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Culture

Tuesday

Review

Music Reviews

The Who Is Back

Forty years ago, The Who raised the bar on rock 'n roll behavior. They were the first to smash their guitars and the first to destroy their hotel rooms. They've just released their first album in 24 years, and some threads will be familiar to longtime Who fans.

The Who Is Back

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Photo Op: An Occasional Series

Photographer Finds World View in NYC Children

New York City, a historic entry point for immigrants arriving in the U.S., is the appropriate setting for Danny Goldfield's project, NYChildren. He is trying to photograph children from every country in the world who live in New York.

Photographer Finds World View in NYC Children

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Halloween Tricks And Audio Treats

Halloween Treats: 'Blacula' and Other Horror Classics

Mark Harris is a walking encyclopedia of African Americans in horror films, including Night of the Living Dead and Blacula.

Halloween Treats: 'Blacula' and Other Horror Classics

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The Father of the Addams Family

Charles Addams was the creator of the Addams Family — the warped and gruesome stars of magazine cartoons, a TV show and two movies. According to those who knew him, Addams was as strange as some of his characters.

The Father of the Addams Family

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Monday

All Things Considered

Book Collects Greatness in 'American Speeches'

A new, two-volume anthology of U.S. speeches offers ample evidence that political speaking has framed and rallied every great event from the Revolution to the present. Editor Ted Widmer talks about the famous and not-so-famous orators in American Speeches.

Book Collects Greatness in 'American Speeches'

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On Television

A New Chapter for British Crime Series 'Cracker'

Fresh Air

David Bianculli reviews a new episode of the popular British crime series, Cracker. The program was originally produced in the 1990s, and Robbie Coltrane returns to star as Edward Fitzgerald, an abrasive criminal psychologist. The new two-hour show, Cracker: A New Terror, airs at 9 p.m. on BBC America.

A New Chapter for British Crime Series 'Cracker'

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Movies

Film Looks at Lives of Black Punks

The documentary film Afro Punk -- The Rock and Roll Nigger Experience captures the experiences of black punks across the United States dealing with the complex racial dynamics of their local rock scenes. Christopher Johnson talks with James Spooner, the creator of Afro Punk, which screens this week at CMJ's Music Marathon in New York.

Film Looks at Lives of Black Punks

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Sunday

Movies

Freida Lee Mock, Wrestling with Kushner

From Sept. 11, 2001 until the 2004 presidential election, filmmaker Freida Lee Mock followed playwright Tony Kushner. The resulting documentary is callled Wrestling With Angels.

Freida Lee Mock, Wrestling with Kushner

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Saturday

The Sounds of American Culture

Jerry Lee Lewis: 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'

Recorded in only one take at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Jerry Lee Lewis' original recording of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" propelled the rock legend to instant fame. In 2005, the Library of Congress selected the song for the National Recording Registry.

Jerry Lee Lewis: 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'

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Pop Culture

Celebrating Tupperware's Artistic Value

"Translations in Tupperware" is an exhibit this week in New York City featuring 25 of the best art creations using the plastic food containers. Tupperware Brands CEO Rick Goings about some of his favorite designs.

Celebrating Tupperware's Artistic Value

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Music

A PBS Tribute to Lalo Guerrero

The late Lalo Guerrero, a Tuscon-born guitarist with astonishing musical range, is the subject of a new PBS documentary. James Garcia of member station KJZZ profiles a man known as the father of Chicano music.

A PBS Tribute to Lalo Guerrero

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Friday

Review

Song Of The Day

The Sound of an Angry Mob Gathering Strength

World/Inferno Friendship Society's countless members convene around Jack Terricloth, whose grinning, genial stage persona only amplifies what appears to be a sinister intent. It should be a mess, but it coalesces instead into a combination of Bruce Springsteen, The Pogues and the noise the devil makes as cities burn.

'Brother of the Mayor of Bridgewater' by World/Inferno Friendship Society

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Movies

'The Bridge': Cameras as Witness to Tragedy

Since it was first erected during the Great Depression, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has been a magnet for despondent people looking to take their own lives by jumping from the span. In 2004 alone, there were at least 24 suicide attempts -- documentary director Eric Steel filmed the bridge every day that year, and recorded 23 of those leaps.

'The Bridge': Cameras as Witness to Tragedy

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Review

'Catch a Fire' Breathes New Life into an Old Story

Catch a Fire sounds like an awfully familiar story. And, in some ways, it is. Movies on how South Africa suffered under apartheid, and the heroic efforts made to resist that repressive system, are hardly new. So it's tempting to write off this newest look at that era as too familiar and too late. That would be a mistake.

'Catch a Fire' Breathes New Life into an Old Story

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