New York Times reporter David Rohde was covering Pakistan and Afghanistan in November 2008 when he and two companions were kidnapped by the Taliban and held in the tribal areas of Pakistan for seven months. Rohde recounts the ambush — and his subsequent imprisonment and escape.
Weekends at Bellevue is psychiatrist Julie Holland's account of her years treating patients in a New York City psychiatric ER. She says one of the hardest parts of her job was figuring out which patients were manic or schizophrenic and which were high on cocaine or methamphetamines.
Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story made a splash, but critic John Powers says its critique of capitalism is "the kind of scattershot tirade I used to hear in my college dorm." Better object lessons: New documentaries, Schmatta and American Casino, that do far more to explain how grand economic forces shape our daily lives.
Director Mira Nair's Amelia attempts to capture the free-spirited life of famed pilot Amelia Earhart. But with a flat script and shallow story, says critic David Edelstein, the movie is more of a blueprint--it never breathes.
Tracy Morgan, a Saturday Night Live alumnus and one of the stars of NBC's 30 Rock, has a new memoir — I Am the New Black — about growing up in what he calls "Ghetto, USA."
Jane Gardam has spent her long career writing dry, honest books about British life. Her new novel, The Man in the Wooden Hat, showcases the regrets of a woman never quite sure that marrying her husband was the right choice. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Gardam the best British writer you've never heard of.
McKay's Normal as Blueberry Pie is "eccentric yet utterly disarming," says rock critic Ken Tucker. McKay's admiration for Doris Day isn't really a surprise — both artists are cheerful and underrated — and on this album the two seem like "sisters in bright-eyed intelligence."
A staff writer for The New Yorker, Jane Mayer joins Fresh Air host Terry Gross to talk about what she discovered while researching her upcoming article "The Predator War." The story explores the ethics and controversies surrounding the CIA's covert drone program, in which remote-controlled airplanes target and kill terror suspects within Pakistan — a country that's a U.S. ally, not an adversary.
Before there was Superman, other comics roamed the funny pages. The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics is an anthology of these forgotten gems, lovingly selected by famed comic artist Art Spiegelman and his wife, Francoise Mouly.
Financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin discusses his investigation into what really happened one year ago during the financial collapse and bailout. That's the epic tale he tells in his new book Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves.
An estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals, parasites, bacteria or viruses, or fails to meet federal health standards. Part of the problem, says journalist Charles Duhigg, is that water-pollution laws are not being enforced.
An adaptation from Maurice Sendak's book, Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are has a vision all its own, says critic David Edelstein. And it casts a singular sort of spell: With a crack ensemble cast and an almost hallucinatory blending of reality and make-believe, it's "a fabulous treehouse of a movie."
Funk bassist and psychedelic soulster Bootsy Collins is known for his solid grooves and flashy style. Collins got his start at Cincinnati's famed King Records, where he began as a session musician before joining James Brown's band, The JBs.
While most record companies of the 1940s and 1950s made money in one genre, Cincinnati-based King Records spread the love to R & B, rockabilly, bluegrass, western swing and country. Jon Hartley Fox tells the story in his new book King of the Queen City.
A new six-hour documentary about Monty Python's Flying Circus commemorates the show's 40th anniversary. Reviewer David Bianculli calls it entertaining and "completely different."
Entrepreneur Seymour Stein got his start in the music industry as a teenager, when he worked with Syd Nathan at King Records in Cincinnati. Stein went on to co-found Sire Records, where he signed such artists as The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Pretenders, Madonna, Depeche Mode and The Smiths.
The editor in chief of Gourmet joins Terry Gross to discuss the surprise announcement that the venerable magazine will publish its final edition in November. Along with recipes and regrets, she'll talk about her new recipe book, Gourmet Today.
If a comic book about surviving middle school doesn't sound like a must read to you, think again. Critic Maureen Corrigan says that Jeff Kinney's Dog Days — the latest in his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series — hits home with any crowd.
