Arts

Special Note: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the deadline for this week's puzzle is Wednesday by 3 p.m. Eastern.

On-air challenge: Each clue is a two- or three-word description of a famous person in which the initial letters of the description are also the initials of the person. For example, given the clue "Motown great," the answer would be Marvin Gaye.

Lowell E. Graham, Chairman of the Music Department and Director of Orchestra Activities at UTEP, previews the 10th Annual Gala Concert featuring top ensembles from throughout the department.

UTEP Department of Music’s 10th Annual Gala Concert
Tuesday, November 20th, at 7:30 PM
Magoffin Auditorium on the UTEP campus
Ticket Prices are $10 Gen Admission, $5.00 Students/Faculty/Staff/Military

Peter M. Kolar is the Director of the El Paso Diocesan Choir and Senior Music Editor with World Library Publications, but for today’s interview he is a remarkable pianist and composer releasing a new CD titled simply Variations.

Jeanette Surface, Membership  Chairman and Alicia Griswold, Co-Director of the El Paso Sungold Chorus of the Sweet Adelines invite women of all ages, walks of life and skill levels to sing with them for the Christmas season.

The El Paso Sungold Chorus of the Sweet Adelines
Rehearsals 7 to 9 pm Mondays at All Saints Episcopal Church, 3500 McRae
For more information, call Jeanette, (915) 778-7503

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

What does a two-time James Beard award-winning chef make every Thanksgiving? Well, if you're San Francisco's Traci Des Jardins, it's rice. Lisa Morehouse has our story.

(SOUNDBITE OF CUTTING)

LISA MOREHOUSE, BYLINE: I asked Traci Des Jardins to demonstrate one favorite dish for this story. But when I get to her house, she's making half her Thanksgiving menu.

TRACI DES JARDINS: One dish. It's Thanksgiving. You can't do one dish for Thanksgiving. For God's sake, you're lucky I didn't do like 10.

In 1942, the legendary actor John Barrymore prowled the stage of an empty Broadway theater to prepare for an audition. He wanted to revive his first great performance as Richard III, but that night, Barrymore also opened the traveling trunk of his overstuffed, fabulous and troubled life.

Christopher Plummer won the Tony Award for best actor for his performance of this lion of the stage. Now, he's committed that performance to film.

Randy Sprecher came to Milwaukee years ago to make beer for one of the big breweries. But he didn't like the beer he was making so he founded his own brewery ... and now, his friends keep showing up at his door all the time with lame excuses.

We've invited Sprecher to answer three questions about Carrie Nation, the famously violent prohibitionist.

Brussels sprouts — long relegated to the bottom of the culinary barrel alongside lima beans, liver and the occasional fruitcake — have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years.

But there's an enduring reason so many have wrinkled their noses at this Thanksgiving meal staple: They smell. Like broccoli, cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables, Brussels sprouts are rich in hydrogen sulfide gas. When cooked, those stinky gases escape, offering a less-than-warm welcome to Thanksgiving meal guests.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Kathie Lee Gifford has had several careers - as a television personality, a singer and an actress. Now, she's added another credit to her resume. Last night, a musical she wrote opened on Broadway. It's called "Scandalous," and it's about the flamboyant controversial evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Jeff Lunden tells us more.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: In the 1930s, several years after her ministry was rocked by scandal, Aimee Semple McPherson brought her crusade to Broadway.

Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior takes a stand on climate change. It debuts at No. 1.

It's Thanksgiving time again, and while we're very sad to be without our pal Glen Weldon this week, we're happy to be joined by the lovely Barrie Hardymon.

We start with a discussion of Thanksgiving and pop culture — and, more specifically, why there's not as much Thanksgiving-themed pop culture as you might think, particularly compared to Christmas. We explore the turkey episodes of Friends and other comedies, but talk a little about the surprising dearth of Thanksgiving movies.

At the beginning of What About Dick?, a stage performance released this week as a digital download, writer/performer Eric Idle announces that the audience will be witnessing "Aural Cinema." The story — a tangential, broadly comic yarn involving the decline of the British Empire and "the birth of a sex toy invented in Shagistan in 1898" — is to be performed in the style of a radio play, with the actors (Russell Brand, Eddie Izzard, Billy Connolly, Tim Curry and Tracey Ullman, to name five) reading their parts from scripts into