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Saturday

Comedian Russell Peters Capitalizes On Indian Roots

Russell Peters has made a career of poking fun at ethnic peculiarities. He is now one of the highest-earning comedians. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

Comedian Russell Peters Capitalizes On Indian Roots

As a small South Asian kid with a big mouth, Russell Peters found himself the victim of race bullying. To coax his bullies from rage to laughter, he used self-deprecating comedy. Decades later, he is still poking fun at his own ethnic quirks to disarm audiences, and in the process, he is becoming one of the highest-earning comedians.

Comedian Russell Peters Capitalizes On Indian Roots

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Debunking Conspiracy Theories In 'Voodoo Histories'

David Aaronovitch writes a column for The Times newspaper in London. In 2001 he won the George Orwell Prize for political journalism. Nigel Barklie hide caption

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Nigel Barklie

Author Interviews

Debunking Conspiracy Theories In 'Voodoo Histories'

For almost every major world event — from the Apollo moon landing to Hurricane Katrina — there's a conspiracy theory to undermine the conventional view of the way things took place. Voodoo Histories, a new book by David Aaronovitch, takes aim at some of the most notorious.

Debunking Conspiracy Theories In 'Voodoo Histories'

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Friday

When Daddy's Little Girl Just Won't Let Go

Who's Your Daddy? Emma Craven (Bojana Novakovic) redefines paternal protection as her father (Mel Gibson) seeks justice for her murder in Edge of Darkness. Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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Warner Bros. Pictures

Opinion

Movies

When Daddy's Little Girl Just Won't Let Go

In three newish films — Edge of Darkness, Creation, and The Lovely Bones — three desperate fathers are haunted by their dead daughters. That made critic Bob Mondello wonder: What in the world is that about?

When Daddy's Little Girl Just Won't Let Go

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As Europe Watches, A 'Murder Wall' Awaits

Mad Men: Florian Lucas and Benno Furmann play German mountaineers Andi Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz — daredevil climbers who set out to scale the North Face of Switzerland's Eiger Peak, also known as the "Murder Wall." Music Box Films hide caption

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Music Box Films

Review

Movies

As Europe Watches, A 'Murder Wall' Awaits

Director Philipp Stolzl takes the viewer to dizzying heights in North Face, an adventure drama inspired by the true story of two German mountaineers who tackled one of the most dangerous climbs in the Swiss Alps.

Film About Israeli Arabs Makes Oscar Short List

Thirteen-year-old Nasri (Fouad Habash) gets caught up in the violence between warring families. Kino International hide caption

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Kino International

Movie Interviews

Film About Israeli Arabs Makes Oscar Short List

The Israeli movie Ajami, short-listed for an Oscar, does not include the well-worn characters that Western audiences have come to expect from Middle Eastern movies. Rather, focusing on a gritty neighborhood in the old seaside city of Jaffa, it delves into the urban problems and personal conflicts of the area's residents. And it pays special attention to an often invisible minority — Israeli Arabs.

Film About Israeli Arabs Makes Oscar Short List

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Performing Arts

Stargazing At The Opera

The Hayden Planetarium in New York takes opera to the moon with a new production of Il Mondo Della Luna. Diane Paulus and Philip Bussmann talk about merging cosmos footage with music, how science can enhance the arts and the future of technology and theater.

Stargazing At The Opera

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Mad Mel, Approaching The 'Edge Of Darkness' Again

The Fury Of Revelation: Mel Gibson plays a police detective out to solve the murder of his only daughter — and unearthing corporate cover-ups and government conspiracies in the process. Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

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Warner Bros. Pictures

Review

Movies

Mad Mel, Approaching The 'Edge Of Darkness' Again

Fresh Air

The star seems as angry as ever in Edge of Darkness, a film about a Boston police detective out to uncover the truth behind his daughter's death. Gibson delivers a quality performance — in a film that's in love with its own rage.

