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Culture

Monday

Director Jason Reitman Finds His Feet 'Up In The Air'

Jason Reitman began writing Up in the Air six years ago but put it aside to write and direct his first major feature, Thank You For Smoking. Dale Robinette/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Dale Robinette/Paramount Pictures

Movie Interviews

Director Jason Reitman Finds His Feet 'Up In The Air'

Director Jason Reitman may be young, but he comes from Hollywood stock — his dad is Ghostbusters creator Ivan Reitman — and he has already directed two well-received feature films, Juno and Thank You For Smoking. His latest is Up in the Air, starring George Clooney. Reitman says it's his first really mature work as a moviemaker.

Director Jason Reitman Finds His Feet 'Up In The Air'

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Movie Interviews

Hal Holbrook, Basking In 'That Evening Sun'

Fresh Air

After a lifetime of acting, the 84-year-old Hal Holbrook is still racking up new accomplishments. Last year, he received his first Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his performance in Into The Wild. This year, he stars in a new film, That Evening Sun.

Hal Holbrook, Basking In 'That Evening Sun'

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Holiday Recipes

Nigella Offers Simple Recipes For Holiday Cheer

Food writer Nigella Lawson knows that the holiday season can be overstuffed with planning and decorating. She offers Renee Montagne two recipes — chocolate chip chili and a Christmas-y rocky road — to help keep things warm and simple.

Nigella Offers Simple Recipes For Holiday Cheer

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Open Mic

Neil Gaiman Asks: Heard Any Good Books Lately?

The audiobook is here to stay — in one form or another. And that's fine with author Neil Gaiman, who has loved hearing stories since his childhood days. Gaiman talks to writer David Sedaris and reader Martin Jarvis about what makes a great audiobook — and a great reader.

Neil Gaiman Asks: Heard Any Good Books Lately?

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Sunday

Opinion

Big-Screen Memories Of A New York Adventure

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.

Big-Screen Memories Of A New York Adventure

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Saturday

Rectangles Vs. Triangles: The Great Sandwich Debate

Customers and staff at the Tastee Diner in Bethesda, Md., say "sailboat sandwiches" are the way to go. Alice Winkler/NPR hide caption

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Alice Winkler/NPR

Opinion

Food

Rectangles Vs. Triangles: The Great Sandwich Debate

You've got a lot of decisions to make as you build that leftover turkey sandwich. One decision you'll probably make with ease is whether to cut the sandwich into triangles or rectangles. If you go for the diagonal slice, you're in good company. Chefs, foodies, an architect and even a mathematician all told us: Diagonal rules. But why?

Rectangles Vs. Triangles: The Great Sandwich Debate

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Spirit Of The Season

Want To Break Up? 'Tis The Season, So Better Hurry

It's not just turkeys that get nervous this time of year. Chances are high that a failing relationship will also meet its end during the holidays. That's because it's not just turkey season — it's turkey drop season.

Want To Break Up? 'Tis The Season, So Better Hurry

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Technology

Stressed? There's A Deepak Chopra App For That

These days, smart phone apps can imitate bagpipes, flutes and bird calls and even translate a baby's cries. Now, there's an app to relax — from Deepak Chopra. Chopra is taking his message of mind-body healing to the iPhone with interactive stress-reducing exercises.

Stressed? There's A Deepak Chopra App For That

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Ben Foster, Taking On 'The Most Honorable Job'

Besides his role in The Messenger, Ben Foster's film credits include X-Men: The Last Stand (where he played the winged teenager Warren Worthington III) and the bleak Western 3:10 to Yuma. Getty Images hide caption

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Movie Interviews

Ben Foster, Taking On 'The Most Honorable Job'

The actor says he was drawn to The Messenger — a film centered on two soldiers who bring military families the grim news about lost loved ones — by the profound humanity of the screenplay. The movie isn't a war story or a political lecture, says Foster, who argues that you could even take the military out of the picture.

Ben Foster, Taking On 'The Most Honorable Job'

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Friday

WTC Provides Back Story For Colum McCann's 'Spin'
Brendan Bourke

Author Interviews

WTC Provides Back Story For Colum McCann's 'Spin'

McCann's novel, Let the Great World Spin, won the National Book Award. He tells Steve Inskeep that his book — set in New York on the day a man walked on a tight-rope between the towers of the World Trade Center — is an attempt to reconstruct an event to find moments of grace and understanding in history.

WTC Provides Back Story For Colum McCann's 'Spin'

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Books

Raymond Carver's 'Writer's Life' Poignantly Exposed

When writer Raymond Carver died in 1988, the Times of London christened him "The American Chekov." The epitaph has stuck. Author Susan Jane Gilman has the review of a new, 578-page biography entitled "Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life."

Raymond Carver's 'Writer's Life' Poignantly Exposed

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Carey Mulligan: The 'Education' Of An Overnight Star

Life studies: A 16-year-old schoolgirl (Carey Mulligan, center) learns hard lessons — but also discovers a thing or two about the value of experience — as she navigates an affair with an older man. Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Classics

Movie Interviews

Carey Mulligan: The 'Education' Of An Overnight Star

British actress Carey Mulligan has charmed film critics and audiences with her role this fall in An Education. It's won the 24-year-old comparisons to legendary actress Audrey Hepburn. But Mulligan says she has yet to find total comfort in front of the camera.

Carey Mulligan: The 'Education' Of An Overnight Star

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Opinion

Television

Go Ahead, Sing Along: When Television Is Karaoke

Half a million people have bought the TV show Glee's version of Journey's song "Don't Stop Believing." The show's winning formula is to transform an original song without its reeking of a knockoff.

Go Ahead, Sing Along: When Television Is Karaoke

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