Seven-year-old Jakelin Caal died in U.S. custody in December. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says her death might have been prevented had border agents spoken the Mayan language Q'eqchi'.
Director Adam McKay aims to bring the powerful former vice president into the foreground in his new film, Vice, a dark comedy starring Christian Bale. The movie combines the work of investigative journalists with some speculation and comedy.
The legendary frontman plays all the characters in a new recording of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. Critic Lloyd Schwartz calls it a seriously enjoyable addition to the Stravinsky catalogue.
Former federal public defender Alexandra Natapoff says 13 million misdemeanors are filed each year in the U.S., trapping the innocent, punishing the poor and making society more unequal.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead remembers the musical contributions of Hugh Masekela, Jerry González, Roy Hargrove, Buell Neidlinger, Randy Weston and Vancouver Jazz Festival founder Ken Pickering.
If you thought you'd seen enough characters in red masks and blue suits to last a lifetime, well, you ain't seen nothing yet: This new animated film puts a fresh spin on the Spider-Man saga.
Historian David Blight's new biography describes Douglass' escape from slavery, his passionate leadership in the abolitionist movement and his gift as a writer and orator.
I can't imagine a harder act for a filmmaker to follow than Moonlight. That movie, a quietly shattering portrait of a young black man wrestling with his sexuality, held you rapt with its intimacy; it left you feeling as if you'd stared deep into that young man's soul.
Growing up in Swaziland, Richard E. Grant was always fascinated by acting. As a kid, he made theaters out of shoeboxes and populated them with figurines that he'd cut from magazines. Eventually he moved on to real stages, first in school plays and then with an amateur theater club.
For both Crowell and the Monkees, Christmas is a time to draw up a gratitude list and put the year in perspective. The results aren't always jolly, but they're certainly sincere and passionate.
As a criminal justice reporter for the Houston Chronicle, Keri Blakinger has a special interest in covering the conditions of prisoners — in part because she spent nearly two years locked up in county and state correctional facilities herself.
McPherson never thought he'd make a Christmas album. Then, he says, "I got a bug in my ear." He and his band perform live in studio from Socks, and McPherson talks about growing up on a cattle farm.
Many of the best of this year's books were graced with humor and distinguished by deep dives into American identity. It was also a very good year for deceased authors whose posthumously published books were so much more than mere postscripts to their careers. Rebecca Makkai's The Great Believers -- a sweeping story about the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and its long aftermath — is my pick for novel of the year.
Imagine driving alone in your car, but instead of sitting behind the wheel, you're dozing in the backseat as a computer navigates on your behalf. It sounds wild, but former New York City Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz says that scenario isn't so far off the mark.
Hudson lived a double life as a Hollywood heartthrob and a closeted gay man. Biographer Mark Griffin says Hudson's death from AIDS in 1985 was a turning point in public awareness of the epidemic.
The new season of the Emmy Award-winning series finds Midge Maisel mired in personal crises, even as her comedy career is on the rise. David Bianculli says The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel remains a winner.
