Friends Through the Fire
The escalating conflict in the Middle East has gripped the world. And although it's on the other side of the world, for some Americans, it hits close to home. Lebanese-American Nazih Malak and Israeli-American Avi Urban met a few years ago through a project called Living Room Dialogues. There they became good friends. Weekend America's Barbara Bogaev and Bill Radke talk with them about their reaction to recent events.

Artificial Intelligence
The concept of artificial intelligence, which is intelligence that is exhibited by an artificial entity like a computer, is 50 years old this year. The term was coined at Dartmouth, and this weekend the school is bringing back experts like Marvin Minsky, who was at the original A.I. conference 50 years ago, to talk about what the original A.I. dream was and how it has evolved in the last five decades. We also talk with filmmaker Dan Rockmore, who is working on a film about the origins of artificial intelligence.

The Lovell Sisters
One night, the Lovell sisters, who are all classically trained musicians, went to a bluegrass concert. They fell in love. From that moment on, they decided that they had to play bluegrass. Reporter Michael Krall found out what it's like for Jessica, Rebecca, and Megan Lovell to work together as sisters and as musicians.

Gay Games
The Gay Games kick off on Saturday and run through the 22nd of July in Chicago. Bill talks with Victoria Stagg Elliott, who will be competing in figure skating. Victoria just started figure skating six years ago, but that didn't stop her from winning a gold medal at the Sydney games in 2002. The Chicago games will be particularly poignant for Victoria, since her friends and family will be there, cheering the Illinois native on from the stands.

The Head Butt Felt Around the World
This week when Zinedine Zidane of France head butted Marco Materazzi of Italy, people exploded with chatter. Was it justified? Does it depend on what Materazzi said? Should he apologize? Is aggression in sports ever justified? Bill and Barbara hash it out with Percy Allen, who covers the Seattle Supersonics and other sports for the Seattle Times, and Gordon Wittenmeyer, who covers the Minnesota Twins and other sports for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Weekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.

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High Brow, Low Brow
Is America high, low or middle brow this week? Each month Weekend America's Bill Radke gathers together a panel to take a look at the latest developments in American culture through its brows. The panelists include: Amy Hungerford, a professor of American Literature at Yale, Dana Gould, co-executive producer of "The Simpsons," and our very own weather guy, John Moe.

Soulfood?
A new study came out this week about the effects of psilocybin, the substance that's in certain hallucinogenic mushrooms. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine study focused on how many people have had deeply spiritual experiences while under the influence. One of the last major psilocybin studies was in 1962, when 20 seminary students took the substance (or a placebo), and were studied during a Good Friday sermon. Barbara talks with Reverend Mike Young, a participant in the "Good Friday Marsh Chapel" experiment, and Roland Griffiths, a researcher at Johns Hopkins and the lead author of the new study.

Magic Mushrooms for Health
Several years ago, Pamela found out she had cancer. After what she thought was a successful round of treatment, the cancer came back a year later. By that time it was Stage 4 and had spread. The doctors say it is terminal: Pamela is going to die and chances are it's going to be painful. Faced with this stark diagnosis, Pamela joined a study that uses psychedelic drugs to help ease the pain and trauma of a terminal illness. Producer Ben Adair brings us this story about dealing with cancer in an unconventional way.

Jazz Music Pick: Marty Ehrlich
Nate Chinen from Jazz Times sits down with Bill Radke to listen to the multi-talented Marty Ehrlich. Chinen is impressed with how Ehrlich plays both the alto sax and clarinet. Ehrlich's compositions aren't to be overlooked.

Outer Space Toolkit
Discovery is scheduled to leave the space station on Saturday and land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday. While in space, the astronauts have been testing repair techniques. However, they don't use just average tools—their tools have been specially outfitted to make sure they don't float off into another galaxy and have to serve a specific purpose. Barbara and Bill talk with Dan Motto, whose engineers helps create some of these special space tools.

In Bed for Science
Erin Petersen spent 12 weeks, laying down and tilted at a 6-degree angle. She wasn't sick and she wasn't lazy, it was actually part of a NASA study of the effect of weightlessness on bone density. In the process, she learned a lot about being alone and the toll that so-called bed rest can take on the body.

Weekend Weather
Weekend America's John Moe takes a look at the weather and Saturday happenings all across the country.

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Road Trip
Weekend America continues its summer road trip series on the Lincoln Highway, America's first coast-to-coast road. Our last leg of the trip took us from Time Square to Pennsylvania, and now we pick up in Illinois. The highway there just misses Chicago, passing it 30 miles to the south, in Chicago Heights. That's where independent producer Yolanda Perdomo begins her trip.