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Yes, Jesse Eisenberg Should Absolutely Play Lex Luthor

Jesse Eisenberg during a portrait session at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in September 2013. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images hide caption

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Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Yes, Jesse Eisenberg Should Absolutely Play Lex Luthor

January 31, 2014 • Don't dismiss the idea of Jesse Eisenberg being a great Luthor — he's played a pretty impressive megalomaniac before.

NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour: A Grammys Postmortem And Reality TV In Middle Age

January 31, 2014 • On this week's show, we dive into the Grammy Awards, including the performances, the winners and losers, and the very complicated conversations about cultural spaces that followed.

Super Bowl Ads Go Healthy: Selling Yogurt With A Steamy Kiss

The Full House cast John Stamos, Bob Saget and Dave Coulier are featured in Dannon's Superbowl ad. OikosYogurt/Youtube hide caption

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OikosYogurt/Youtube

Super Bowl Ads Go Healthy: Selling Yogurt With A Steamy Kiss

January 31, 2014 • Advertising during the big game is traditionally the realm of beer, chips and soda. But better-for-you foods will also make a play for viewers' wallets this year. Expect clever ads pitching nuts, yogurt and whole grain cereals.

Super Bowl Ads Go Healthy: Selling Yogurt With A Steamy Kiss

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That Cute Cheerios Ad With The Interracial Family Is Back

January 30, 2014 • The first TV spot featured an adorable, curly-haired moppet named Gracie who had a black father and a white mother. The ad for Cheerios prompted a storm of protest and counter-protest last summer. Now, the cereal-maker is back with a sequel.

I Like Big Trucks And I Cannot Lie: Cars, Trucks, And The Lady Brain

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John Morris/iStockphoto

I Like Big Trucks And I Cannot Lie: Cars, Trucks, And The Lady Brain

January 30, 2014 • A recent survey says women like men who drive pickup trucks. We dig deeper. (Well, of course we do.)

A Story About A Little-Known Song In A Little-Known Movie That Got A Big Oscar Nod

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

The 86th Annual Academy Awards

A Story About A Little-Known Song In A Little-Known Movie That Got A Big Oscar Nod

January 30, 2014 • The Academy rescinded a nomination for Best Original Song. Why? An Academy music executive, who wrote the song, was a bit too enthusiastic about campaigning for it.

Morrie Turner, 1923-2014: Drawing Gentle Lessons In Tolerance

Morrie Turner's Wee Pals was the first nationally syndicated comic strip by a black cartoonist. It was first published in 1965. Morrie Turner/Courtesy of Creators Syndicate hide caption

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Morrie Turner/Courtesy of Creators Syndicate

Morrie Turner, 1923-2014: Drawing Gentle Lessons In Tolerance

January 28, 2014 • Turner's Wee Pals was the first nationally syndicated comic strip by a black cartoonist. It featured a rainbow tribe of young friends and gentle lessons in tolerance.

Morrie Turner, 1923-2014: Drawing Gentle Lessons In Tolerance

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For Taiwanese News Animators, Funny Videos Are Serious Work

The motion-capture team at Next Media Animation. The actor (in the leotard) is wearing sensors that the 40 cameras mounted in the studio will capture to help animators render his movements digitally. Elise Hu/NPR hide caption

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Elise Hu/NPR

All Tech Considered

For Taiwanese News Animators, Funny Videos Are Serious Work

January 27, 2014 • The studio responsible for bizarre viral videos featuring 3-D animations of the news is more serious than you'd think. Go behind the scenes at the Taipei-based Next Media Animation to find out why this fast-moving — and controversial — company says it's charting the future of news.

For Taiwanese News Animators, Funny Videos Are Serious Work

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Sandwich Monday: The White Castle Slider

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NPR

The Salt

Sandwich Monday: The White Castle Slider

January 27, 2014 • For this week's Sandwich Monday, we eat the humble White Castle Slider. It was just named Time magazine's Most Influential Burger of All Time.

Making Moonshine At Home Is On The Rise. But It's Still Illegal

A worker at New York's Kings County Distillery, which opened in 2010. Before going legit with the operation, co-founder Colin Spoelman (not pictured) learned to make moonshine in his Brooklyn apartment without a permit. Courtesy of Valery Rizzo hide caption

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Courtesy of Valery Rizzo

The Salt

Making Moonshine At Home Is On The Rise. But It's Still Illegal

January 27, 2014 • Let's be clear: Making spirits at home with plans to drink it remains against federal law, folks. Even so, more and more people appear to be taking up home distilling as a hobby. For some, it's the first step toward a professional, legit operation.

Pharrell Williams wore an unexpected piece of headgear to Sunday's Grammy Awards. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pharrell Williams And The Power Hat

January 27, 2014 • What does it mean when you wear a really unusual hat to the Grammy Awards? Well, a lot, actually.

New Muslim Ms. Marvel Doesn't Drink, Date Or Eat Bacon

Kamala Khan, a Muslim teenager living in New Jersey, is the latest superhero to don the Ms. Marvel mantle. AP hide caption

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AP

Culture

New Muslim Ms. Marvel Doesn't Drink, Date Or Eat Bacon

January 27, 2014 • The Marvel Universe is filled with people who can crawl along walls and shoot beams from their eyes. But comic book writer G. Willow Wilson saw one thing that was missing: Muslims. So she created Kamala Kahn, the first Muslim superhero to star in her own mainstream series. Wilson talks to host Michel Martin about expanding the religious horizons of the Marvel Universe.

New Muslim Ms. Marvel Doesn't Drink, Date Or Eat Bacon

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For 'SNL' Cast Member, The Waiting Was The Hardest Part

Bobby Moynihan (left) appears on Saturday Night Live as the character "Drunk Uncle." NBC/Dana Edelson/NBC hide caption

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NBC/Dana Edelson/NBC

My Big Break

For 'SNL' Cast Member, The Waiting Was The Hardest Part

January 26, 2014 • After years of working at a restaurant by day and performing improv comedy by night, Bobby Moynihan got the opportunity of a lifetime: an audition for Saturday Night Live. But as Moynihan recalls, actually getting his 'big break' on the show was much more difficult.

For 'SNL' Cast Member, The Waiting Was The Hardest Part

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US singer Bruno Mars performs during the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) 2013 ceremony in Amsterdam in November 2013. Sven Hoogerhuis/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Sven Hoogerhuis/AFP/Getty Images