Everyday newshounds call us for experts on world affairs, or for answers to some tough questions on everything from politics to science. What do reporter's want to know? Well, here's a smattering from nearly 2,000 media calls we received during the last four months.

• anti matter
• women who kill
• Air Canada strike
• lap dancing
• Czar Nicholas II
• U.S. bombing of Sudan
• school uniforms
• phallic symbols
• the meaning of labour day
• supreme court decision on Quebec
• Canada's plummeting dollar
• McDonald's and unions
• Swiss banks settlements with Jews
• meteorites
• computers and the year 2,000
• psychology of business trends
• urban myths
• spanking (the discipline kind)
• noise pollution
• volcanoes
• shyness
• touch deprivation
• the Earth's age
• Ally McBeal

Illustration: Eric Mohr