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Culture

Tuesday

Analysis

Movies

Slate's Hollywood Economist: 'Midas Formula' Franchises

Alex Chadwick talks with Slate contributor Edward Jay Epstein about how movie studios build franchises. Epstein says that studios sometimes take enormous risks to build a successful movie franchises, like the Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings, but the rewards for success can be enormous. He also details the "Midas formula" for reaping huge profits through licensing and merchandising.

Slate's Hollywood Economist: 'Midas Formula' Franchises

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'Fresh Air' Turns 20

The Woman in Scorsese's Edit Room

Fresh Air

Academy Award-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker has edited every one of Martin Scorsese's movies, from Raging Bull to The Aviator. Schoonmaker has had a front-row seat to see how film editing has changed over the past 30 years.

The Woman in Scorsese's Edit Room

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Opinion

The Michael Jackson Trial

Michael Jackson's Problem: Fame?

Before this week is over, jurors in Michael Jackson's trial could be deliberating his guilt or innocence. But those 12 people are hardly the only ones in the country who will be talking about Michael Jackson. Just about everybody else is, too. Commentator Jake Halpern is working on a book about fame, and he says that all that attention might be part of Michael Jackson's problems.

Michael Jackson's Problem: Fame?

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Music Interviews

Artist and Activist Oscar Brown Jr., Dead at 78

We remember singer, poet, songwriter, playwright and social activist Oscar Brown, Jr., who died Sunday in Chicago. He was 78. Brown was signed as a Columbia Records singer in 1960. His first release, Sin and Soul, was critically hailed.

Artist and Activist Oscar Brown Jr., Dead at 78

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Monday

Pop Culture

Tom Kenny, Also Known As 'SpongeBob'

Fresh Air

Comic Tom Kenny is the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon's animated star of television and lately the movies, too. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is now out on DVD. Originally broadcast on Nov. 16, 2004.

Tom Kenny, Also Known As 'SpongeBob'

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Music

The Lasting Impact of Dizzy Gillespie

A jazz legend's influence on the genre is detailed in Donald Maggin's book Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie. Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz included the flavor of Afro-Cuban rhythms and be-bop.

The Lasting Impact of Dizzy Gillespie

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Sunday

Author Interviews

Tim Brookes, Telling the Story of the Guitar

Tim Brookes, who occasionally contributes essays to NPR, is also a passionate and talented guitar player. He has just published Guitar: An American Life, which he describes as part history and part love song. He talks about what he learned in working on the book.

Tim Brookes, Telling the Story of the Guitar

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Saturday

Lost & Found Sound

Tennessee Williams

One night Tennessee Williams and his buddy Pancho walked down to 131 Royal Street in New Orleans to the Pennyland Arcade, sat in a Voice-O-Graph recording booth and made eight cardboard acetate discs. These 1947 recordings are intertwined with a return to the Penny Arcade today, as well as conversations with actress Kim Hunter, the original Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire", Tennessee's brother Dakin, and his biographer Lyle Leverich among others.

Tennessee Williams

Audio will be available later today.

Education

An Orchestra Teacher's Initial Overture

Sarah Hanks is a first-year music teacher at Kipp Academy in Washington, working with junior high students. She once had thoughts of becoming a professional musician, but something kept pulling her towards kids and strings.

An Orchestra Teacher's Initial Overture

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Friday

Author Interviews

'Empire Falls' Author Richard Russo

Fresh Air

Empire Falls, for which Richard Russo won a Pulitzer Prize, has been made into an HBO miniseries. Russo has written five novels in all, including Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool.

'Empire Falls' Author Richard Russo

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Skateboarding Pioneer Stacy Peralta

Fresh Air

Peralta wrote and acts in the new movie 'Lords of Dogtown'. The feature evolved from Peralta's 2002 documentary 'Dogtown and Z-Boys.' Both films are about the community of skateboarders in California in the 1970s who originated extreme skateboarding.

Skateboarding Pioneer Stacy Peralta

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Thursday

Xeni Tech

The Next Step for the 'Big Three' Game Platforms

Console video game heavyweights Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have all announced their own next-generation game systems. Each system moves beyond eye-popping graphics to focus on creating a larger media experience for gamers -- and in the case of the Microsoft Xbox, becoming a central home entertainment platform.

The Next Step for the 'Big Three' Game Platforms

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Obituaries

Acclaimed Producer Ismail Merchant

Fresh Air

Film producer Ismail Merchant died Wednesday at age 68. In conjunction with James Ivory, he produced A Room With a View (1985), Howards End (1992) and other films. Their newest film, Heights, hits theaters in June. (Original airdate: 9/10/87)

Acclaimed Producer Ismail Merchant

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Wednesday

'Mysterious Skin' Takes to the Big Screen

Fresh Air

Director Gregg Araki and novelist Scott Heim have collaborated on the new film Mysterious Skin, based on Heim's novel of the same name. It's the story of two young men who were sexually molested as boys, and the different ways in which trauma has shaped their lives.

'Mysterious Skin' Takes to the Big Screen

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