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6:56 am
Mon December 3, 2012

A Gruesome 'Sabbath': Roth's Vile, Brilliant Masterpiece

Originally published on Mon December 3, 2012 8:03 am

Matthew Specktor is the author of the forthcoming novel American Dream Machine.

Some books love to be loved. They make their moves on us softly, they butter us up. Who doesn't love Atticus Finch or Franny Glass? These people resemble our better selves, and it's easy, from there, to love the books that contain them. So why is it that whenever someone asks me what they should be reading, I steer them instead toward one of the most loathsome characters in contemporary fiction, Philip Roth's Mickey Sabbath?

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Best Books Of 2012
5:03 am
Mon December 3, 2012

Finder's Keepers: 2012's Stories To Hang On To

Credit Nishant Choksi

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 10:05 am

Part of a book critic's challenge is to sift through piles of new publications, panning for literary gold. In a way that makes us what one of my favorite children's book heroines, Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking, called a "turnupstuffer" — "Somebody who finds the stuff that turns up if only you look." Or like Dickens' optimistic Mr. Micawber, who was always sure something good would turn up.

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Monkey See
1:23 am
Mon December 3, 2012

Neil deGrasse Tyson Helps His New 'Bud' Superman Get A Glimpse Of Home

Originally published on Mon December 3, 2012 6:29 am

On Monday's Morning Edition, Hayden Planetarium director and pop-culture go-to science guy Neil deGrasse Tyson tells NPR's David Greene the story of how he came to lend a hand to Superman.

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Author Interviews
1:12 pm
Sun December 2, 2012

'Bartholomew Biddle': A Writer's 15-Year Adventure

Credit Candlewick

Originally published on Sun December 2, 2012 3:06 pm

Gary Ross has penned and directed some big Hollywood hits like Big, Pleasantville and The Hunger Games. But for the past 15 years, his obsession has been something much more personal: a Dr. Seuss-ian children's book called Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind.

It started when Ross got a call in 1996 from fellow screenwriter David Koepp. Koepp was up against a tight budget and approaching deadline with his debut directorial effort, The Trigger Effect. Its heroine had to read an as-yet-unwritten bedtime story to her child.

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The Picture Show
10:10 am
Sun December 2, 2012

Remembering A Rock Star: Photographer Ken Regan

Originally published on Mon December 3, 2012 2:21 pm

If you've been around longer than me, perhaps you were already familiar with Ken Regan's photography.

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Music Interviews
3:58 am
Sun December 2, 2012

Dozens Of Covers Later, 'Hallelujah' Endures

Originally published on Sun December 2, 2012 9:55 am

Monkey See
3:58 am
Sun December 2, 2012

The High And The Low In Holiday Movies

Originally published on Sun December 2, 2012 3:59 am

My well-documented weird affection for Hallmark movies brings me — along with NPR.org movies editor Trey Graham — to Weekend Edition on Sunday to talk to NPR's Rachel Martin about the high-profile theatrical holiday film as well as the corny basic-cable incarnations that are appropriate to this season.

Trey was in charge of the high parts.

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Sunday Puzzle
12:53 am
Sun December 2, 2012

Untangle An 'Act Of God'

Credit NPR Graphic

Originally published on Sun December 2, 2012 7:42 am

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar three-word phrase in the form "____ of ____." The letters in the first and last words of each phrase are rearranged. You give the phrases. For example, "Cat of Dog" becomes "Act of God."

Last week's challenge from listener Henry Hook of Brooklyn, N.Y.: In a few weeks something will happen that hasn't happened since 1987. What is it?

Answer: A year with no repeat digits (1987, 2013)

Winner: Darren Dunham of Santa Clara, Calif.

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Author Interviews
3:14 pm
Sat December 1, 2012

'Cross Roads': A Writing Career Built On Faith

Originally published on Sun December 2, 2012 1:41 pm

Five years ago, Paul Young was working three jobs outside Portland, Ore., when he decided to write a Christian tale of redemption for friends and family. He went down to an Office Depot and printed off 15 copies of the story he called The Shack.

The manuscript was never intended for broad publication, but it eventually caught the attention of two California-based pastors. They took it to 26 different publishers but got rejected each time. So the pastors set up their own publishing company and started a whispering campaign among churches.

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Arts
12:00 pm
Sat December 1, 2012

STATE OF THE ARTS: El Paso Wind Symphony

Ron Hufstader, Music Director and Conductor of the El Paso Wind Symphony, and Ali Sanders, Operations Manager, preview the upcoming “No Strings Attached” performance series.

December 7 – Winter Wonderland concert
UTEP Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall, 7:30pm
www.elpasowindsymphony.com or call 915-799-3455

Arts
12:00 pm
Sat December 1, 2012

STATE OF THE ARTS: Las Cruces artist, Wayne Hilton

Las Cruces artist, Wayne Hilton talks about his current project Hermosos Huesos Art Exposition and Book using recycled materials to give new life to the Catrina – the female skeleton icon of Dia de Los Muertos.

Arts
12:00 pm
Sat December 1, 2012

STATE OF THE ARTS: ChristKindel Market

Painter Alberto Escamilla, his wife Rachel Escamilla, and Connie Lichlyter, chairperson for the ChristKindel Market in San Elizario, preview this year’s holiday happenings.

