'Madoff' Tells Its Tale To The Camera
Richard Dreyfuss plays Bernie Madoff in a new ABC miniseries as a con men who — like many of his kind — looks right at the viewer.
Arts
Cochran Would Be 'Leading The Charge' In Ferguson, Says Actor Courtney Vance
Actor Courtney B. Vance plays lawyer Johnnie Cochran in the FX miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson. "Finally, on the biggest stage, a black man worked the system," Vance says.
Author Yann Martel On 'That Deeply Unreasonable Phenomenon' Of Faith
Martel's new book, The High Mountains of Portugal, shares some themes with his 2001 novel, Life of Pi: Both feature animals (in this case, a chimpanzee) and both struggle with questions of faith.
New Orleans: A City In The Grip Of King Cake Madness
Carnival is a monthlong season in New Orleans, when the colorful brioche cakes dominate the diet and culture. King cakes fuel workplace rituals, inspire contests and drive a collective obsession.
Who Are America's 'Homegrown Terrorists'?
CNN's Peter Bergen describes how the Internet and social media have been used to radicalize and recruit Americans to jihad — and how some new jihadists then use those same tools to draw in others.
'The Yid' Puts A Brash, Screwball Spin On Soviet Anti-Semitism
Paul Goldberg's debut novel is an ambitious historical fantasy about Stalin's 1953 plan to purge Jews from the Soviet Union. Critic Maureen Corrigan says The Yid is a wildly inventive "what if" story.
A Blizzard, Meth And A Missing Mom Make 'Sweetgirl' A Harrowing Read
A story about violence, drug addiction and family dysfunction could have been too bleak, but Travis Mulhauser's Sweetgirl is nuanced, with sympathetic characters and carefully built suspense.
The Iowa Caucuses Explained ... By Broadway?
Critic Bob Mondello has never been to Iowa, but he learned a lot about the state from The Music Man. The classic American musical follows a travelling salesman who finds himself in River City, Iowa.
Farm Subsidies Persist And Grow, Despite Talk Of Reform
The Farm Bill promised to cut subsidies to farmers. Instead, farmers will continue getting about $20 billion a year thanks to new programs that compensate farmers when corn and soybean prices fall.
How China's One-Child Policy Led To Forced Abortions, 30 Million Bachelors
Journalist Mei Fong tells Fresh Air that China's one-child policy drastically reshaped the country's demographic make-up. "China has 30 million more men than women," she says. Her book is One Child.