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Got $60,000 to $80,000 to spare? If so, you could own a part of disco history and be strutting in your boogie shoes on the famous Saturday Night Fever dance floor. The multicolored platform where John Travolta showed off his moves is to be auctioned to the public.

Days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall east of New Orleans, thousands are still stranded in the city. And the city's mayor has issued what he called an "Urgent SOS" for help. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is overseeing the biggest recovery operation in U.S. history.

Twenty years ago, tons of toxic gas escaped from a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. It was one of the worst industrial accidents in history, with a death toll of more than 15,000. Many survivors say they have yet to receive compensation. Hear Miranda Kennedy.

Pieces of Chicago's history and cultural experiences go on sale Thursday to raise money for city cultural programs. The eBay offerings include an authentic Playboy Bunny costume from the 1960s. NPR's David Schaper reports.

George McKee Elsey quietly witnessed and participated in the making of American history as an aide to two presidents — Roosevelt and Truman. Now 88, he tells his story in An Unplanned Life.

At the heart of country musician Jon Randall's new CD, Walking Among the Living, there's a bit of family history. The singer-songwriter's "North Carolina Moon" is an update of a tune that his father began to write when Randall was still in high school.

On the eve of a likely invasion of Iraq, NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations about the history of casualties in war. In Vietnam, the United States lost more than 58,000 soldiers. In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, 147 were killed on the battlefield. Many Americans have come to expect fewer casualties to be the norm for conflicts. Boot is the author of The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power. We also hear from people in San Diego, Cleveland and Austin about what they expect will be the number of battlefield deaths if war occurs.

A hot new film, Laurel Canyon, stars Frances McDormand as a hard-livin', hard-lovin' record producer in '70s L.A. In the real world, female record producers were virtually nonexistent in the music industry. How come? NPR's Neda Ulaby investigates in a two-part series. Today: the secret history of women rock 'n' roll producers, with music from Sheryl Crow, the Fleetwoods, the Shangri-las and Missy Elliott.

Author James Mann's latest book, Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet, details 30 years of professional relationships among the president's foreign policy advisors. Mann speaks with NPR's Liane Hansen.

In a turning point in American history, the Supreme Court ruled 50 years ago that separate educational facilities for blacks were inherently unequal. A look at how Americans reacted, through the letters they wrote to their president, Dwight D. Eisenhower.