In his new novel, Emily, Alone, Stewart O'Nan explores the topics of widowhood and old age -- but the book never feels stale, says Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan. Instead, it is a charming, quiet meditation on getting older.
Middle Brother is a trio formed by members of other bands: Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit. Critic Ken Tucker says the group's new self-titled album reaches across decades of rock, folk and country music.
Actor Timothy Olyphant stars in the FX series Justified as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a present-day lawman with Wild West instincts. Elephant also starred in HBO's Deadwood as sheriff Seth Bullock.
The HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce is based on the 1941 novel by John M. Cain, replacing Joan Crawford -- who won an Oscar for the 1945 film version -- with Kate Winslet. TV critic David Bianculli says Winslet does wonders with her role -- and will be tough to beat, come Emmy season.
Fresh Air's critic-at-large John Powers was raised to dislike Elizabeth Taylor. But he soon fell for her charms. He remembers the legendary actress who was a siren on-screen -- and a committed supporter of HIV/AIDS research.
He has died at age 73. Wilson won the Pulitzer Prize for his play, "Talley's Folly." He wrote 17 full length plays and 30 one acts. Titles include "The Hot L Baltimore," "Burn This," "Fifth of July" and "Redwood Curtain," which had just come out when Terry spoke to Wilson in 1992. Wilson was one of the founders of The Circle Repertory Company in New York. He was nominated for Tony Awards for "Angels Fall," "Talley's Folly" and "Fifth of July." (REBROADCAST. ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 3/13/92)
Physician Kevin Patterson has treated patients in the Arctic, in Kandahar and on remote Pacific Islands. He says that Western ideas and effects of urbanization are making people everywhere in the world both fatter and sicker.
Twenty years ago, Italian food was regarded as cheap, peasant food. Now it's served on menus worldwide and considered to be one of the healthiest cuisines. Esquire Magazine's food critic John Mariani chronicles the story of pizza, macaroni and red sauce in How Italian Food Conquered the World.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg says everyone's using the phrase "we're broke" these days to justify cuts in government programs and services. But what does "we're broke" actually mean? The answer, says Nunberg, is tricker than you think.
Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista has played with everyone from Paul Simon to Hervie Hancock to Yo-Yo Ma. On his album Caym, Baptista and his band interpret the music of John Zorn. Music critic Milo Miles says the album "avoid the typical downfalls of eclectic world-music albums."
Dan Savage is an advice columnist who spawned a worldwide movement after hearing one too many times about anguished gay teens committing suicide. Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, talk about their "It Gets Better" project, which now has over 10,000 video submissions.
The future of Libya has become a key part in the rapidly changing transformation of the Arab world. On today's Fresh Air, political scientist Marc Lynch explains why the United States and its allies decided to intervene -- and what's at stake for each side.
It's hard to believe that Nick Lowe's second album, Labour of Lust, was out of print for over 20 years. But a new reissue by Yep Roc has remedied that situation. Rock historian Ed Ward says that it's good to have the album -- featuring the tracks "Without Love" and "Cruel to Be Kind" -- back on the shelves.
Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer, who wrote and produced the HBO drama, explain the show's surprise ending -- and why it's going to be hard for them to let their fictive polygamous family go after five seasons.
Tom McCarthy's new comedy stars Paul Giamatti as a suburban lawyer who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach. Critic David Edelstein says the film is "a symphony of marvelous voices" reminiscent of Little Miss Sunshine.
Before he was famous for popularizing bossa nova with "The Girl from Ipanema" in the early 1960s, saxophonist Stan Getz recorded with small jazz groups all through the '50s. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a new reissue shows Getz was one of the best a playing pretty.
Google, Forest Laboratories and other companies shave billions off their taxes by shifting their revenue through countries with lower income tax rates, Bloomberg News reporter Jesse Drucker says.
The director's new sci-fi comedy stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two guys who hit the highway after Comic-Con -- and pick up an ET on the side of the road. The character-driven laughs depend on your buying into a main character who's entirely computer-generated.
Are doctors rationing health care? Health policy analyst Gregg Bloche says doctors routinely compromise the principles of the Hippocratic Oath when they decided which expensive tests and treatments they can and can't provide, in order to please lawmakers, lawyers and insurance companies.
The master of country soul, Percy Sledge crooned some of the genre's greatest hits, like "When a Man Loves a Woman." Rock historian Ed Ward says a new box set featuring all of Sledge's Atlantic recordings is certainly worth a listen.
