Playwright, NPR commentator, housecleaner and former elf to Santa, Davis Sedaris. He launched his radio commentator career with his "SantaLand Diaries," broadcast during NPR's "Morning Edition in 1992. His humor has been described as a "caustic mix of J. D.

Dr. Jonathan Edlow is the author of the new book Bull's Eye: Unraveling the Medical Mystery of Lyme Disease. In the book he chronicles the emergence of the disease, how scattered clues led to the cause — bacterium Borelia burgdorferi, and then to the deer tick that spread it. The search for the cause began in the late 1970s when people around Lyme, Conn., began suffering from unexplained arthritis, swelling, circular rashes, fatigue and other symptoms.

Historian Bernard Weissberger. He’s the author of “America Afire,” (William Morrow 2000). The book chronicles the political tumult surrounding the Presidential Election of 1800 between Adams and Jefferson. As in this election, a voting glitch caused confusion. Neither candidate was willing to concede. Weissberger compares the events then, at the birth of the Constitution, to the Gore v. Bush controversy now. He has written more than a dozen books and works on documentaries with Bill Moyers and Ken Burns.

A couple of years ago, director Jake Kasdan woke up in the middle of the night, knowing suddenly that his next film would be a fake music biopic called Walk Hard. He went on to cast John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox, the putative legend at the heart of the story, who has trouble with women and drugs and who tries on a multitude of musical personalities. Walk Hard, due out Dec. 21, also features Jenna Fischer from NBC's The Office; it was co-written and produced by Judd Apatow. Apatow and Kasdan worked together previously on the critically acclaimed TV show Freaks and Geeks.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone previews a 5-hour NBC miniseries on the 1913 hanging of a Jewish factory manager in Atlanta, Georgia following the murder a 13-year-old employee of the factory. The case hinged on racial hatred, in this case the prevailing enmity toward Jews, and Laurie praises the production's exploration of how racial divisions have been exploited for political effect. The miniseries is titled "The Murder of Mary Phagan."

For some, the summer is a time to indulge in frothy beach reading: the latest chick lit or globetrotting, highly unbelievable thriller. But book critic Maureen Corrigan has taken a different tack this year: She's catching up on more substantial reading that she hasn't had time for yet.

One of their most beloved musicals — Fiddler on the Roof — is back on Broadway. The production, at the Minskoff Theatre, stars Alfred Molina as Tevye and includes a new song they wrote. There's a new cast recording of the show. Bock and Harnick collaborated on Fiorello (which won a Pulitzer Prize), She Loves Me and The Rothschilds.

In the new indie comedy "The Adults," Michael Cera plays a guy who returns home to see his two sisters after three years apart. It was written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa, who also cast Cera in his 2017 ensemble film "Person To Person." "The Adult" is in theaters this week.

In 1989, there was a small outbreak of an extremely contagious virus, the Ebola virus, in a lab in Reston, Virginia. The Army was brought in to stop the spread of the disease. The disease causes its victims to bleed to death. Richard Preston has written a new book about the incident, called "The Hot Zone."

Since she began her recording career in the '70s, Patti Smith has never been shy about recording covers of her favorite songs, such as Van Morrison's "Gloria." Now she's released an album consisting entirely of other people's songs — a dozen covers, originally recorded by acts as diverse as the Doors, Nirvana and the Rolling Stones, under the simple title Twelve.

Ramone has been called the "Pope of pop," producing and engineering artists from Bob Dylan to Gloria Estefan, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and dozens of others. Last year he produced Frank Sinatra's "Duets 2." Ramone has just finished recording a classical album with the Curtis Institute Orchestra and produced the cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion."

A new 20-disc box set contains over 500 performances from the Shreveport, La., program that served as a talent showcase for country acts in the 1950s — including Hank Williams and Elvis Presley.

Everybody knows jazz is an American invention that mediates between African and European musical conventions. But for decades, African and European improvisers have been forging their own bonds and hybrids, without American mediation. As a case in point, here's a newly issued historical recording by the South African-born bassist Harry Miller: Harry Miller's Isipingo: Which Way Now.

Food historian William Woys Weaver. Weaver is a leading expert on the culinary traditions and cooking techniques of the 18th and 19th centuries, and he often is often consulted by restoration organizations such as Old Sturbridge Village and Colonial Williamsburg. Weaver also tracks the emergence of regional American cuisines, often focusing on what the common workers, farmers, and slaves ate. Weaver's new book, "America Eats," examines American foods as a valid form of folk art. It also features traditional recipes adapted for the modern kitchen.

Screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (MY-urz-burg). He penned the film “Croupier,” directed by Mike Hodges, whom we’ll hear from later in the show. “Croupier” is a thriller about a novelist who moonlights at a London casino, although he doesn’t gamble himself. He lives to watch others’ defeat. Mayersberg wrote the 1976 classic “The Man who Fell to Earth,” starring David Bowie. In addition to writing, he’s also directed several films, including “The Last Samurai.”

Pullman taught drama at the University of Montana, where he rose to department head at age 27. He later made his acting debut in "Ruthless People." This year alone, he is featured in the films, "Casper," "While You Were Sleeping," and "The Last Seduction."

Journalist and novelist George Packer. Packer grew up in a family with a very strong liberal tradition; his grandfather was a populist congressman from Alabama in the early part of the century. His father was a Jewish Kennedy-era liberal who was a professor at Stanford. His new book, the Blood of the Liberals (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), is a memoir about his family’s liberalism and Packer’s own coming to terms with it. He looks at the history of liberalism in America, and the clashes it caused in his own family.

Rock historian Ed Ward says its time we give bubblegum pop another listen. In contrast to the bombastic concept albums of the 1970s that were released at the same time, these one-off songs were catchy and accessible, and helped expand rock and roll's fanbase.

A new fiction podcast from Audible stars SNL's Bowen Yang as a fortune teller who's trying to steal samples from a sperm bank. Hot White Heist is a playfully zany production with an all-star cast.

Historian James McPherson is a Professor of American History at Princeton University. He's written eleven books about the Civil War, including his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Battle Cry of Freedom." His latest book is "For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War" (Oxford University Press). Drawing on 25,000 letters and 250 private diaries, McPherson looks at why so many soldiers willingly risked their lives to fight in the war.