On August 3, Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn died of heart failure at age 89. Solzhenitsyn exposed the atrocities committed by the Soviet Gulag in his work, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Fresh Air remembers the Nobel Prize winner.
Why is it that government has expanded under an administration that claims to be against big government? Social critic Thomas Frank poses this question in his new book, The Wrecking Crew.
As a journalist, John Darnton spent 40 years at The New York Times. As a novelist, he writes colorful mysteries. His newest murder yarn, set in a big-city newsroom that seems awfully familiar: Black and White and Dead All Over.
The Pineapple Express star often portrays less successful members of society — but he's hardly one of them. The actor and screenwriter has four Hollywood projects out this summer.
Twitchy undertaker, cubicle fiend, sassy convenience-store clerk — Rainn Wilson has long gravitated toward eccentric characters. But is The Office actor attempting the leap to sex symbol through his titular role in The Rocker? Given the hair-metal coif and the still-goofy humor, probably not.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Parallel Play, the new album by Sloan. The Canadian favorites are hoping to attract an American following with this release.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and the American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis. The book tracks the history of Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, an organization that promoted the development of new jazz styles.
United States security has long been a primary issue for the conservative movement. But is an aggressive foreign policy actually counterproductive? Author J. Peter Scoblic says yes.
Shakespeare's tragedy — and Prokofiev's ballet — are plenty familiar, but critic Lloyd Schwartz says Mark Morris's new staging isn't: It's based on a forgotten manuscript recently discovered in Russia, and it's truer to Prokofiev's original intent.
The quest to understand what makes us us has long been one of humankind's great pursuits. Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga has made progress: He's the author of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique.
Traffic congestion is the bane of any commuter's morning ride to work. Tom Vanderbilt, the author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, talks about the behavior that leads to gridlock — and other vehicular annoyances.
With a tightly woven narrative, James Marsh's superb documentary studies Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers. Critic David Edelstein says the film is often awe-inducing.
TV critic David Bianculli reviews Mad Men, the drama about advertising execs during the Kennedy years. Season two of the Emmy-nominated series begins on Sunday night on AMC.
Parsing the presidential candidates' tax plans is necessary to understanding their general takes on the economy. Economist Len Burman has been doing just that. He is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, which has just released a report comparing the candidates' proposed tax policies.
To win this coming election, presidential candidate John McCain must prove that he is as strong on the economy as he is on military and foreign affairs. His senior economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, discusses McCain's approach to economic policy.
Jason Furman has been given the task of formulating Barack Obama's economic policy. He's the presidential hopeful's top economic adviser, and he will talk about where Obama stands on the most pressing economic issues.
