Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the latest CD by alto saxophonist Steve Lehman and his octet. In Travail, Transformation & Flow, Lehman continues his work using computer models to create and drive his improvisation.
Reporter Leonard Lee. Lee's new book, "The Day the Phones Stopped: The Computer Crisis-- The What and Why of It, and How We Can Beat It," examines how our growing dependency on computers, and the growing complexity of computer programs, have led to expensive, and sometimes deadly, computer failures. Prior to becoming a journalist, Lee was a systems engineer for IBM. ("The Day the Phones Stopped" is published by Donald I. Fine).
NY Times cybersecurity correspondent Nicole Perlroth says hacking tools developed by the NSA were stolen, posted online and are now being used in cyberattacks, including one on the city of Baltimore.
Fresh Air tech contributor Alexis Madrigal explains how a tiny computer attaches to a pill you ingest to record how your body responds. It sounds crazy, he says, but it was approved by the FDA.
The constant stream of information we get through mobile and hand-held devices is changing the way we think. Matt Richtel, a technology writer for The New York Times, explains how the use of digital technology is altering our brains -- and how retreating into nature may reverse the effects.
Darren Aronofsky's latest film is a big-budget Bible story called, simply, Noah. Russell Crowe plays the title character, and the movie also features Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson.
Taborn is one the most inventive and resourceful pianists in improvised music today. He has a new solo album — his first in a decade — and, like the previous one, it's a stunner.
Jonny Greenwood talks about the two aspects of his life: being lead guitarist for the band Radiohead, and writing film scores for directors Paul Thomas Anderson and Jane Campion. He recently wrote scores for their films 'Licorice Pizza' and 'The Power of the Dog.'
Chess master Garry Kasparov may have lost to Deep Blue, but linguist Geoff Nunberg says there are some areas where humans will beat computers -- at least for now.
John Lasseter, Executive Vice President of Creative for Pixar, Inc. Lasseter was one of the founding members of the computer animated filmmaking company. He served as Director and Animator of the feature films Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and A Bugs Life. He was also Executive Producer of Monsters, Inc. Toy Story was the first computer-animated feature film. Lasseter also directed a number of shorts for Pixar, including Tin Toy, Reds Dream and Luxo, Jr. Tin Toy won an Oscar in 1988 for Best Animated Short Film.
Rachael & Vilray first met in 2003 when they were students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, but didn't begin performing together until 2015. Now they are the duo Rachael & Vilray and they play original songs inspired by the music of the 1930s and 40s. They'll talk and sing in the studio.
James Brown is also known as the Godfather of Soul and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, among other titles. The 71-year-old singer is still touring, despite having prostate surgery in December. He's written a new memoir, James Brown: I Feel Good.
In The Innovators, Walter Isaacson explains that Pentagon officials wanted a system the Russians couldn't attack, and 1984 made the public wary of new technology's Big Brother potential.
"Drawing is way of exorcising fears, and, for me, a way of controlling them," Hanawalt says. She's the creator of the Netflix animated series Tuca & Bertie and creative designer of BoJack Horseman.
Brian Krebs, who broke the Target security breach story last year, says cybercriminals are "some very bad people." He tells Terry Gross about how they have found creative ways to taunt him.
