to Fatemah Ziai (FAH-tee-mah zee-AH-ee), counsel for Human Rights Watch Middle East, about the detention of Iyad al-Sarraj (EE-yad al saw-RAWJ) (rhymes with garage) by the Palestinian Authority. A psychiatrist and human rights activist, al-Sarraj has been critical of the Palestinian Authority's governance of the West Bank and Gaza. Human Rights Watch and two other U.S.-based human rights groups have criticized his detention.

Antiretroviral therapies to treat AIDS have transformed patients' lives and Dr. Michael Saag's practice at the University of Alabama-Birmingham's Center for AIDS Research. But Saag says the therapies have brought new worries, such as concerns about drug resistance and the quality of life for AIDS patients who now live much longer.

militant Islamic group Hamas. Israel has sealed off Gaza and the West Bank, and has resorted to tactics not used since the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in 1988. Hamas says it is undeterred by the Israeli aggression, and has promised renewed terrorist attacks against Israel.

The U.S. government announces that it is expanding efforts to test wild and domestic birds for the deadly Asian bird-flu virus. Experts say it is a matter of when, not if, the virus arrives in the United States. We visit two Maryland chicken farms to see how U.S. farmers are preparing for the threat.

After a 10-year silence, Louis de Bernières, author of Corelli's Mandolin, returns with a new novel. Birds Without Wings is a historical romance set in a remote village during the waning days of the Ottoman empire. NPR's Jennifer Ludden talks with de Bernières.

Thirty years ago, the uprising of a group of schoolchildren forever changed South Africa's history. What began as a protest against a government education policy became a watershed moment in the fight against apartheid.

Journalist Steven V. Roberts was writing about his family when his mother produced letters she had exchanged with his father years ago. Roberts talks about his parents and his new book, My Fathers' Houses: Memoir of a Family.

Legendary pianist Hank Jones was one of Marian McPartland's first guests when she began Piano Jazz more than 30 years ago. Jones died earlier this year, but in this 2009 session, McPartland asked another of her favorite pianists, Bill Charlap, to take a turn on the host's bench to catch up with Jones.

In this week's Behind Closed Doors, television broadcaster Lee Thomas talks about his book Turning White: A Memoir of Change and how his experience with Vitiligo made him realize that beauty is more than skin deep.