Segments by Date

Science writer Dick Teresi and transplant surgeon Richard Freeman discuss the ethics of transplant surgery and how doctors determine the point between life and death.

South African trumpeter and band leader Hugh Masakela has released more than 30 albums since his American debut in 1961. The concept behind his latest album, Jabulani, is deceptively simple. It's a collection of South African wedding songs with Masakela remembers vividly from his youth.

If you want to know anything about America's greatest city, you've got to be willing to get grimy, says critic Maureen Corrigan. Two new books about New York -- a novel and a narrative history -- do more than put up with filth, they positively wallow in it.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new comedy Casa de mi Padre, starring Will Ferrell. It's a Spanish-language American film created in the style of a telenovela.

The team behind the documentary Planet Earth have teamed up again to explore the coldest, most isolated places on Earth. TV critic David Bianculli says watching Frozen Plant "captures images of so much majesty, artistry, and clarity, it's almost ridiculous."

Historian Andrew Preston says questions in an undergraduate class her was teaching at the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq spurred the research for his new book, Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith. "Once I started looking for religion [in U.S. foreign policy], it was everywhere," he says.

For five seasons, actress Sonja Sohn played Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire, which chronicled life — and death — on Baltimore's toughest streets. When the series ended, Sohn stayed in Baltimore -- to help young people straighten out their lives.

Peter Cameron's new novel about a young nurse is consummate English country home novel. Put the kettle on and settle in -- but don't get too comfortable: Cameron's writing is full of sharp angles an unanticipated swerves into the droll and the downright weird.

Bahamas is the stage name used by Canadian singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, who put out his first album in 2009. His second album, Barchords, is a measured look at the end of a lengthy relationship.

The Israeli government wants America's support and help for any possible attack on Iran. U.S. officials have said this isn't the right time for airstrikes. New York Times Washington correspondent David Sanger explains what's at stake for both sides.

Why did the flushing toilet take centuries to catch on? When did strangers stop sharing beds? And how did people brush their teeth with fish bones? Historical curator Lucy Worsley details the intimate history of the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen in her new book.

Rush Limbaugh said a number of things about Sandra Fluke that created such a stir that he ultimately had to apologize. But most of the reactions focused on that once word: slut. Linguist Geoff Nunberg observes that our reaction to the word says a quite a lot about the society we live in.

Peter Bergman, one of the founding members of the four-man surrealist comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre, died Friday of complications from leukemia. He was 72. Fresh Air remembers Bergman with excerpts from a 1993 interview.

In December, Columbia released a box set of the 19 studio albums Dave Brubeck's quarter recorded between 1955 and 1966. Besides familiar titles like Time Out and Dave Digs Disney, there were a host of all-but-forgotten albums. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a few of them are well-worth tracking down.

In February, President Obama signed an aviation bill requiring the FAA to make plans to integrate drones into American airspace. Brooking Institution senior fellow John Villasenor explains what these drones will be able to see -- and how our privacy and national security may be affected.

In Friends with Kids, Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt play two best friends who decide to have a baby together while keeping their relationship platonic -- so the baby doesn't interfere with their romantic lives. Critic David Edelstein say the film is simply marvelous.

The HBO made-for-TV movie, which focuses on John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 election, has already been attacked by conservative groups. But TV critic David Bianculli says the movie is fair -- and balanced.

Princeton religious scholar Elaine Pagels puts the New Testament's last book in historical context.

Springsteen told Rolling Stone that Wrecking Ball is "as direct a record as I ever made." It's also one of his most stylistically diverse, including elements of gospel and hip-hop as well as rock and blue. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the music "testifies to a bottomless ingenuity, invention and exhilaration."