archive

November 20, 2012 Life of Pi and Cloud Atlas are two complicated, ambitious novels recently adapted for the big screen. NPR's Elizabeth Blair explores what makes some singular narratives workable on film — and what makes some fail.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 19, 2012 Sports are not for everyone. However, the story of the currently first-ranked Notre Dame football team is one that fans of sports movies and Friday Night Lights might find oddly familiar.

Summary

November 19, 2012 Scientists have come up with an algorithm to guess how many stars a recipe will receive online. By building "social networks" for ingredients, the algorithms also reveal how we mix and match spices, make dishes more healthful and customize flavor profiles.

Summary

November 19, 2012 Thanksgiving is fast approaching, but what if you're pressed for time or just a kitchen klutz? Cookbook author Katie Workman says pulling off the holiday meal boils down to simplifying, delegating and letting the supermarket do some of the work.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 19, 2012 For this week's Sandwich Monday, we try Le Whif breathable chocolate. It's a great way to get your chocolate fix without all the pesky chewing. It's also the perfect thing if you've been meaning to start smoking but want to ease your way in.

Summary

November 19, 2012 Novelist Richard Mason explores belle epoque pleasures, biographer Jean Baker champions sex educator Margaret Sanger, journalist A.J. Jacobs gets healthy, comedian Bill Cosby outsmarts his grandkids, and writer Geoff Dyer takes on filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.

Summary

November 19, 2012 What did Jesus look like? In their new book, The Color of Christ, Edward J. Blum and Paul Harvey explore how different groups have claimed Jesus as their own — and how depictions of Jesus have both inspired civil rights crusades, and been used to justify the violence of white supremacists.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 19, 2012 Actor Irrfan Khan talks about his role in the new movie Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee and based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Khan also starred in Slumdog Millionaire, The Namesake and A Mighty Heart.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

November 19, 2012 We come not to bury Kristen Stewart nor to praise her, but just to ask a question about this color.

Summary

November 19, 2012 Myat Thu knew early that he was destined as a cook to make salads. His restaurant on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar specializes in Burmese salads. Thu has been cautiously watching Myanmar's political change, hoping to go home one day.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 19, 2012 As Thanksgiving draws near, many of us are thinking about what we're thankful for. Novelist and memoirist Anne Lamott says she is filled with "wonder at the just sheer beauty of creation." She discusses her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 18, 2012 Athanasius Kircher, a 17th-century Jesuit priest, was a renaissance man in name and deed. He strove to learn about almost everything. Unfortunately, many of his inventions and theories were pure nonsense. John Glassie writes about Kircher in his new book, A Man of Misconceptions.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 18, 2012 What happens when you take a group of junior high kids from a school with a poverty level of more than 65 percent and teach them how to play chess? Katie Dellamaggiore's documentary, Brooklyn Castle, explores the amazing results.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 18, 2012 Insert $2 into the Biblio-Mat, and customers get a mystery, a biography, historical fiction — or a dud. The owner of a bookstore in Toronto came up with the machine as a way to clear his shelves of more ill-favored reads.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist