NPR News

No Easy Day, a first-hand account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, debuts at No. 1.

Next Wednesday: new Dave Douglas band live in concert. But first, these news:

• Burning Ambulance has been counting down the 50 Greatest Saxophonists ever all week. Featuring guest lists from Jon Irabagon and Rudresh Mahanthappa.

There's no question that cilantro is a polarizing herb. Some of us heap it onto salsas and soups with gusto while others avoid cilantro because it smells like soap and tastes like crushed bugs.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now, we turn to Faith Matters. That's the part of the program where we talk about matters of faith, religion and spirituality. This Sunday night marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and the beginning of what are known as the High Holy Days, for observance used, the most spiritually profound time of year.

Got an idea for a classical cartoon, or a reaction to this one? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. You can see more of his work at Artworld Salon and on his own site.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. You know that old saying, you have big shoes to fill? As the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, Ben Taylor probably knows more about that than most. His dad was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His mom has an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy. Each is one of the most beloved artists of their generation, so a little pressure, maybe?

Thankfully, critics found, in his 2003 debut album, "Famous Among the Barns," a unique twist on American folk music.

After the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya earlier this week, Google took down the YouTube video said to have sparked the violence — but only in Libya and in Egypt, where anti-American protests also flared up.

It's an example of the challenges of balancing U.S. free speech concerns and of something known as the "heckler's veto."

The Innocence of Muslims isn't the only YouTube video that can be seen in the U.S. but not elsewhere. Nazi propaganda is banned in Germany, for example, and slurs against Turkey's founder don't appear in that country.

Update at 12:57 p.m. ET. University of Texas Reopens:

The University of Texas has reopened, after a phoned bomb threat prompted the evacuation of its entire Austin campus this morning.

Twice in all of history, humans have managed to eradicate a devastating disease. You've heard of the first one, I suspect: smallpox. But rinderpest?

That's a German word for "cattle plague" a feared companion of cattle throughout history. When outbreaks occurred, as in Europe of the 1700s or Africa in the 1880s, entire herds were wiped out and communities went hungry. Now the disease is gone, eliminated from the face of the earth.

The Obama administration has stepped back from remarks by the president earlier this week in which he suggested that Egypt was something less than a firm ally.

Following unrest in Egypt and the killing of four Americans in Libya that was sparked at least in part by a film seemingly aimed at stoking Muslim anger, Obama, referring to Egypt, told the Spanish-language Telemundo: "I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy."