Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and the American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis. The book tracks the history of Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, an organization that promoted the development of new jazz styles.
United States security has long been a primary issue for the conservative movement. But is an aggressive foreign policy actually counterproductive? Author J. Peter Scoblic says yes.
Traffic congestion is the bane of any commuter's morning ride to work. Tom Vanderbilt, the author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, talks about the behavior that leads to gridlock — and other vehicular annoyances.
The quest to understand what makes us us has long been one of humankind's great pursuits. Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga has made progress: He's the author of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique.
Shakespeare's tragedy — and Prokofiev's ballet — are plenty familiar, but critic Lloyd Schwartz says Mark Morris's new staging isn't: It's based on a forgotten manuscript recently discovered in Russia, and it's truer to Prokofiev's original intent.
TV critic David Bianculli reviews Mad Men, the drama about advertising execs during the Kennedy years. Season two of the Emmy-nominated series begins on Sunday night on AMC.
With a tightly woven narrative, James Marsh's superb documentary studies Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers. Critic David Edelstein says the film is often awe-inducing.
To win this coming election, presidential candidate John McCain must prove that he is as strong on the economy as he is on military and foreign affairs. His senior economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, discusses McCain's approach to economic policy.
Parsing the presidential candidates' tax plans is necessary to understanding their general takes on the economy. Economist Len Burman has been doing just that. He is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, which has just released a report comparing the candidates' proposed tax policies.
Jason Furman has been given the task of formulating Barack Obama's economic policy. He's the presidential hopeful's top economic adviser, and he will talk about where Obama stands on the most pressing economic issues.
The team behind the car-racing comedy Talladega Nights is taking another lap. Director Adam McKay and actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly talk about their new film, Step Brothers, and the laughs they had making it.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new Silver Jews album, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. The band is fronted by singer, songwriter, poet and occasional cartoonist David Berman.
Lt. Col. John Nagl wrote the textbook on counterinsurgency — literally. Nagl was part of the team that drafted a U.S. Army field manual on counterinsurgency. Having completed his tour in Iraq, Nagl talks about how military theory was put into practice in the region.
For soldier Brian Turner, words have the impact of bullets. His poems provide a first- person account of war; The New York Times praised their "attention to both the terrors and the beauty he found among Iraq's ruins."
Fresh Air's jazz critic has a listen to a re-issue of The Hawk Flies High, the 1957 album from tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins — who's often credited with legitimizing that instrument in the jazz world.
Health care advocate Carol Levine has looked out for the interests of the housebound both at work and at home. For 17 years, she cared for her husband, who had been seriously injured in a car accident. He died recently, and Levine is left coping with a renewed sense of loss.
The Dark Knight is the most successful film of the summer. Director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale can take much of the credit: They've revived a flagging franchise, offering a fresher, darker look at a legend.
Mystery novelist Janwillem Van de Wetering was once a motorcycle gang member in South Africa, an aspiring monk in Kyoto, Japan and a policeman in Amsterdam. The Dutch author of The Hollow-Eyed Angel, The Blond Baboon and The Maine Massacre died July 4 at the age of 77.
Jo Stafford was a favorite entertainer of soldiers during World War II. Stafford and her husband, pianist Paul Weston, also performed a bad cabaret act as their alter egos, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Stafford died of congestive heart failure Wednesday. She was 90.
