La Roux is a British pop duo -- 21-year-old singer Elly Jackson and synth player--producer Ben Langmaid -- with a style that blends passionate vocals with strict mechanical beats. The pair's self-titled album went No. 1 in England and Europe this year, and now it's out stateside. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews.
The Liar's Club, Mary Karr's memoir about her hardscrabble childhood in Texas, was named one of the best books of 1995. In her new book, Lit, Karr details her early adult years and her struggles with alcohol, depression and motherhood.
This is the second segment of Fresh Air's two-part interview with Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia. Pauly warns that the global fishing industry has drastically depleted the number of fish in the oceans.
It's been nine years since Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible, has released a new novel -- but is The Lacuna worth the wait? Critic Maureen Corrigan says this personalized perspective on the Red Scare in Mexico reflects the hidden meaning of the book's title: vacancy.
Media critic Ken Auletta tracks the development of Google from a search engine to the provider of all things Internet in his new book Googled: The End of the World as We Know It.
Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia, warns that the global fishing industry has drastically depleted the number of fish in the oceans.
What This Is It lacks in tactful timing, it makes up for with perspective on Michael Jackson's backstage life. Although Jackson's star persona stays front and center, critic David Edelstein says director Kenny Ortega makes a real effort to show us the performer's human side — a treat that makes the King of Pop all the more stellar.
The photographer, who died Oct. 27 at age 89, dedicated his decades-long career to capturing images of African Americans. Roy DeCarava's subjects ranged from daily life in his hometown of Harlem to the Civil Rights movement.
Ali Eteraz returned to his home country of Pakistan after living in the US to find himself at the center of an abduction plot. He describes his experiences in his new memoir, Children of the Dust.
Author Timothy Egan argues in The Big Burn that the forest fire of 1910 — the largest in American history — actually saved the forests, even as its flames charred the trees. It helped rally public support, Egan explains, behind Theodore Roosevelt's push to protect national lands.
Dobie Gray, in his hit "The In Crowd," famously said, "The original is still the greatest." But is it? Ace Records in London has put out a CD called You Heard It Here First!, with 26 original versions of hit songs. Rock historian Ed Ward takes a look.
Washington Post Pentagon Correspondent Greg Jaffe joins Fresh Air to talk about the military options available to President Obama as he develops a new strategy in Afghanistan. Jaffe is co-author of the new book The Fourth Star, about the four generals who led the US military's efforts in Iraq.
The news that Bob Dylan was making a Christmas album came as a surprise. Now that Christmas In The Heart has been released, with the announcement that all profits will go to charity, it's caused even more consternation, with commentators divided as to whether it's an earnest effort or one big put-down. Rock critic Ken Tucker offers his opinion.
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."
