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Since its national debut in 1987, Fresh Air with Terry Gross has been a highly acclaimed and much adored weekday magazine among public radio listeners. Each week, nearly 4.8 million people turn to Peabody Award-winning host Terry Gross for insightful conversations with the leading voices in contemporary arts and issues. The renowned program reaches a global audience, with over 620 public radio stations broadcasting Fresh Air, and 3 million podcast downloads each week. Fresh Air has broken the mold of 'talk show' by weaving together superior journalism and intimate storytelling from modern-day intellectuals, politicians and artists alike. Through probing questions and careful research, Gross's interviews are lauded for revealing a fresh perspective on cultural icons and trends. Her thorough conversations are often complemented by commentary from well-known contributors. Fresh Air is produced at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and broadcast nationally by NPR., (1.) Investigative reporter MICHAEL BERENS (BEAR-ins). He writes for the Chicago Tribune. His series of articles (July 21-23) is about the epidemic of life-threatening infections that occur in America's hospitals. He reports that infection rates are soaring and they are exacerbated by hospital cutbacks and carelessness by doctors and nurses. Deaths caused by hospital germs are now the fourth leading cause of mortality among Americans, and can largely be prevented. Plus the problem is often kept secret by hospitals and it persists because of a lack of government oversight. (2.) Veteran registered nurses KIM ARMSTRONG and AUDREY LUDMER ('Lud' as in 'dud'). ARMSTRONG is currently working in obstetrics with high risk labor and delivery in the Seattle-area. LUDMER works in the peri-op care center for endoscopy patients. She works in the Manhatten area. Both will talk about how the nursing shortage and hospital cutbacks have affected hospital health care. (3.) Book critic MAUREEN CORRIGAN reviews 'Prague' (Random House) the debut novel by Arthur Phillips