Movies
Who Won Oscar Gold Last Night?
7:06
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Commentary
Historical Vocab: When We Get It Wrong, Does It Matter?
February 26, 2013 We're living in an age obsessed with authenticity, says linguist Geoff Nunberg, but we often choose to nitpick the wrong details. Whether it's Downton Abbey, Mad Men, Lincoln or Argo, Nunberg argues, a historical novel or screenplay should give us a translation, not a transcription.
The Salt
How The Food Industry Manipulates Taste Buds With 'Salt Sugar Fat'
February 26, 2013 From food scientists who study the human palate to maximize consumer bliss, to marketing campaigns that target teens to hook them for life on a brand, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss' new book goes inside the world of processed, packaged goods.
Book Reviews
Echoes Of Orwell In 'The Office Of Mercy'
February 26, 2013 Ariel Djanikian's debut novel, The Office of Mercy, imagines a dystopian future America where government euphemisms mask state-sponsored murder. Reviewer Michael Schaub finds traces of George Orwell in the book, which he calls "an indisputable page turner with a surprising ending."
The Two-Way
Book News: 50 Poems From Rudyard Kipling Discovered
February 26, 2013 Also: Some authors are buying spots on bestseller lists; the legacy of Philip Roth; and details of Thomas Pynchon's next novel.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Book Reviews
Under Ogawa's Macabre, Metafictional Spell
February 25, 2013 Fiction is reality and reality fiction in Revenge, Yoko Ogawa's absorbing cycle of interlinked, eerie tales. Readers may detect the shadows of Murakami, Borges and Poe, but, says critic Alan Cheuse, Ogawa's delicious tales cast their own singular spell.
The Salt
Sandwich Monday: Fish McBites
February 25, 2013 For this week's Sandwich Monday, we try McDonald's new "Fish McBites." They're basically a seafood version of their Chicken McNuggets. Or as McDonald's calls it, "tender pieces of poppable white, flaky Alaskan Pollock."
Books
The Science Of Being 'Top Dog'
February 25, 2013 Some people think competition is an art. Others believe it's a skill. A new book suggests it might be neither — and that there is a science behind winning. Host Michel Martin speaks with authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman about Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing.
Author Interviews
Whitey Bulger Bio Profiles Boston's Most Notorious Gangster
February 25, 2013 Reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy, who covered Bulger for years for The Boston Globe, have a new book out about the career criminal. Bulger was wanted for 19 murders when he was captured by the FBI in 2011. He faces trial in June.
Monkey See
What You Didn't See At The Academy Awards
February 25, 2013 NPR's Sam Sanders and Mandalit del Barco were backstage in the press room during the Oscars. Here's a roundup of what they saw that you didn't see, in senior superlative form.
The Two-Way
Book News: 'Life Of Pi' Author Strips Down For Charity
February 25, 2013 Also: Toni Morrison's digital signing; our picks for the best books out this week; and William S. Burroughs in a Nike ad.
New In Paperback
Feb. 25-March 3: Unlikely Healers, Chinese Planes And An Orphan's Revelation
February 25, 2013 In fiction, Peter Cameron's complicated romance, Mohammed Hanif's tale of unwelcome inheritance, Kathryn Harrison's historical drama, and Stephen Dau's bildungsroman arrive in paperback. In softcover nonfiction, James Fallows documents the rise of China's aerospace industry.
Monkey See
The Oscars Broadcast, Zooming Way Past Cheeky To Land Squarely On Crass
February 25, 2013 Seth MacFarlane hosted the 85th Academy Awards which Monkey See's Linda Holmes says was one of the worst hosting performances in Oscar history. Jokes about women just kept coming. His sexist jokes were in poor taste, sure, but if they'd been funny, nobody would have cared.
