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The celebrated New Yorker writer Mavis Gallant published two collections of stories at the end of last year. She still lives alone in Paris and, in the words of Russell Banks, she still packs a lifetime into one short story. Frank Browning profiles her.

An artist in Cologne, Germany, is working to memorialize individual victims of the Nazis. He's embedding thousands of small concrete blocks, each topped by a brass plate, in sidewalks across the country. Each of these so-called "stumbling blocks" bears the name, and fate, of one person killed by Adolph Hitler's regime. Kyle James reports.

Bob Seger was a legend on Main Street before he hit the national scene in the 1970s. Now he's out with a second greatest hits compilation, and he's heading to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. NPR's Bob Edwards caught up with the rocker on songs past and present.

Robert Plant's fascination with the blues goes back to his early days as lead singer for Led Zeppelin. Plant says the roots of that uniquely American art form may be traced to the deserts of Western Africa. He tells NPR's Renee Montagne about the connection he discovered at the Festival in the Desert, a gathering of nomads and musicians in Mali. Hear an extended interview and songs from the 2003 festival CD.

Low-key British singer-songwriter Beth Orton releases a collection of alternative takes, B-sides and remixes on The Other Side of Daybreak a sort of companion piece to her last CD, Daybreak). Orton's folk-guitar sound is mixed with elements of electronica provided by Kieran Hebden, a musician better known as Four Tet. Will Hermes has a review.

A new DVD called Lennon Legend contains familiar and never-before-seen footage of John Lennon, set to 20 of his songs. From the Manhattan apartment she shared with her late husband, Yoko Ono speaks with NPR's Scott Simon.

Simon & Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Elton John, KISS, Aerosmith, Cher -- some of the biggest names in music are raking in the money on tour. Music critic Christian Bordal reports on why musicians are earning more money, even though fewer people are coming to see them.

One Christmas long ago, Hullihen Moore's wife gave him a camera and a trip to a photography workshop with Ansel Adams. Now, Moore has his own book out, capturing the profound and simple beauty of Virginia's mountains. Moore may be doing for Shenandoah what Adams did for Yosemite.

The film House of Sand and Fog tells the story of an Iranian immigrant whose legal struggle over a home purchase escalates into tragedy. NPR's Bob Mondello has a review.

A new feature film about serial killer Aileen Wuornos stars Charlize Theron as the rough-and-tumble drifter who was executed in Florida in 2002. Critics are praising Theron's portrayal of a woman whose story has inspired at least two documentary films in addition to a Hollywood studio picture. NPR's David D'Arcy reports.