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Linda talks with Robert E. Mutch, an independent scholar and the author of "Campaigns, Congress, and Courts." (Praeger, 1988) They discuss how and why the first campaign finance laws were enacted during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency.

Liane talks with cultural historian Stephen Nissenbaum about the evolution of Christmas gift-giving, from the early days of giving as charity to contemporary times when the holiday has become the focal point for family gift exchanges.

NPR's Howard Berkes reports on a newly released CD-ROM with searchable archives of a Civil War-era bank used by former slaves. For more information on the searchable archives, check out www.media.lds.org

As Athens prepares for the upcoming Summer Olympics, archaeologists are exploring the thousands of years of history that lie just beneath the city's surface. Chris Joyce reports on findings about the civilization that created the first Olympics.

The word filibuster goes back to a Dutch word for "freebooter," someone who took booty or loot. It came to mean a legislator who was "pirating" parliamentary proceedings.

The archived records of Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun are released to the public, five years after his death, as he had instructed. Among the half-million items are Blackmun's personal notes and those of other justices, discussing everything from a case's merits to court gossip. The documents shed light on dramatic legal battles, including Chief Justice William Rehnquist's repeated efforts to weaken Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling written by Blackmun. Hear NPR's Nina Totenberg, who was the only broadcast journalist given advance access to the files.

A note on some of the milestones in the history of Trans World Airlines.

Historian Thant Myint-U is a former U.N. official and a native of Burma. His new book, The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma — part memoir, part history — explores the problems plaguing the country.

Scott speaks with Patrick Maney, who teaches political history at the University of South Carolina. They talk about past inaugurals.