Accessibility links
Culture Art and entertainment commentary plus interviews, book reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, comedy, and visual art. Subscribe to podcasts and follow trends in music, painting, art, architecture, photography, and design.

Culture

Monday

Music

Indian Rock from Thermal and a Quarter

Bangalore fusion-rock band Thermal and a Quarter incorporates the varied musical backgrounds of four very distinct members. Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers has a profile of the group and its place in India's vast musical scene.

Indian Rock from Thermal and a Quarter

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4516908/4516909" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

'Downfall' from Ganz and Hirschbiegel

Fresh Air

Actor Bruno Ganz and director Oliver Hirschbiegel's new film is Downfall, about the last days of Hitler. Ganz stars as Adolf Hitler. He's made over 80 films mostly in German, and was in the recent remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Downfall is Hirschbiegel's third film, and his most popular to date.

'Downfall' from Ganz and Hirschbiegel

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4516265/4516266" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Movies

'Million Dollar' Night for Eastwood, Swank, Freeman

At the 77th annual Academy Awards, director Martin Scorsese's The Aviator won the most Oscars -- five, but Clint Eastwood's film Million Dollar Baby took prizes for best picture, best director, best supporting actor, Morgan Freeman, and best actress, Hilary Swank. Jamie Foxx won the Oscar as best actor for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray.

'Million Dollar' Night for Eastwood, Swank, Freeman

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4515903/4515904" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Technology

Internet Downloads Revive the Concept of Hit Singles

Some recording industry observers say the Internet is reviving the sale of hit singles. Others say the future of hit singles depends on whether the music industry can convince fans to pay for what they download.

Internet Downloads Revive the Concept of Hit Singles

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4515882/4515883" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Music Of The Human Heart May Hold Clues To Healing

Milford Graves says a healthy heart — like a good jazz drummer — emphasizes the triplets. Andrew Lepley/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Lepley/Redferns/Getty Images

Where Science Meets Art

Music Of The Human Heart May Hold Clues To Healing

Jazz drummer Milford Graves spends a great deal of time exploring the relationship between music and the human heart. Some doctors think he's onto something.

Music Of The Human Heart May Hold Clues To Healing

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4510912/4515906" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Sunday

Pop Culture

The Popstrology of Britney, by a Double Monkee

In popstrological terms, Britney Spears is a "daughter" of Olivia Newton-John, born under the 1981 hit song "Let's Get Physical." Ian Van Tuyl's Popstrology: The Art and Science of Reading the Popstars shows how pop music's powerful forces affect us all from the day we're born.

The Popstrology of Britney, by a Double Monkee

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4515563/4515564" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Movies

Listening to the Movies: 'The Passion of the Christ'

Composer John Debney went from his usual action and comedy work to write the score for The Passion of the Christ. The music earned him his first Oscar nomination. NPR's Andy Trudeau reviews the nominees and offers his pick for best original score.

Listening to the Movies: 'The Passion of the Christ'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4512663/4515261" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Saturday

Musicians in Their Own Words

Musicians in Their Own Words: Manuel Barrueco

Manuel Barrueco has been called an "aristocrat of the guitar" with "uncommon lyrical gifts." This summer, the Cuban-born musician takes his talents on the road with the Cuarteto Lationamericano.

Musicians in Their Own Words: Manuel Barrueco

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4514049/4515186" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

The Making of 'Downfall'

Downfall, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, is among the Oscar nominees for best foreign film. The German-made effort details the last days of Adolf Hitler, played by Bruno Ganz. Hirschbiegel and Ganz talk about the film in a wide-ranging interview.

The Making of 'Downfall'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4513397/4514832" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

77th Annual Academy Awards

Movie Songs for Oscar Night

Broadway and opera lyricist Murray Horwitz takes a closer look at each of the five tunes nominated for best song at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, and evaluates what makes a song memorable long after the movie fades from memory.

Movie Songs for Oscar Night

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4514456/4514846" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Art & Design

Raising the Curve: Designer Eva Zeisel

Considered one of the premier industrial designers of the 20th century, 98-year-old Eva Zeisel still designs porcelain in her New York apartment. This month, Crate & Barrel reissued tableware from her 1952 collections.

Raising the Curve: Designer Eva Zeisel

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4510966/4515178" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Friday

Opinion

Music Interviews

Bollywood Dance Comes to U.S.

Americans are encountering India's Bollywood style on fashion runways and in music videos. But commentator Sandip Roy, an Indian immigrant, isn't sure what to make of the new Bollywood section at his local Blockbuster.

Bollywood Dance Comes to U.S.

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4508831/4511063" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">