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Linda speaks with Rex Gephart, head of the Los Angeles MTA's "Metro Rapid" program, which aims to reduce bus travel times by 25 percent. As part of the plan, the MTA has equipped two of its major bus lines with a new device that hold a green lights for approaching buses. Gephart says ridership has increased significantly on the lines being tested. He says L.A. is the first city in the U.S. to implement so-called "signal priority" so extensively.

Commentator Joanne Kaufman just got her drivers license -- at age 41. Her ultimate road test was a trip to the drugstore. She talks about what she missed not being able to drive, the freedom it would have meant as a teenager. Driving solo as an adult is a defining moment she wants to tell everyone about, but the destinations and reasons to drive are different.

Linda Wertheimer speaks with sportswriter Stefan Fatsis about three NFL games coming up this weekend. The Washington Redskins face the unheralded and undefeated New York Giants. Two former dynasties the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49'ers face off in a game that demonstrates the hazards of manipulating salaries under the NFL salary cap for short term gain. In a battle of undefeateds, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson play the New York Jets, Mr. Johnson's old team and one he hasn't hesitated to criticize.

NPR's Bob Mondello reviews the film Dancer in the Dark, made by Danish director Lars Von Trier. Von Treir was cofounder of the "Dogme '95" movement, which advocated removing artifice from film. Bob says this is a real departure from that -- it couldn't be more artificial. And it's dividing audiences.

Actress and model Isabella Rossellini talks about her famous parents, actress Ingrid Bergman and filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, and her own career. She stars in the new film Left Luggage with Maximillian Schell. It opens this weekend. She has acted in numerous TV shows, and her film credits include Blue Velvet, The Impostors, and Big Night. She is also the spokesmodel for Lancome cosmetics.

A number of the athletes at the Olympic games this week took a detour to Flagstaff, Arizona before they arrived in Sydney. They were taking advantage of the regions High Altitude Training Sports Training Complex. High altitude is known to stimulate red blood cell production which improves muscle endurance. The athletes hope the experience gave them a competitive edge. Mitch Teich reports from KNAU in Flagstaff.

Power, Politics and Style, is the name of a pre-election exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The show focuses on how presidents used paintings furnishings, china, and fashions to convey their values and messages to the nation. The show opens this Sunday. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports.

Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai died today. He was 76 years old. Amichai was born in Germany and moved to Israel when he was 12 years old. He served in four wars and wove the themes of war into his poetry. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin read one of Amichai's poems when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. We have Amichai reading that poem and two others in translation when he came to NPR in 1995.

Film critic Henry Sheehan has a review of the re-release of the horror classic The Exorcist. Some new scenes have been added.

TV critic David Bianculli takes a look at this year's Olympic coverage.