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This year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the San Francisco band The Residents, a group that's credited with pioneering punk rock, art rock and techno. They presaged the future of independent labels, music videos and CD-ROMs. So, why have so few people heard of them? NPR's Neda Ulaby came up with some answers.

The allies' World War II invasion of Algeria and Morocco began 60 years ago today. Author Rick Atkinson has written about the North Africa campaign in An Army at Dawn. He speaks with NPR's Bob Edwards.

It was the anthem of the Confederacy, but President Abraham Lincoln used it as gesture of reconciliation at the end of the Civil War. It's a symbol of racism and slavery to many African Americans, but it endures. On Morning Edition, NPR's Cynthia Johnston explores the origins of Dixiefor the Present at the Creation series.

Chunks of concrete from the Berlin Wall are sold as memorabilia. Germany's parliament recently gave one chunk as a gift to the United Nations. But the artist who painted it says he deserves to be compensated for his artwork. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

Brian Stokes Mitchell's not-so-impossible dream was a Broadway revival of Man of La Mancha. NPR's Jacki Lyden reports that Mitchell's run as Don Quixote has won new fans for a timeless character and the show's approachable star.

Juana Molina is part of a new generation of musical experimenters from Argentina. On Segundo, her debut CD, Molina mixes the sounds of electronica with the waving rhythms and undulations of traditional South American music. Critic Tom Moon has a review.

Bob Hope, master of the one-liner and world-famous comedian, dies of pneumonia at 100. A star in vaudeville, radio, television and film, Hope helped define the monologue. He was best known for entertaining U.S. troops at bases around the world. Pat Dowell has a remembrance.

The Matrix Reloaded, the long-anticipated sequel to the Matrix, arrives on movie screens Thursday. Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne reprise their roles as leaders of a human rebellion in a machine-ruled dystopia. Critic Bob Mondello reviews the film.

The low-budget, Oscar-nominated documentary, Spellbound, examines the subculture of the spelling bee circuit, following winners and losers from around the United States. It's scheduled for release at the end of May. Bellamy Pailthorp of member station KPLU reports.

The new Walt Disney Concert Hall, with its swooping lines of stainless steel, is giving Los Angeles' dull downtown a starkly different look. NPR's Susan Stamberg takes a hard-hat tour with the hall's designer, world-famous architect Frank Gehry. See a photo gallery of the project.