archive
Book Reviews
A Mystery That Explores 'The Rage' Of New Ireland
February 6, 2013 Reporter-turned-novelist Gene Kerrigan sets his story in Ireland after the 2008 financial crisis. The Rage is a boundlessly readable portrait of a country in which ordinary citizens have been hit the hardest and all the old certainties have vanished.
Music Interviews
Anat Cohen: Bringing The Clarinet To The World
February 6, 2013 On her latest album, Claroscuro, the jazz clarinetist explores influences that range from Louis Armstrong to Brazilian music to that of her native Israel. It's this desire to adapt the instrument to so many musical traditions that has earned Cohen such acclaim.
Movie Interviews
Michael Apted, Aging With The '7 Up' Crew
February 5, 2013 Every seven years since 1964, the director has caught us up on the lives of 14 everyday people in his acclaimed 7 Up series. Apted was 22 when the series began, and the subjects were 7. In the latest episode — 56 Up — the subjects are well into middle age.
Theater
Rebecca Luker Has 'Got Love' For Jerome Kern
February 5, 2013 The Broadway star has a new album, I Got Love: Songs of Jerome Kern, which features songs by the great Broadway composer. The collection came out of a live show Luker performed at the Manhattan club 54 Below.
Music Reviews
Yo La Tengo: Decades In And Far From Fading
February 4, 2013 The indie-rock favorite's new album, Fade, demonstrates that the group is all grown up but not at all stuffy. The album's music and words add up to pure affirmation of life and living.
Author Interviews
A Barbados Family Tree With 'Sugar In The Blood'
February 4, 2013 In her new book, Andrea Stuart explores the intersection of sugar, slavery, settlement, migration and survival in the Americas. Stuart's personal history was shaped by these forces — she is descended from a slave owner who had relations with an unknown slave.
Fresh Air Weekend
Fresh Air Weekend: Spacey, Fincher And Macy
February 2, 2013 Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey and Oscar-winning director David Fincher team up for an excellent new Netflix original series that premieres Friday. As the alcoholic paterfamilias Frank Gallagher on the Showtime series Shameless, William H. Macy enjoys portraying a man with a dark side.
Movie Reviews
'Gatekeepers' Let Us Inside Israeli Security
February 1, 2013 The Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Dror Moreh is not a defense of Israeli security policy, but a critique. The six Shin Bet heads Moreh interviews may believe in the tactics they devised, but it's the overall strategy they think is flawed.
Author Interviews
How The Glock Became America's Weapon Of Choice
February 1, 2013 In his book Glock: The Rise of America's Gun, Paul Barrett traces how the sleek, high-capacity Austrian weapon found its way into Hollywood films and rap lyrics, not to mention two-thirds of all U.S. police departments.
Music Reviews
A 'Special Edition' Box Set Of Jack DeJohnette And Band
January 31, 2013 A new four-CD set highlighting the music of the jazz keyboardist and drummer contains two discs that are gems and another two that have their moments.
Television
Spacey And Fincher Make A 'House Of Cards'
January 31, 2013 Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey and Oscar-winning director David Fincher team up for a new Netflix original series that premieres Friday. House of Cards follows a Machiavellian politician as he schemes to take down the president of the United States.
Music Reviews
Paloma Faith's 'Fall To Grace' Is A Keeper
January 30, 2013 A British singer with classic R&B and pop influences, Faith draws comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Adele. If she keeps doing what she's doing, she's going to have lots of fans following her every musical and social cue.
Television
'House Of Cards' Is Built To Last
January 30, 2013 Two new dramas fueled by intrigue premiere this week: The Americans on FX and House of Cards on Netflix. While The Americans has its moments, House of Cards is the show that's going to make television history.
Television
William H. Macy Is 'Shameless' On Showtime
January 30, 2013 As the alcoholic paterfamilias Frank Gallagher on the Showtime series Shameless, the actor enjoys portraying a man with a dark side. But he says it's Frank's better qualities that make him sustainable as a character.
Author Interviews
'The Insurgents': Petraeus And A New Kind Of War
January 29, 2013 In a new book about Gen. David Petraeus, author and journalist Fred Kaplan looks at how theories of counterinsurgency have shaped U.S. military policy in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
