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Photographer Frederic Brenner spent 25 years documenting Jewish communities in more than 40 countries on five continents. The results are the subject of an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and a new book, Diaspora: Homelands in Exile. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Brenner about his art and the state of the diaspora.

At his death in 1829, English scientist James Smithson left half a million dollars for the establishment of an institution in Washington, D.C. He'd never set foot in the city -- or in the United States. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Nina Burleigh, author of The Stranger and the Statesman, a new book about the mysterious benefactor of the Smithsonian Institution.

British rock singer Rober Palmer died of a heart attack Friday in Paris. The musician, best known in the 1980s for songs and music videos like "Addicted To Love" and "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On," made an impression on independent producer Paul Ingles, years before Palmer made MTV.

Flow is a tale of storytellers in an urban neighborhood. It's written and performed by actor-rapper Will Powers. NPR's Verta Mae Grosvenor reports.

Writer and editor George Plimpton dies in Manhattan. He was 76. Plimpton was best known for his self-deprecating "participatory" sports writing, in which he boxed with Archie Moore and played pre-season quarterback for the Detroit Lions. As editor of the The Paris Review, Plimpton helped promote some of the world's most important authors. Hear a remembrance from Paris Review co-founder Peter Mattiessen.

Chris Epting writes a guidebook to a broad range of historic and often hysterical American landmarks -- more than 700 in all. James Dean Died Here includes the spot where the young movie icon perished in a car accident, the location of the Brady Bunch house, and the hangar where the final scene of Casablanca may have been shot. Hear Epting and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

A new documentary film about the radical group the Weather Underground may signal that Hollywood is beginning to pay attention to 1960s counterculture. NPR's David D'Arcy reports.

Herbie Mann, who helped introduce Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music to the United States and popularized the flute as a jazz instrument, died Monday night of prostate cancer. He was 73. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

Commentary by Alexandra du Bois, a student at Indiana University and the winner of the first "Composers Under 30" Competition. The Kronos Quartet will be playing the piece she wrote for them at some of their concerts this season.

NPR's Scott Simon talks with Daniel Pinkwater, the Weekend Edition Saturday ambassador to the world of children's literature. This time, they discuss one of Pinkwater's own books: The Picture of Morty and Ray, illustrated by Jack E. Davis.