The West Bank has yet to see a democracy movement on the level of those sparking dramatic changes in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. It could have a huge effect on the region, were it to happen, says conflict resolution expert Robert Malley.
Dr. David Ansell's experiences treating patients at Chicago's public hospital for 17 years turned him into a strong advocate for national health care reform. He details what it was like to work with Chicago's uninsured patient population in a new memoir and social history.
Senso, a 1954 Italian political melodrama, and Two Sisters From Boston, a 1946 Hollywood comedy, couldn't be more different — except they're both set at the opera. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says he loves them both.
Romance comics flourished in the 1940s and '50s, with titles like Was I a Wicked Wife? and Kisses Came Second. Pop culture writer Michael Barson collects some of his favorites in the new anthology, Agonizing Love: The Golden Era of Romance Comics.
The Trip, a British comedy featuring two comedians trading their best celebrity impersonations, got critic John Powers thinking about memorable voices from the movies. Famous celebrity voices, he says, are not what they used to be.
The political satirist and comedian talks about his Broadway performance (and performance anxieties) and about his recent segments on The Colbert Report featuring Sarah Palin and Anthony Weiner.
Ron Hansen's latest novel, A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion, fictionalizes an infamous crime of sexual transgression. In 1927, Ruth Snyder killed her husband, Albert, after falling in love with a lingerie salesman. Hansen's sexy fictionalization of the real-life murder sizzles with the spirit of the Roaring '20s.
Super 8 director J.J. Abrams says the inspiration for his latest science-fiction thriller came from his own childhood obsession with filmmaking. He shares his thoughts on the film industry and on trying to make movies more enjoyable for audiences.
Drinking didn't stop in the United States from 1920 to 1933 — it just went underground. Author Daniel Okrent discusses the lasting cultural and political impact of Prohibition in his book, Last Call.
J.J. Abrams' science-fiction thriller Super 8 was inspired, in part, by Steven Spielberg's earliest works. Critic David Edelstein says the film hits home in a way more impersonal franchise pictures don't.
The History Channel star details how he became an expert in customer relations, human behavior, antiques, economics — and spotting fake Rolexes — while running his family's Las Vegas pawn shop.
British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon trade barbs and impressions in the new comedy, The Trip. Coogan, best known for his character Alan Partridge, talks about the improvisational film, which sends the two comedians on a road trip in Northern England.
To make the electric car viable, manufacturers need to create better batteries. But the road to creating a better, long-lasting battery has not been easy. Science writer Seth Fletcher explains why in his book, Bottled Lightning: Superbatteries, Electric Cars and the New Lithium Economy.
The star is admired for his guitar playing, and for the way he mixes elements of country and rock music without pandering to either audience. Ken Tucker says that Paisley's new album, This Is Country Music, is less a manifesto than an enjoyable way to hear him expand his fan base.
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The former boxing champ won world titles in five weight divisions and received a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. In his new autobiography, The Big Fight, Leonard details the obstacles he battled — including sexual abuse and addictions — during his career.
Ewan McGregor stars in Mike Mills' film about a young man who learns that his 75-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) is gay. Critic David Edelstein says the movie, based on Mills' own life puts the filmmaker in a category alongside Woody Allen and Charlie Kaufman.
When book critic Maureen Corrigan was a kid, her family would pile into the car for trips to sites of historical interest. For Corrigan, summer has always been the season for traveling back to a bygone age — either by hitting the road or hitting the books.
The movie Beginners stars Ewan McGregor as a young man who learns that his 75-year-old father, played by Christopher Plummer, is gay. The movie is based on filmmaker Mike Mills' own life. Mills explains what happened when his own dad came out.
Fischer, one of the greatest chess players of all time, was also a recluse who made anti-American and anti-Semitic statements and seemed increasingly lost in the depths of his own mind. Filmmaker Liz Garbus examines the life of the troubled genius in the documentary biopic, Bobby Fischer Against the World.
