Editor and writer Walter Kirn's latest novel, Mission to America, is about a fictional quasi-religious group, the Aboriginal Fulfilled Apostles, seeking new converts to help them survive. The topic is one Kirn has experience with: When he was 12, Kirn's family became Mormons.
Two writers describe how their lives have been shaped: Kim Ponders was an Air Force pilot during the first Gulf War; and Nicole Lea Helget grew up on a turbulent Minnesota farm in the 1980s.
Actor, producer, writer, director George Clooney directed and co-wrote the new film Good Night, and Good Luck, about the showdown between legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy that took place in 1954.
Best-selling author Zadie Smith's new book, On Beauty, follows the lives of two mixed-race families in a fictional New England college town. Smith's previous work includes the novel White Teeth.
The animated feature Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is the latest big-screen adventure featuring an inept man and a clever dog. The characters, fan favorites in Great Britain, are the work of Nick Park.
Joan Didion's memoir The Year of Magical Thinking is about grieving for her husband, fellow writer John Gregory Dunne. He died suddenly at the end of 2003, while their daughter was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Martha Stewart turned her lifestyle advice into a billion-dollar business: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. In addition to her magazines, Stewart has a new book, The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Grow, or Manage a Business. She also has new shows on television and radio this fall.
Musicians Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, two New Orleans natives, have been friends for years — back to the days when Connick took piano lessons from Marsalis' father, Ellis
Mystery writer Ruth Rendell is known both for her more traditional Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford mysteries and for dark psychological thrillers. Her new book, 13 Steps Down, falls into the latter category.
Army National Guardsman Jason Christopher Hartley. While serving in Iraq, Hartley kept a blog of his experiences until his commanders forced him to shut it down. Heâs now back from Iraq, and has a new memoir, âJust Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraqâ (HarperCollins).
Rapper Emmanuel Jal was one of the "Lost Boys" — youths caught up in violence in Sudan. He later escaped to Kenya. Now he's making music about peace. His new CD is Ceasefire.
Film critic David Edelstein reviews Good Night, and Good Luck, a new film about Edward R. Murrow, tells the story of the famed newsman's clash with Sen. Joe McCarthy. The film, with David Strathairn in the title role, was directed by George Clooney.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. It's a long-forgotten recording of a 1957 benefit concert, which has never been released until now.
It has been nearly 30 years since Jean-Luc Godard's film Masculin/Feminin debuted. Starring Jean-Pierre Leaud and Chantal Goya, the film captured the spirit of Paris in the late-1960s.
Faced with a need for massive rebuilding in the Gulf Coast, President Bush has refused to estimate how much the effort might cost -- or to raise taxes to pay for it. To discuss the president's economic policy, we speak with columnist Paul Krugman and Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation.
Father Joseph Fessio. He is Provost of Ave Marie University and Editor-in-Chief of Ignatius Press. He is a longtime personal friend and former student of the Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict.
A gay priest (who will go unnamed). His superiors have asked him not to give his name, though he has been given permission to speak about his work. He is in active ministry and works in a parish. In a few weeks the Vatican is expected to issue a ruling banning gay men from entering the seminary.