2nd Annual ChristKindel Holiday Market
Main Street in San Elizario Historic District
Saturday December 8 11am-8pm & Sunday December 9 11am-6pm
SanElizarioHistoricArtDistrict.com, 915-328-1937

Author Interviews
3:56 am
Sat December 1, 2012

A Compelling, Chutzpadik History Of 'Jews And Words'

Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 6:42 am

For thousands of years the Jewish people have been forced to move around — fleeing bigotry, slavery, pogroms, famines and tyrants. But words are portable, and to Jews — who are among those known as "the People of the Book" — they are precious possessions. As Amos Oz and his daughter, Fania Oz-Salzberger, write in their new book, Jews and Words, "Ours is not a bloodline, but a text line."

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Performing Arts
3:43 am
Sat December 1, 2012

Hispanics Call For Kennedy Center Honors

Originally published on Sat December 1, 2012 8:41 am

This weekend, some big names are coming to Washington for a red-carpet event. Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, ballerina Natalia Makarova, blues guitarist Buddy Guy and the British rock band Led Zeppelin will be receiving the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

It's a prestigious award given to only a handful of performers each year. But over the past few months there's been controversy surrounding the awards. In its 35-year history, only two honorees have been Hispanic, despite the fact that Hispanics are the largest minority in the United States.

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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
2:52 pm
Fri November 30, 2012

Jake Tapper Of ABC News Plays Not My Job

Credit Ely Brown / Little, Brown and Company

Originally published on Sat December 1, 2012 9:31 am

Jake Tapper is the longtime chief White House correspondent for ABC News and has just written a new book called The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor.

We've invited him to play a game called "It's Mr. Bojangles to you." Three questions for a guy named Tapper about an actual tapper: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who some say was one of the greatest tap dancers of all time.

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Pop Culture
1:22 pm
Fri November 30, 2012

That's So Random: The Evolution Of An Odd Word

Credit Paramount/The Kobal Collection
The use of the word random as slang found its way into Amy Heckerling's 1995 hit film, Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone.

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 4:44 pm

Random is a fighting word for young Spencer Thompson. The comedian posted a video to a Facebook page entitled I Hate When People Misuse the Word Random.

"The word random is the most misused word of our generation — by far," he proclaims to a tittering audience of 20-somethings. "Like, girls will say, 'Oh, God, I met this random on the way home.' First of all, it's not a noun."

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Science
12:17 pm
Fri November 30, 2012

SciFri Book Club Has 'The Right Stuff'

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 2:15 pm

This month the book club takes to the skies with the Tom Wolfe classic The Right Stuff, a behind-the-curtain look at the 20th century's most famous test pilots--including Chuck Yeager. Yeager joins the club to talk about his long career, and what he considers "the right stuff."

Science
12:14 pm
Fri November 30, 2012

Glacier Photographer James Balog on 'Chasing Ice'

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 2:15 pm

Photographer James Balog on Climate Change and 'Chasing Ice' — In the new documentary "Chasing Ice," photographer James Balog attempts to capture how the world's glaciers are being affected by climate change. As the film debuts across the country, Balog discusses the project, and what needs to be done to save Earth's shrinking glaciers.

Monkey See
9:23 am
Fri November 30, 2012

Pop Culture Happy Hour: This Is Your Life, And TV Pool Knockouts

Credit NPR
  • Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour

Fortunately, Glen is back this week after two weeks away, and if you don't check out his mother's ceramic goose dressed up for Thanksgiving, you're just not living right.

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The Salt
7:56 am
Fri November 30, 2012

Mark Rice-Ko: Where Food and Rothko Meet In Delicious Harmony

Originally published on Tue December 4, 2012 6:36 am

Back in 1958, when Mark Rothko was commissioned to do a series of murals for The Four Seasons restaurant in New York — a place he believed was "where the richest bastards in New York will come to feed and show off" — his acceptance of the assignment was subversive at best. He hoped his art would "ruin the appetite of every son of a [beep] who ever eats in that room," according to a Harper's magazine article, "Mark Rothko: Portrait Of The Artist As An Angry Man."

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Hardcover Nonfiction Bestsellers
7:03 am
Fri November 30, 2012

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of November 29, 2012

Credit

David Nasaw's The Patriarch offers insight into the life of Joseph P. Kennedy. It debuts at No. 12.

Television
3:04 am
Fri November 30, 2012

The NFL's New Target Demographic: Kids

Credit Nickelodeon
Eleven-year-old Ish Taylor is charged with protecting the NFL — and the world — from a scheming supervillain in NFL Rush Zone: Season of the Guardians.

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 5:05 am

When the NFL wants to make a play for a particular demographic, they go long. To attract Latinos, it forged partnerships with Univision and Telemundo. To keep women happy, it came out with a clothing line featuring shirts that actually fit better than those boxy jerseys.

Now, to engage children, the NFL is going where kids go: Nickelodeon. NFL Rush Zone: Season of the Guardians is a new series rolling out Friday, co-branded by the NFL and Nicktoons.

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