Search results for

Classically trained piano player Regina Spektor grew up in Moscow during the 1980s, but when she moved to the U.S. as a teenager, she began to sing and write pop music. Mikel Jollett reviews her third and latest pop CD, Soviet Kitsch, as well as her previous CD Songs.

T.C. Boyle is the author of 15 books, including Drop City, nominated for a National Book Award last year. Boyle's fiction is known for its wit, biting satire, historical sweep and verbal pyrotechnics. For Intersections, a Morning Edition series on artists and their influences, Boyle says his literary reputation owes much to rock 'n' roll.

What began as a modest effort to ease racial tension in rural Kentucky coal country produced an unexpected musical result: Hick-hop is a compelling mix of uniquely American musical genres: bluegrass and rap. NPR's Howard Berkes reports.

Bruce Edwards, the longtime caddie of former Masters champion Tom Watson, died Thursday following a year-long battle against Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 49. Edwards helped make caddies an indispensable part of professional golf. His life is chronicled in the new book Caddy for Life. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with author John Feinstein.

Edward R. Murrow brought rooftop reports of the Blitz of London into America's living rooms before this country entered World War II. After the war, Murrow and his team of reporters brought news to the new medium of television. NPR's Bob Edwards discusses his new book on the broadcasting legend. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne's extended interview with Edwards, and read an excerpt from Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism.

Music critic Chris Nickson has a review of the new "best-of" collection from the Ukranians. The band is best known for its quirky covers -- many of which are on Istoriya: The Best Of The Ukrainians. Nickson says their more traditional songs are worth hearing, as well.

Before there was "the Passion," there was "the Life" -- The Life of Brian. The Monty Python classic is being re-released on its 25th anniversary; its producers say the film offers an alternative to Mel Gibson's epic. The Passion of the Christ phenomenon is also being poked fun at by the TV series South Park. David D'Arcy reports.

Actor and writer Spalding Gray is confirmed to be dead, two months after he was first reported missing. His body was pulled out of New York's East River Sunday. Gray, best known for Swimming to Cambodia, was 62. NPR's Neda Ulaby recounts Gray's career.

The new jazz opera Forgotten: The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant chronicles the unionization of the Ford Motor Company. The story centers on the questionable 1937 death of union organizer and Methodist minister Lewis Bradford, a distant relative of the opera's composer, Steve Jones. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with Jones.

The Return of the King, the final installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, wins all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated, including best picture and best director. Best acting honors go to Charlize Theron for her transformation into a serial killer in Monster, and Sean Penn for his performance as the troubled father of a murdered child in Mystic River. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne.