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Nowadays, most of us regard candy as a guilty pleasure, but during the Great Depression, sugary confections were marketed as healthy and inexpensive meals. That's just one of the interesting tidbits author Beth Kimmerle shares in her new book, Candy: The Sweet History. NPR's Michele Norris talks with Kimmerle.

The new season of the show 24 begins Tuesday night. The show's creators say that having each hour-long episode reflect an hour in the life of CIA agent Jack Bauer allows them to make it up as they go along. Main plot elements this season include a drug cartel and biological weapons. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Joel Surnow, a writer and co-creator of the FOX series.

The life of writer Amy Tan has provided her with enough dramatic, seemingly fateful moments to fuel several works of fiction. Tan, known for her best-selling novel The Joy Luck Club, has published her first non-fiction book, The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, about her own life and family. Tan spoke with NPR's Liane Hansen.

Martin Amis's Yellow Dog is a satirical take on contemporary British life, with a cast of characters described in the book as "high-IQ morons." Yellow Dog ruffled feathers this past summer in Great Britain; it is now widely available in the United States. Alan Cheuse has a review.

Veteran BBC Radio host Charlie Gillett returns to Weekend Edition to talk with NPR's Scott Simon about his fourth world music compilation, World 2003. He discusses the artists, nations and trends reflected on the double CD, and how he chose the songs.

Neo, Trinity and Morpheus return to the nation's movie screens in The Matrix Revolutions, the final installment in the Matrix trilogy from the Wachowski brothers. The movie premieres Wednesday night. NPR's Bob Mondello has a review.

Doctor Sax and the Great World Snakeis an audio drama that recounts the sinister figures that populate the mind of an adolescent boy. Jack Kerouac wrote the original screenplay, based on vampires and witches he conjured up during his own childhood. NPR's Bob Edwards talks to Kerouac's nephew Jim Sampas, who discovered the manuscript and produced a new version on CD.

The classic French horror film Eyes Without A Face is back in theaters after 45 years on the shelf. Los Angeles Times movie critic Kenneth Turan offers a review.

A new documentary, Bus 174 tells the story of a Brazilian bus hijacking three years ago. The event, broadcast live, riveted South Americans to their televisions. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

The HBO documentary Born Rich offers an insider’s view of the world of the heirs to America’s great family fortunes. Jamie Johnson, the film's 23-year-old director -- and a Johnson & Johnson heir -- filmed his family and friends discussing the experience of possessing more money than most people make in a lifetime. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Johnson.