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Culture

Thursday

Music Review: 'Your Country' from Graham Parker

Graham Parker's sarcasm and anger were the trademark of his Squeezing Out Sparks. Nearly three decades after making quintessential bar-band rock with his group The Rumour, the sharp-tongued Englishman releases a more folksy, roots-oriented CD called Your Country. Meredith Ochs has a review.

Music Review: 'Your Country' from Graham Parker

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Music Interviews

Deborah Voigt's 'Obsessions'

Soprano Deborah Voigt has just released Obsessions, her first solo recording of Strauss and Wagner arias. The release coincided with her highly publicized firing from a Covent Garden production because of her weight.

Deborah Voigt's 'Obsessions'

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Tuesday

Music Review: 'The Girl in the Other Room' from Diana Krall

Jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall's latest CD is called The Girl In The Other Room. The release is a departure from her past work, bypassing interpretations of jazz standards in favor of songs written by Krall and her husband, Elvis Costello. Tom Moon has a review of the album, released March 27 by Verve records.

Music Review: 'The Girl in the Other Room' from Diana Krall

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June Lockhart Recalls 'Lassie,' 'Lost in Space'

June Lockhart was a TV staple in the 1950s and '60s, playing Timmy's mom on Lassie and Maureen Robinson on Lost in Space. The actress, who recently helped open a lunchbox exhibit at the Smithsonian, takes a fun look back at those shows — and describes more recent interests: NASA and C-SPAN.

June Lockhart Recalls 'Lassie,' 'Lost in Space'

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Monday

Review

Music Reviews

Gainsbourg's 'Aux Armes et Caetera'

The late French musician Serge Gainsbourg's landmark double album Aux Armes et Caetera, originally issued in 1979, is being reissued accompanied with new versions of the original reggae-style songs. Gainsbourg, known both for his provocative lyrics and world-weary delivery, died in 1991. Music critic Michelle Mercer has a review.

Gainsbourg's 'Aux Armes et Caetera'

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Author Interviews

Intersections: Crafting a Voice for Black Culture

In 1975, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Alice Walker wrote an essay that helped lift from obscurity Zora Neale Hurston, the most widely published black woman author of the 1930s Harlem Renaissance. For Intersections, a series on artists and their inspirations, Walker tells NPR's Vertamae Grosvenor about the guiding role Hurston's work has played in her own art.

Intersections: Crafting a Voice for Black Culture

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Sunday

Walter Mosley: 'The Man in My Basement'

Walter Mosley tells NPR's Cheryl Corley about his latest novel, The Man in My Basement. The best-selling author examines race, freedom and power in a book that chronicles an unusual relationship between two men -- one black, one white.

Walter Mosley: 'The Man in My Basement'

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Friday

Musicians in Their Own Words: Paul Jacobs

As part of an occasional series titled, "Musicians in their Own Words," organist Paul Jacobs discusses his upcoming marathon performance. On Saturday, Jacobs will perform all nine hours of Olivier Messiaen's complete organ works. Features in the series are produced by David Schulman and NPR's Jeffrey Freymann-Weyr.

Musicians in Their Own Words: Paul Jacobs

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Exhibit Examines Nazi Use of Eugenics

The Holocaust Memorial Museum's new exhibit, "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race," takes a chilling look at the Nazi use of eugenics and its applications. The term "eugenics" comes from the Greek word meaning "well-born." In the 20th century, it came to mean something far more sinister: a scientific movement to create a more perfect race. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

Exhibit Examines Nazi Use of Eugenics

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Thursday

Zulu's 'Tip-Toe' Choir Competition

Every Saturday night in a gritty YMCA in the South African city of Durban, men put on finely-pressed suits, drink cheap beer and compete in an a cappella Zulu choir competition called isicathamiya. They're sometimes called the "tip-toe guys". Isicathamiya means "in a stalking mood" and it refers to the slow deliberate dance moves the men do in unison while harmonizing. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

Zulu's 'Tip-Toe' Choir Competition

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Review

Music Reviews

Music Review: 'Somewhere: Songs of Leonard Bernstein' from Bill Charlap

Fresh Air

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new CD from pianist Bill Charlap Somewhere: Songs of Leonard Bernstein.

Music Review: 'Somewhere: Songs of Leonard Bernstein' from Bill Charlap

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Music Lists

'The 100 Best Texas Songs'

For this month's issue of Texas Monthly, writers Jeff McCord and John Morthland took on an ambitious assignment: coming up with a list of the 100 best Texas songs. The task required the two to make agonizing decisions, between "On the Road Again," "Always on My Mind," "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" — and that's just music from Willie Nelson. McCord and Morthland discuss their choices with NPR's Melissa Block.

'The 100 Best Texas Songs'

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