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Russian-American Irina Reyn updates Tolstoy with her novel What Happened to Anna K. Underground theater thrives in Belarus, a country where statues of Stalin still loom over the city. We’ll explore how tiny Georgia became a filmmaking capital of the old Soviet Union, and how freedom and war have threatened the film industry. And we’ll take a trip to Poland, where a Jewish culture festival draws visitors to a land with no Jews.

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of one of the masters of American music, visionary pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us in this edition of the Fishko Files, listening to Monk’s music can be habit forming, as well as life-changing. It certainly was for Jason Moran.

Lil' Wayne appeared on more than 70 tracks and mixtapes last year. And Jay-Z will guest on an upcoming Coldplay song, repaying singer Chris Martin for appearing on the rap mogul's "Kingdom Come." With guest appearances quickly becoming the norm and not the exception, we ask New York times pop critic Jon Caramanica why cameos are so prevalent in hip hop. Soundcheck blog: When hip hop cameos reach the point of diminishing returns

Juana Molina – Un Dia (One Day) – Domino Records Twenty years ago in Argentina, way before the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, there was a comic news program called La Noticia Rebelde, or Rebel News. One young actress featured on the show was Juana Molina, a rising star on television. But Juana dropped acting a few years later – for her country’s dismay – to pursue music. Now she is one of the most innovative singer-songwriters to come from Argentina who experiments with pop, electronica, beats and loops. Her music sounds really deep and dreamy, but somewhere in the underline you can hear her old sense of humor. -- picked by Gisele Regatao Elbow - “The Seldom Seen Kid” (Geffen) Our next CD pick of the week comes from Elbow, a band from Manchester, England, that won this year’s prestigious Mercury Prize for their album “The Seldom Seen Kid.” The Mercury honors great – and sometimes under-the-radar -- albums from British and Irish artists, and this year’s short list of nominees was impressive. On it were vets like Radiohead and Robert Plant and next-big-things like Adele and Laura Marling. But Elbow topped them with an expansive Britpop album that positively torpedoes that new Coldplay. Here’s “Grounds for Divorce” from The Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow. – picked by Joel Meyer Rachel Unthank and the Winterset: The Bairns Our final CD pick this week is one of the Mercury Prize also-rans. And it’s amazing they were even nominated. Rachel Unthank & The Wintersets are young musicians playing very old music from Northumbria, a region of England rich in folklore and folk music. Rachel, her sister Becky, and their band have released an album called The Bairns, on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. Some of the songs are very short and very spare, a reminder of how they originally sounded. But most are arranged in strange and beautiful ways, as on this song called “I Wish.” -- picked by John Schaefer

In the late 1960s, guitarist Peter Walker studied raga with Ravi Shankar and released two raga-inflected folk music. In the 1970’s he settled in Woodstock and disappeared from the music scene. He has now being re-discovered by a record label and is into Flamenco. He joins us with a live performance.

Steven Stein currently writes a blog about music and copyright laws. But 25 years ago he was known as Steinski, a pioneering force in the controversial hip-hop style of record sampling and beat-making. Stein joins us to talk about breaking ground -- and wrestling with copyright issues -- in the 1980s. Soundcheck blog: John Schaefer muses on our increasingly sampled world

First, call in with your tales from the global economy: Did your job cross the border without you? Are your biggest customers overseas? Are you now supervising workers in Bangalore? Call in and comment below. Then Philip Levy, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and trade policy coordinator for the McCain campaign, and John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation, debate the issue and what the candidates say (and are likely to do do) on this issue. Then Bud Konheim, president and chief executive officer of Nicole Miller, explains the effects of globalization on New York's garment industry.

Not long ago, Gregg Gillis was just a mild-mannered biomedical engineer. But his obsession with samples turned him into Girl Talk, a mad-scientist DJ who masterminds sweaty (and nearly naked) live shows. He joins us to talk about the risks and rewards of mashing up LL Cool J, Yo La Tengo, and more than 300 other ear-catching samples on his latest album "Feed the Animals."

WNYC political director Andrea Bernstein gives post-debate analysis from Nashville. Plus, we get reactions from two undecided voters, Enrique Facundo and Kathy Nyberg.

Greg Ip, U.S. economics editor for The Economist talks about the latest effort to boost confidence in the global economy.

In 1996, the mysterious DJ Shadow released "Endtroducing," a scratch-happy album that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the first made up entirely of samples. Many of those samples came from old vinyl records. But as DJ Shadow told "Studio 360" producer Derek John, finding all those records wasn’t easy.

