Society & Culture

Airline veteran and writer William McGee says airlines' aggressive cost-cutting hasn't just added fees and hassles. He says they're taking steps that compromise safety — and regulators are letting it happen.

Earlier this month, there was a national uproar when a Michigan state legislator was disciplined for using a clinical sexual term during a debate. According to linguist Geoff Nunberg, it was just one of many such incidents that reflect a trend he calls the New Reticence.

The movie Brave is Pixar's first feature with a female protagonist — a medieval Scottish princess named Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) who asserts her independence and wreaks havoc. Critic David Edelstein says the film is "pure Pixar in its mischievousness and irreverence."

Andrew Sarris, who popularized the auteur theory and was called the "dean of American film critics," died on Wednesday. He was 83. Fresh Air remembers the longtime film critic for The Village Voice with excerpts from a 1990 interview.

This interview was originally broadcast on August 8, 1990.

Anne-Marie Slaughter left her position as the State Department's director of policy planning to spend more time with her children. Slaughter, now a Princeton professor, details what needs to change both in workplaces and in society to create equal opportunities for all working women.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm first published Snow White in 1812, but the story had been around for centuries and would continue to evolve. Opening Friday is the latest and perhaps darkest treatment, Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth.

When The Associated Press said it would no longer condemn the use of the adverb "hopefully" in its style guide, most people shrugged. But the announcement was a red flag to people who have made the adverb the biggest bugaboo of English usage over the past 50 years.

Parents should be paying very close attention to the digital media their children are using, says child advocate James Steyer. "Young people in particular often self-reveal before they self-reflect," he says. "There is no eraser button today for youthful indiscretion."

The British hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, who created some of the most iconic hairstyles of the 20th century, died on May 9 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 84. Fresh Air remembers the trendsetter with excerpts from a 2011 interview.

The actress is nominated for her fifth Tony Award for the Broadway musical Porgy and Bess. "There's very few quiet moments for Bess," she says. "They're all very big, very emotional. ... And to commit to that night after night is very difficult.

Adam "MCA" Yauch, one of the group's founding members, died Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 47. Fresh Air remembers the raspy-voiced rapper with excerpts from a 2006 interview.

The creator and star of HBO's new series Girls addresses the growing backlash against the show, which follows four 20-somethings as they navigate the ups and downs of life in New York City.

The actress's film career has spanned more than four decades. She recounts some of her favorite memories from the sets of movies such as Coal Miner's Daughter, Badlands and Carrie in a new memoir, My Extraordinary Ordinary Life.

The romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement reunites writer-director Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel, who made Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Muppets together. This time, Segel and Emily Blunt play a couple whose relationship is tested by a major relocation.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times columnist's new memoir explores her past, present and future — her relationships with her parents and children, her faith, her career and her feelings about herself over the past five decades.

Over the past four decades, the singer has chronicled his relationships with his ex-wife, the late Kate McGarrigle, and his children, the singers Rufus and Martha Wainwright. His new album, Older Than My Old Man Now, addresses his relationship with yet another family member: his father.

This Sunday, HBO premieres Girls, a new comedy series written and directed by 25-year-old Lena Dunham, who first grabbed the media spotlight with her film Tiny Furniture in 2010. David Bianculli says the series is a cross between Sex and the City and Louie.

Carole King wrote songs for others before becoming a performer and writing for herself. In her new memoir, A Natural Woman, she details the stories behind some of her most famous songs and her relationships with songwriters like James Taylor, Gerry Goffin and Paul Simon.

Terence Davies' newest film is a free adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz as a woman who leaves her older, aristocratic husband for a young and penniless ex-officer. (Recommended)