Dec 21st, 2009 · The adventurous ensemble has been widely praised for its risk-taking attitude. Gathered around Bob Boilen's desk, a stripped-down incarnation of the group plays music by Ravel, then unpacks several Egyptian instruments for an original composition.
Nov 29th, 2009 · It was 1939, the year of the New York World's Fair, Germany's invasion of Poland, and the publication of Steinbeck's classic The Grapes of Wrath. It's also the year two 18-year-old girls from Denver took a train to the East Coast for an adventure that inspired a Hollywood musical.
Nov 29th, 2009 · You don't have to be crazy about comic-book heroes, fantasy worlds or galactic adventures to fall in love with these three magnificent graphic novels — but it helps if you're a girl. Author Harriet Reisen shares what makes these girl-power reads so colorful.
Nov 27th, 2009 · Up, the smash-hit animated adventure about a grouchy elderly man, a chubby scout, a 13-foot bird and a house borne aloft by balloons, is now out on DVD. Director and screenwriter Pete Docter talks about the joys of researching and creating animated films.
Nov 24th, 2009 · This week, Michael Crichton's last book, ever, sails the seas of pirate adventure. In story collections: Alice Munro's strong and subtly mysterious women; Ha Jin's immigrants caught between two worlds. And a space-program history finds surprising drama in the unmanned voyages.
Nov 23rd, 2009 · Book reviewer Alan Cheuse selects the highlights of this holiday season: futuristic dystopias; things that go bump in the night; portraits from Norman Rockwell's America; gay New York; a celebration of our immigrant adventures; one writer's journey to manhood; and, of course, Long John Silver.
Nov 5th, 2009 · Set in 1979, this black comedy tracks the adventures of an Irish-American teenager sent back to the Old Sod after his mother's death. Desperate to return to the U.S., James (Donal Gallery) ditches school, collects debts for a pair of bookies and otherwise cuts corners; critic Mark Jenkins says the film's just inventive and perceptive enough to be lively.
Oct 26th, 2009 · All Things Considered producer Melissa Gray describes her adventures in baking — and the staff's adventures in eating — in All Cakes Considered. Gray brings a new cake into the office every Monday. She says she loves to see the staff's childish joy at seeing her latest confection.