BOB GARFIELD: This is On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: And I'm Brooke Gladstone with a few of your letters. S. Ira Grossman of Los Angeles, California says that we played softball with journalist Scott Armstrong last week. Quote, "He never answered the question about why the New York Times waited so long to release the NSA story. My takeaway from his comments was that, quote, 'it was complicated,' suggesting that the American public can't absorb the nuances of editorial concerns. You should be challenging people like Armstrong more vigorously."

BOB GARFIELD: On our report on stolen books, Fred Zelany of Pittsburgh writes, "I was a bookstore clerk for some times at Walden Books and Borders a couple of years ago in rural Maryland, and at that time we had two groups of books that were, by default, high theft-risk items - books on the occult and copies of the Bible. The Bible was almost twice as commonly stolen, but that may have just been because we had a large Biblical section and a larger Bible community.

"Upon catching the occasional shoplifter of either, we invariably got the same rationalization. A person shouldn't have to pay for this. Rather bad form on both cases, I feel."

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Once again, our replay of the Wilhelm Scream prompted kudos from listeners. Writes Norm Herrmann of Etowah, North Carolina, "Thanks for the broadcast of the Wilhelm Scream segment. It descended upon virgin ears. I will now spend the rest of my movie-going life obsessing with listening for this delightful sound effect.

"It's a phenomenon that is better known than I would have ever guessed. There's even a hard-working - based on their touring schedule - punk band appropriately named after the aforementioned tortured yodel. They can be found right where you'd expect - awilhelmscream.com."

BOB GARFIELD: And thanks to you for all your comments. Keep them coming to onthemedia@wnyc.org, and don't forget to tell us where you live and how to pronounce your name. [MUSIC UP AND UNDER]