ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
We get most of our mail over the internet these days. And this being Thursday, we're going to read a few of them on the air. We had quite a few email messages about producer Matt Holzman's recollection of the day that he finally got a new kidney.
Unidentified Woman#1: Hi little pumpkin. You have a kidney. Okay, I'm going to come over to your house and I'm going to...
Unidentified Woman #2: Matt, get up, they got a kidney for you. Get up.
Unidentified Woman#3: Matt, it's Stephanie...
NORRIS: Barbara Whitford(ph) of Eagle, Colorado writes, Oh my gosh you guys. I've not both laughed and cried at the same time for a very, very long time. This was the funniest and most heart-wrenching story that you've given me in a long time. This lump in my throat will be with me for quite awhile.
SIEGEL: Cathy Cassidy(ph) of Saratoga, New York adds this, thank you Matt. You're story fully captured so much of the same feelings I had when my sister Helen finally received a liver. And I am praying for the parents of the 14-year-old skateboarder who made that difficult decision at the worst time of their lives. What generosity.
NORRIS: On the subject of Monday's economic boycott, Michael Reed(ph) of Silverthorne, Colorado took exception with our coverage. You're driving me crazy by calling the illegal immigration boycott a boycott to support immigration. I think that almost everyone who lives in the U.S. supports immigration, but it is illegal immigration that everyone is talking about and that is what the boycott is supporting. So please call it what it is. A boycott supporting illegal immigration, or the boycott supporting illegal immigrants' rights.
SIEGEL: David Folkenflic's story on the Anniston Alabama Star brought some praise for its owners. They're giving it to the University of Alabama to be used as a teaching newspaper.
Dale Goodner(ph) of Peoria, Illinois wrote, thank you David Folkenflic for the excellent story on how this incredible newspaper came to be. It is refreshing to know that there is someone who still values journalistic integrity above the almighty dollar. May the Anniston Star continue to serve as a beacon.
NORRIS: Tom Moon's review off Neil Young's new anti-war album brought in a flood of response. Here's a little refresher on the music.
(Soundbite of music)
President GEORGE BUSH: We're going to smoke them out, bring them on.
Unidentified Man: And if this Patriot Act (unintelligible) guarantees are in place.
NORRIS: Ann Hicus(ph) of Lindsborg, Kansas writes, freedom of speech is one thing, but if he has so much to say he can start in on the things that are wrong in Canada. You need to bring respect back to the White House, Miss Hicus writes. The president represents the office and our land and why you would chose that recording as a news item is beyond my understanding.
SIEGEL: Julie Eveland(ph) of Cameron Park, California adds, I think it is always commendable when someone exercises the right to protest, however, whenever I listen to these kinds of visceral reactions, I'm always led to wonder where people like Mr. Young were when people were being oppressed under Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and when little girls were unable to attend school in Afghanistan.
NORRIS: But Brock Curry(ph) of San Antonio says, kudos to Neil Young for putting to music much of what I and millions of other Americans have been thinking about the Bush administration and its unjustified war in Iraq. Tom Moon's review seems to accurately capture Young's new album, and I appreciate the fact that Young is speaking out loudly.
SIEGEL: Well we hope that you'll speak loudly about our program. Write to us by going to NPR.org. Click on contact us at the top of the page. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.