Mad Mel, Approaching The 'Edge Of Darkness' Again

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Changing The 'Game,' But Not For The Better

John Heilemann (left) and Mark Halperin are the authors of Game Change. Heilemann is a writer for New York magazine. Halperin is editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time magazine. hide caption

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Review

Book Reviews

Changing The 'Game,' But Not For The Better

Fresh Air

The 2008 presidential election was the longest and most expensive in U.S. history. The campaign is now the subject of a book, Game Change, by two political reporters, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. The book has been making headlines with some of its revelations, but critic John Powers wonders whether that's a good thing.

Changing The 'Game,' But Not For The Better

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Fresh Air

Mike Judge: Mining Comic Joy From Workplace Pain

Fresh Air

Extract, the latest film from the writer and director of Office Space and the creator of Beavis and Butt-head, is another exploration of stupidity in the American workplace.

Mike Judge: Mining Comic Joy From Workplace Pain

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Opinion

StoryCorps

Meeting J.D. Salinger — Courtesy Of A Rainstorm

As a young man, Jim Krawczyk's favorite writer was J.D. Salinger. And in the late 1960s, Krawczyk decided to take a road trip to meet his hero. But in Cornish, the small New Hampshire town where the reclusive author lived, nobody seemed to know Salinger.

Meeting J.D. Salinger — Courtesy Of A Rainstorm

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A Taste For Everything: 'Lost' Showrunners Pick DVDs

Damon Lindelof (left) and Carlton Cuse are executive producers for the TV series Lost. The hit ABC drama begins its final season Feb. 2. Frederick M. Brown/Getty hide caption

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Frederick M. Brown/Getty

Movie Interviews

A Taste For Everything: 'Lost' Showrunners Pick DVDs

Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse love everything from country star biopics to rock and roll mockumentaries. They join Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep to talk about how their favorite DVDs have influenced their work on Lost.

A Taste For Everything: 'Lost' Showrunners Pick DVDs

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Thursday

In 'For My Father,' A Bridge-Building Too Far?

Unlikely Couple: An alienated soccer star from the Palestinian city of Nablus, Tarek (Shredi Jabarin, foreground) meets Keren (Hili Yalon) near a bustling market in Tel Aviv — where Tarek, in an effort to save his father, intends to blow himself up. FilmMovement hide caption

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FilmMovement

Review

Movies

In 'For My Father,' A Bridge-Building Too Far?

A Palestinian suicide bomber becomes just another outcast in a shabby Tel Aviv neighborhood in this Israeli fable of cross-cultural empathy. Director Dror Zahavi doesn't go so far as to contrive a happy ending — but he does put an awfully cheerful spin on conflicts that don't usually inspire much optimism.

A 'Saint John' Who's Patron Of Oddballs, Sad Sacks

A Tour Of The Inferno: Insurance-fraud investigator John Alighieri (Steve Buscemi, left) wanders the Nevada desert in search of the truth behind a stripper's auto accident. Romany Malco plays his guide, Virgil. IndieVest Pictures hide caption

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IndieVest Pictures

Review

Movies

A 'Saint John' Who's Patron Of Oddballs, Sad Sacks

John Alighieri (Steve Buscemi) has two great ambitions: To hook up with his co-worker and to talk his boss into giving him a raise. One is easy enough; the other involves a Dante-esque tour of Las Vegas involving everything from scratch-off lottery tickets to a stripper in a wheelchair.

A Daughter, 'Off And Running' In Pursuit Of Herself

On Your Marks, Get Set: Avery Klein-Cloud is the daughter, the sister, the track star and the co-writer of Off and Running — but the film doesn't quite go. First Run Features hide caption

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First Run Features

Review

Movies

A Daughter, 'Off And Running' In Pursuit Of Herself

Avery Klein-Cloud doesn't come from your typical American family, which is probably why director Nicole Opper made a documentary about it. Distanced from her African-American heritage and drawing away from her Jewish adoptive moms, the track star spirals into an identity crisis — which ultimately raises more questions than Opper's film answers.