Find out how Abraham Lincoln became a great wartime commander in chief despite not having any military experience. Civil War historian James McPherson’s most recent book is Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief.

Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding has always been precocious. She started playing the club scene Portland, Ore., as a teenager. When she was 20, she became the youngest faculty member ever at Berklee College of Music in Boston. And now at 23, after playing with jazz giants like Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny, she is releasing an album in three languages. She joins us with a live performance.Esperanza Spalding is playing at the Highline Ballroom tomorrow night. The show starts at 8 p.m.

The popular social networking website has always been a place for small bands to reach out to fans and in many cases, achieve success. But the website is now owned by Ruphert Murdoch and when it launched its online music store last month it left the indies out. In the first of a four-smackdown series on music buying, we'll debate MySpace. Joining us is Erick Schonfeld, co-editor of Techcrunch.com, and Farhad Manjoo, technology columnist of Slate.com. Soundcheck Blog: John Schaefer on MySpace Next up in the series: iTunes, Wal-Mart, and then the iPod versus Zune.

Essayist and public radio favorite Sarah Vowell talks about America’s Puritan roots, beyond the shoe buckles-and-corn stereotypes, and what our 17th c. cultural heritage means for modern-day Americans. Her new book is The Wordy Shipmates. Events: Sarah Vowell will give a Q&A and booksigning Wed. Oct. 8 at 7:00 PM Barnes & Noble Union Square 33 East 17th St Sarah Vowell has also helped plan "REVENGE OF THE BOOK EATERS" A benefit for NYC’s Free Writing Programs for Children Tues. Oct. 7 at 8:00 PM Town Hall, 43rd St. between Broadway and 6th Ave. Tickets and more info at 826nyc.org

The third rail may be issue number one this election. How will the economy affect Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs? How much fixing do they need? Peter Diamond, economics professor at MIT and co-author of Saving Social Security: A Balanced Approach, looks at the state of Social Security and the changes the program has seen over the past eight years. Then, Mike Tanner, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and Mark Weisbrot, co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research take a look at McCain and Obama’s plans for Social Security and Medicare. Then, a call for those of you near retirement or thinking about retirement who may be changing your plans in the current economic climate. Are you delaying retirement? Working part-time? Comment below!

Joe Nocera, business columnist for the New York Times and author of the Executive Suite blog discusses the state of the stock market and the Capitol Hill testimony of Lehman CEO Richard Fuld. What do you think? What should Richard Fuld do with his $250 million dollars? Vent below!

Joan Goldwasser, senior reporter for Kiplinger's Personal Finance discusses how the current economy is affecting major decisions consumers are having to make every day.

Zachary Karabell, president of independent consulting firm River Twice Research, discusses whether the current fiscal crisis is a sign of the end of capitalism as we know it.

Advisors to President Bush have claimed that “perception is reality.” We look at the ways presidents are portrayed in biographical films. When are biopics accurate depictions, and when are they more about myth-making? Leonard talks to Professor Jay Parker of Georgetown University's Department of Government, and film critic David Thomson. You can watch the films we’ve selected and weigh in on the conversation by posting your reactions below. Films we’ll discuss: JFK (1991) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) Truman (1995)

It can be hard for parents to get their finicky kids to eat healthy foods. Chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and New York Times "Well" blogger Tara Parker-Pope share tips on how to end food battles and expand menu options for even the pickiest eaters! Weigh in: How did you get your kids to eat foods beyond pizza, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets? Share your tips and recipes. Event: Tara Parker-Pope and Alice Waters will be participating in a panel discussion "Beyond Chicken Nuggets: How to Raise a Healthy Eater" Sun. Oct. 12th from 12:00-1:30 PM HIRO Ballroom, 88 9th Avenue (Between 16th and 17th Sts.) For tickets and more info, go here

We look at how the oil industry got so big, and whether anything needs to be done to keep it in check. Antonia Juhasz is author of The Tyranny of Oil. Event: Antonia Juhasz will be at the NYC book launch For The Tyranny of Oil Mon. Oct. 6 from 6:30 to 8:30pm The Puffin Room 435 Broome Street in Soho

Execution by guillotine wasn’t eliminated in France until the early 1980s. French lawyer Robert Badinter talks about his fight to end the death penalty there, and what the US can learn from the debate over the death penalty in France. His recent book is Abolition.