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The Handmaid's Tale, an opera based on Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name, makes its North American debut at the Minnesota Opera in St. Paul. The opera tells of a world where religion is used to justify political agendas and women are stripped of their rights. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs reports.

Like an actor who refuses to watch his own movies, author Michael Chabon says he can't stand to read his books. On Morning Edition, Chabon and fellow writers Jane Smiley and John Edgar Wideman share their thoughts about the nature of writing in a virtual "salon" styled after the Algonquin Round Table. Hear a longer version of their discussion online.

From the Maori culture of New Zealand comes Whale Rider, a film with an appealing 11-year-old central character. She's seeking to follow in her father's footsteps as tribal chieftain. Her grandfather is skeptical. NPR's Bob Mondello offers a review.

How I Learned What I Learned is the latest from playwright August Wilson. He's won two Pulitzer Prizes for Fences and The Piano Lesson. This time Wilson makes his acting debut in a one-man show. Marcie Sillman of member station KUOW reports.

As baseball celebrates its midseason All-Star break, NPR's Bob Edwards talks to Jeff Campbell, the producer of a series of baseball music CDs, called Diamond Cuts. The latest album features songs about Mickey Mantle, Dizzy Dean and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Hear selections from Top of the Sixth.

The fictional White House drama, The West Wing, captures its fourth Emmy for Best Drama Series, beating out the critics' favorite, The Sopranos. And Everybody Loves Raymond wins an Emmy for Best Comedy Series for the first time. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards.

A nondescript booth in New York City's Grand Central Terminal will be the first collection point for a new national oral history project modeled after recordings made of ordinary Americans during the 1930s. NPR's Bob Edwards talks to David Isay about the StoryCorps project.

Barbra Streisand dropped singing lessons at an early age and never learned to read music. But that didn't stop her from being one of the best-selling female singers in history. In an interview with NPR's Susan Stamberg, the acclaimed singer and actress discusses her love of music and the release of her 60th album, a collection of songs from the big screen. Hear an extended version of their discussion and samples from The Movie Album.

As John F. Kennedy's personal photographer, Jacques Lowe helped create the myth of Camelot with his snapshots of the youthful president and his elegant wife. Hundreds of Lowe's previously unpublished photos appear in Remembering Jack: Intimate and Unseen Photographs of the Kennedys. NPR's Michele Norris speaks with Bob Adelman, Lowe's long-time assistant.

Jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves is among the few musicians still practicing the improvisational art of scat. In her new album, A Little Moonlight, the Grammy winner fearlessly takes on jazz standards and makes them her own. NPR's Michele Norris talks with Reeves.