Your Turn: Morticia Addams

From Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons, and later, TV'sThe Addams Family
Nominated by Laura Colwell

Her own person: Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams.

 

I was a weird little girl and a weird teenager and now I'm a weird woman. I'm perfectly happy with that -- thanks to Morticia Addams.

In one gracefully ghoulish persona, Morticia is at once mysterious, playful and literate - and she is completely at ease with herself, in love her own unusual world.

It's nice to have the acceptance and admiration of others, but I'm with Morticia on this one: it's so much better to be at peace with whatever you are and your own lot in life than to perpetually chase after someone else's ideal. If you can surround yourself with interesting people while you're at it, so much the better.

5:46 PM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

Your Turn: Matilda Wormwood

From the novel Matilda, by Roald Dahl
and movie of same name
Nominated by Sydney Meader

Dahl's Dauntless Matilda

Puffin Books

Matilda Wormwood didn't have an easy childhood. The daughter of the wicked Harry and Zinnia Wormwood, Matilda was neglected and forced to bring herself up into a cruel world filled with rude big brothers and evil school principals. With no one to turn to in the real world, Matilda turned to books. A brilliant child, Matilda could read by the age of 3 -- and was reading literature by 4.

When I was first introduced to Matilda, I was immediately intrigued by her. As a 7-year-old, I thought she was the most amazing person in the world. Smart, brave, and kind, she was exactly the kind of girl I wanted to be. It didn't hurt that she had magical powers and was triumphant in her fight against the monstrous Miss Trunchbull.

Never in my life have I felt as much admiration towards another character as I did towards Matilda Wormwood.

11:57 AM ET | 04-22-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

On Air: Indiana Jones

"That Belongs in a Museum!" Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Who says archaeology is boring? What with the whips, the guns, the evil Nazis and the booby-trapped temples hiding precious -- frequently magical -- artifacts, what's not to like?

OK, so that's archaeology Indiana Jones-style. NPR's Christopher Joyce takes In Character into the field to talk with the real Indys -- who see the whip-wielding adventure-seeker in a different light.

"Indiana Jones walks a fine line between what's an archaeologist and what's a professional looter," says archaeologist Winifred Creamer.

And Christopher Joyce finds that in the movies, even Indy isn't sure what he is -- treasure hunter or historian.

And what of the crystal skulls that a (much) older Indy is apparently chasing in the upcoming film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

Smithsonian archaeologist Jane Walsh has the story behind the real-life crystal skulls in museum collections around the world. Some say they're ancient Aztec artifacts; some say they're powerful mystical objects.

Says Walsh: Not so fast.

4:48 PM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

On Air: Dora the Explorer

» Hear the 'Morning Edition' story

Explora-Dora: Indefatigably curious, invariably inventive, Dora the Explorer always finds a way.

Nick Jr.

So originally, they were thinking bunny. No, really: Dora the Explorer co-creator Chris Gifford tells NPR's Rolando Arrieta that when Nickelodeon set out to create a new kids'-show hero, they started in the animal kingdom.

"It was a bunny who would go on a trip with his mommy," Gifford says. Find out what happened to kill the wabbit over on the story page -- where my intern Justin and I have hooked you up with video clips from the series.

Enjoy.

-- Trey Graham

11:39 AM ET | 04-14-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

A Thorny Rose - Paired With a Nice Chianti

» Mama Rose on 'Weekend Edition Sunday'

» Hannibal Lecter on 'Weekend All Things Considered'

Two inevitabilities: Jeff Lunden, our Broadway go-to guy, gets Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters to help him get under the skin of one of theater's most outrageous personalities. (Seriously: The real-life model for Gypsy's Mama Rose once pushed a hotel manager out the window.)

For the Web, we've got video from the new Broadway production, competing versions of "Rose's Turn" from the archives, and plenty of interview extras.

Then: You had to know this one was coming, right? NPR's Laura Sydell looks into what makes Hannibal Lecter stick so vividly in our collective imagination.

I've put up a couple of his best moments -- never fear, they're safe for the squeamish -- along with a few outtakes from Laura Sydell's interview with Jodie Foster.

Enjoy.

-- Trey Graham

3:53 PM ET | 04-12-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Cartman Gets an 'In Character.' No, Really.

» Hear the 'Weekend Edition Saturday' story

Respect his authori-tah: South Park's Eric Cartman isn't taking any crap from you.

South Park Studios

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to In Character, NPR health-care policy reporter Julie Rovner ponders one of the most pressing questions about our national mental health:

Why do we find a filthy-mouthed, foul-tempered fourth grader so %*#&@ irresistible?

We've got South Park co-creator Trey Parker and author Toni Johnson-Woods on tape to help explain, and I've loaded up the page with Cartman's ... er, "finest" moments doesn't seem quite the right word, but y'know.

Plus: Cartman answers the Proust Questionnaire. (Hey, we did it with Cookie Monster, so why not with an arguably less-bridled id?)

Enjoy...

-- Trey Graham

7:26 AM ET | 04- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (19) | e-mail post