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Monday, January 28, 2013

Book Reviews

Jane Austen's 'Pride And Prejudice' At 200

Cover of The Real Jane Austen

January 28, 2013 As the classic novel celebrates its bicentennial, Paula Byrne's The Real Jane Austen examines some of the key objects in Austen's life and how they reveal a much more cosmopolitan awareness of the world than is commonly credited to her.

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Fresh Air Weekend

Fresh Air Weekend: Scientology And Jimmy Kimmel

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel interviews Mel Brooks on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

January 26, 2013 Lawrence Wright's Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief looks at the world of the controversial church and the life of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. This month, Kimmel sets up camp in the 11:35 p.m. slot, which puts him head-to-head with Jay Leno and his idol, David Letterman.

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Television

Tina Fey: '30 Rock' Star And Creator Moves On

"I was worried about being the mouthpiece for anyone and being politicized personally," Tina Fey says about playing Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. "It ended up being a lot of fun, but it did permanently politicize me in a way."

January 25, 2013 The writer, actress and comedian has helmed the hit NBC show — which will have its series finale on January 31 — for seven seasons, during which time she's had two kids, been in a few movies and written a memoir called Bossypants.

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Television

Alec Baldwin Bids Goodbye To Jack Donaghy

Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin appeared in one of several parodies in one of 30 Rock's live episodes.

January 25, 2013 As 30 Rock wraps up its seven-season run on NBC, the star talks about why he chose to take on the role of Jack Donaghy in the first place and about looking to NBC bigwig Lorne Michaels for inspiration in creating the character.

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Television

Tracy Morgan: '30 Rock' Let Him Be Himself

Tracy Morgan

January 25, 2013 As the series prepares for its finale, the comedian talks about how Tina Fey created the character of Tracy Jordan specifically for Morgan and how she allowed him "to fly over the cuckoo nest once a week."

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Television

Tina Fey: Sarah Palin And 'Saturday Night' Satire

Tina Fey won an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her role as Liz Lemon on 30 Rock.

January 25, 2013 Fey's impersonation of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin helped draw record audiences to Saturday Night Live in the fall of 2008. The former head writer for SNL opens up about politics, satire and her Emmy Award-winning sitcom, 30 Rock, which will have its series finale on January 31.

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Author Interviews

'Going Clear': A New Book Delves Into Scientology

The Church of Scientology building in Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard on Aug. 28, 2011.

January 24, 2013 Lawrence Wright's Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief looks at the world of the controversial church and the life of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who died in 1986.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Television

Jimmy Kimmel: Making Late Night A Family Affair

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel interviews Mel Brooks on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

January 23, 2013 This month, the late-night talk-show host sets up camp in the 11:35 p.m. slot, which puts him head-to-head with Jay Leno and Kimmel's idol, David Letterman. Kimmel has put a personal mark on his show by bringing in his family to help him make it happen.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Around the Nation

'We Have No Choice': A Story Of The Texas Sonogram Law

A woman gets a sonogram

January 22, 2013 Journalist Carolyn Jones wrote about her experience with the law for The Texas Observer after having an abortion last year. The state requires that a woman seeking an abortion receive a sonogram at least 24 hours before the procedure.

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Around the Nation

Involved For Life: Pregnancy Centers In Texas

Carolyn Cline is the president and CEO of Involved for Life.

January 22, 2013 Carolyn Cline, the executive director and CEO of Involved for Life (IFL), a ministry partner of First Baptist Dallas, helps run a pregnancy center that discourages women from getting abortions and offers help during unplanned pregnancies.

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Monday, January 21, 2013

Television

Kevin Bacon, Seeking A TV 'Following'

Jeannane Goossen and Kevin Bacon star as FBI special agents tracing a network of serial killers in Fox's new crime drama The Following.

January 21, 2013 The actor stars in a new Fox series about a former FBI agent asked to help apprehend a serial killer he once put behind bars. The series is well done, but the violence in it is alarming — especially for network television.

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Author Interviews

'Double V': The Fight For Civil Rights In The U.S. Military

The fight to integrate the U.S. military began with the Revolutionary War, says author Rawn James, Jr.

January 21, 2013 In his new book, The Double V, Rawn James Jr. argues that to understand race in America one must understand the history of African-Americans in the military. While the turning point came between the world wars, the struggle began with the American Revolution.

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Saturday, January 19, 2013

Fresh Air Weekend

Fresh Air Weekend: Ben Affleck And Dustin Hoffman

Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo. Affleck also directed the film, which is based on events surrounding the Iran hostage crisis of 1979.

January 19, 2013 Fresh off the Golden Globes, where Ben Affleck won for best director and Argo won for best motion picture/drama, Affleck talks about his approach to the film. Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with a film about four aging opera singers who stage a concert at their retirement home.

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Friday, January 18, 2013

Movies

'Mama': A Good Old-Fashioned Horror Movie

Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and her sister, Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse), are near-feral orphans in the horror thriller Mama.

January 18, 2013 In an age of werewolves, hormonal vampires and endless sequels, horror movies have lost some edge. But Mama, starring Jessica Chastain, is an entertaining step in the right — which is to say backward — direction.

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