The singer-songwriter's new album sounds like a collection of songs that could have been sung a hundred years ago, or written and recorded just a few weeks ago. She's joined on the album by her ex-husband, Richard Thompson, and their three children.
Bridget Jones hasn't aged well. At 51, she's the "geriatric mum" of two small children, and finds herself yearning to plunge back into dating. Critic Maureen Corrigan says if you're looking for jolly feminist cultural commentary, you'd be better off reading a witty "encyclopedia of lady things" from the creators of the website Jezebel.
Wall Street Journal reporters Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O'Connell say that champion cyclist Lance Armstrong was at the center of "the greatest sports conspiracy ever." Their book chronicles everything from group blood transfusions on the team bus to extensive efforts to silence and intimidate those who might expose the abuse.
The best-selling author and humorist has kept journals for 36 years. Those diaries have been the jumping-off point for the personal essays that appear in his collections, including Me Talk Pretty One Day and Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls. (Originally broadcast on April 24, 2013.)
The actor is a cast of one in All Is Lost, about a man adrift alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Fresh Air critic David Edelstein says Redford and director J.C. Chandor have pulled off the ultimate fusion of actor and character. (Recommended)
Crystal isn't happy about turning 65, but at least he's finding a way to laugh about it. The actor and comedian's new memoir — Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — is on the best-seller list and he'll be back on Broadway in November.
Set in London in the early 1930s, the five-part miniseries is about a black jazz band trying to crack the dance halls and radio playlists. Critic David Bianculli says this music-centered show features full, unpredictable characters and some exceptionally intriguing performances.
A new made-for-TV movie from BBC America dramatizes one particular period in the intertwined lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Critic David Bianculli says less is more, and the film's narrow biographic focus is one of its strengths.
n 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles as secretary of state, and Allen Dulles as director of the CIA. In his new book, The Brothers, journalist Stephen Kinzer says the Dulles' actions "helped set off some of the world's most profound long-term crises."
As part of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the British singer-songwriter helped define a West Coast sound. Here, he discusses the influence of Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and marijuana on his career, as well as his new memoir, Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life.
Musical duo The Blow, in which the singing of Khaela Maricich meets the mixing of Melissa Dyne, has just released a new eponymous collection. Critic Ken Tucker says the electro-pop on the album is self-aware, sexy and smart — and, while informed by the art world, never dips into "art-rock" territory.
In his new book, The Everything Store, journalist Brad Stone says Amazon "ended up forever changing the way we shop and read." He says CEO Jeff Bezos started out selling books, but always had the intention of turning the online market into a company that sold everything.
Tom Hanks stars as the title character in the gripping Captain Phillips, opposite the compelling Somali-born actor Barkhad Abdi as the leader of a pirate band that attacks his freighter in the Gulf of Aden.
Since wrapping up the last Harry Potter film, Daniel Radcliffe has taken on roles you may not have expected from the former boy wizard. He tells Fresh Air that starting his acting career so young gave him a sense of purpose he wasn't finding in the British school system, and he hasn't looked back since.
On Three Chords and the Truth, bluegrass musician James King picks from the canon of country music to rearrange its songs as bluegrass. On The Bluegrass Album, country star Alan Jackson has recorded his first collection of bluegrass music — some classics, some originals.
For centuries, the memory of Jane Franklin has languished in brother Benjamin's shadow. While Ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, Jane's life of curiosity and hardship has been forgotten. In Book of Ages, historian Jill Lepore draws a portrait of one of the American Revolution's "little women."
The jazz pianist uses his new record to recall works of yesteryear and simultaneously illustrate his new sense of direction. Jamal isn't playing the way he did 60 years ago, now that he's finished warming up.
The president alone can approve or reject construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to take crude oil extracted from Alberta, Canada, through America's heartland to refineries on the Gulf Coast. New Yorker journalist Ryan Lizza says Obama could use the decision as a "symbolic turning point in the kind of energy future he wants America to have."
Smart, who was held captive for nine months at age 14, describes the 2002 ordeal in a new memoir called My Story. She's now an advocate for children's safety education and says "the best punishment" she can give her abusers is to move on with her life and be happy.
The film tells the true story of Richard Phillips, whose container ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Navy SEAL sharpshooters eventually freed the captain from the small lifeboat where he was held hostage for five days. Tom Hanks stars in the film, which is directed by Paul Greengrass.
