Society & Culture

On Sept. 21, the AMC series Mad Men became the first basic cable program to win an Emmy Award for outstanding drama. Executive producer Matthew Weiner and actors Jon Hamm and John Slattery discuss the madness of Madison Avenue circa 1960.

When Barack Obama trotted out a well-worn, folksy phrase about cosmetics and swine, the political world developed a sudden rash. Linguist Geoff Nunberg asks what all the shouting was about.

Fresh Air music critic Milo Miles reviews Classic African American Gospel, a Smithsonian Folkways "Classic" that spans over a half century of recordings. Featuring Reverend Gary Davis, Sonny Terry and others, the compilation illustrates a truly American musical tradition.

Joel and Ethan Coen's new black comedy sets its dim-bulb characters careening through a blackmail-and-infidelity plot. The cast is top notch, but the directors seem so little invested, they might as well be on autopilot.

Thomas Friedman is a man bent on revolution. In his new book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist writes about the need for a green revolution — and calls upon Americans to lead the charge.

Political scientist and author runs the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Politics at UCLA; he talks to Terry Gross about how Barack Obama's campaign is addressing issues touching on race and ethnicity.

When Sen. Hillary Clinton conceded defeat in the Democratic presidential primary in June, she thanked her supporters for making "18 million cracks" in the glass ceiling. Political columnist Katha Pollitt discusses the historical significance of Clinton's presidential bid.

Journalist Joshua Green discusses the activities at the Democratic National Convention. Green is a senior editor at The Atlantic. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire and Rolling Stone.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new documentary American Teen. Directed by Nanette Burnstein, the film follows a group of seniors at a high school in Warsaw, Indiana.

As war continues and the economy sags, Maureen Corrigan recommends three historical works that provide insight into coping with trying times.

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.

Health care advocate Carol Levine has looked out for the interests of the housebound both at work and at home. For 17 years, she cared for her husband, who had been seriously injured in a car accident. He died recently, and Levine is left coping with a renewed sense of loss.

From the telegraph to the typewriter to the text message, every new technology inspires rhapsodies about the effect it'll have on language — especially the language of the young. Geoff Nunberg points out that language — and the young — somehow manage to survive.

The man behind Nemo and Wall-E has warmed hearts with his unlikely heroes — a clownfish? A sentient trash compactor? He tells Terry Gross about finding inspiration in unlikely places, and in everyday objects.

Artist Don Bachardy was a teenager when he met then middle-aged novelist Christopher Isherwood on a California beach. But the two had a romance that lasted until Isherwood's death in 1986. Their relationship is the subject of the documentary Chris and Don: A Love Story.

Martinis, misogyny and men behaving badly: AMC's drama series remembers an era's excesses in stunning style. The setting: a Manhattan ad agency, circa 1960. The first season has just been released on DVD.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the life and language of the late comedian George Carlin, who died last month.

Pixar has always focused on loss, decay, and the dark side of materialism. Here that theme extends to the ruination of the planet — and Wall-E ranks among the most sublime feature-length works of animation ever made in this country.