Arts & Life

An illustration shows heretics being tortured and nailed to wooden posts during the first Inquisition.

Books
Arts

The Inquisition: A Model For Modern Interrogators

1:41pm January 28, 2013

The Inquisition revolutionized record-keeping and surveillance techniques that are still used today, says Cullen Murphy. His book God's Jury draws parallels between some of the interrogation techniques used in previous centuries with the ones used today.

Queue Listen Now

The Polar Express won the Caldecott Medal in 1986, and was turned into an animated movie with Tom Hanks in 2004.

Books
Arts

A Colorful Anniversary: The Caldecott Medal Turns 75

10:11am January 28, 2013

by Lynn Neary

The award for the most distinguished children's picture book of the year is announced Monday. The first winner, in 1938, was a book of illustrated animals from the Bible, but the medal has also gone to books like Madeline's Rescue and Where the Wild Things Are.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Manifest Injustice': A 40-Year Fight For Freedom

6:34pm January 27, 2013

by NPR Staff

Bill Macumber, a respected member of his Arizona community, was convicted of a grisly 1962 double murder. Late last year, however, he was released from prison. A new book tells the story of a flawed investigation and legal process that cost Macumber 38 years of freedom.

Queue Listen Now

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

'Going Clear': A New Book Delves Into Scientology

6:50am January 27, 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.

Queue Listen Now

Ship It Holla Ballas by Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback.

Books
Arts

Ship Those (Virtual) Chips: The Rise And Fall Of Online Poker's Youngest Crew

6:59pm January 26, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the early 2000s, the get-rich-quick scheme of choice for young college dropouts was online poker. In his new book Ship It Holla Ballas, Jonathan Grotenstein follows two young players as they rake in the dough.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Dave Barry's 'Insane' Miami Mixes Refugees, Gangsters, Escorts And A Burmese Python

5:36pm January 26, 2013

by NPR Staff

In Dave Barry's latest novel, a bachelor dinner goes off the rails, entangling the groom to be with a colorful cast of characters — everyone from Russian mobsters to Haitian refugees to the fourth-place finisher in the Miss Hot Amateur Bod contest. Oh, and an albino Burmese python.

Queue Listen Now

On on 30 Rock episode, Jon Hamm and Tracy Morgan appeared together in a sketch about racial stereotyping.

Arts

Tracy Morgan: '30 Rock' Let Him Be Himself

12:14pm 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."

Queue Listen Now

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

Arts

Tina Fey: Sarah Palin And 'Saturday Night' Satire

12:05pm 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.

Queue Listen Now

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

Arts

Alec Baldwin Bids Goodbye To Jack Donaghy

12:05pm 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.

Queue Listen Now

"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."

Arts

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

12:05pm 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.

Queue Listen Now