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The UPN TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer has its share of rabid fans. But it also enjoys a special following among academics, some of whom have staked a claim in what they call "Buffy Studies," analyzing the characters and underlying themes of teens battling supernatural monsters and their own human passions. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports on the future of "Buffy Studies" after Buffy's off the air.

More than 500,000 copies of The Da Vinci Code have been sold in China. In particular, the book has been a hot item in Beijing.

A new book skewers today's mindless corporate culture via the e-mails of Martin Lukes, a fictitious, ambitious, forty-something middle manager who works for a company that makes nothing in particular.

In New York City, construction has begun on one of the most unusual and innovative parks in the nation. The High Line project will transform an abandoned railroad overpass that spans 22 blocks on Manhattan's West Side into an urban promenade of green parkland.

As the U.S. Forest Service celebrates its 100-year anniversary, its mission has become more complex. Scientists are studying a vast network of plumbing under the forest floor that in the dry West is more valuable than the trees above.

American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino is climbing up the R&B charts. One of her songs, "Baby Mama," is a tribute to young, single mothers. But as her popularity grows, critics worry the song is sending the wrong message.

Detroit-based musician Kem has hit the No. 1 spot on urban and R&B music sales charts with "I Can't Stop Loving You," a single song from his latest self-produced CD Album II. Ed Gordon talks to Kem about making jazz-influenced music on his own terms.

A profile of Tony Schwartz, an innovative and inspired sound gatherer, recording the sounds of America since 1945. A man who will venture no further than his postal zone, Mr. Schwartz has made more than 30,000 home recordings in the streets, delis, cabs, playgrounds and stoops of his New York neighborhood.

Pakistan, celebrating its 60th anniversary this week, is a country of contradictions, two Pakistani-born novelists say. On the one hand, there are signs of optimism about the emergence of democracy. On the other, Pakistan is seen as the focus of the war on terrorism.

Host Bob Boilen rejoins co-host Robin Hilton for this week's essential mix of new music, tales from Bob's week on the road and a heart-stopping amount of coffee.