Pop Culture

In addition to Hodgman's work on Judge John Hodgman, he has contributed pieces toÂ This American LifeÂ andÂ Wiretap. His most recent book,Â That Is All, was published in 2011.

Arts

In The World Of Podcasts, Judge John Hodgman Rules

6:08pm November 30, 2013

by NPR Staff

Everyone knows TV judges like Judge Judy, Judge Wapner, or Judge Joe Brown. But do you know Judge John Hodgman? Hodgman — a comedian known for his appearances on The Daily Show -- hosts the podcast Judge John Hodgman, where he rules on real-life disputes between siblings, friends and couples.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Meet The 'Arabs Got Talent' Star Who Doesn't Speak Arabic

5:56pm November 26, 2013

A Massachusetts woman is getting a lot of attention in the Arab world where she's advanced to the final of Arabs Got Talent. Jennifer Grout can't speak Arabic, but she sings flawlessly in Arabic.

Queue Listen Now

Bill Cosby performs his stand-up special, Far From Finished. The actor and comedian has been working in show business for 50 years.

Arts

Bill Cosby, Still Himself After All These Years

1:11pm November 25, 2013

by David Greene

Marking 50 years in show business, the actor and comedian talks about ADD, what his wife is really like and a child's death.

Queue Listen Now

During JFK's funeral, live TV coverage helped make John-John Kennedy's salute an indelible image of American history.

Arts

How Live TV Helped America Mourn The Loss Of JFK

2:50pm November 22, 2013

by David Bianculli

Critic David Bianculli remembers watching the original news coverage of Kennedy's assassination — four days of unprecedented television — when he was 10 years old. He recalls how from that point on, TV, not radio, was the dominant medium for breaking news.

Queue Listen Now

After 50 Years, Regeneration Keeps 'Doctor Who' Current

5:45am November 22, 2013

by Eric Deggans

Not counting a 16-year break the British science-fiction TV series took around the 1990s, Doctor Who is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Saturday. There's a special in 3D that's going to be simulcast in 75 countries, and the BBC has made a movie about the history of Doctor Who.

Queue Listen Now

Keegan-Michael Key (left) and Jordan Peele both started their careers at Second City, Peele in Chicago and Key in Detroit.

Arts

For Key And Peele, Biracial Roots Bestow Special Comedic 'Power'

2:19pm November 20, 2013

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele each have a white mother and black father, and a lot of the jokes on their Comedy Central show are about race. Peele tells Fresh Air that their backgrounds allow them to do characters others would feel uncomfortable doing.

Queue Listen Now

Author Doris Lessing died Sunday at the age of 94. Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature for a life's work which included around 40 books and collections of essays and memoirs.

How Writer Doris Lessing Didn't Want To Be Remembered

10:42am November 18, 2013

by Vicki Barker

Author Doris Lessing died Sunday at the age of 94. Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature for a life's work which included around 40 books and collections of essays and memoirs. Her book, The Golden Notebook, has been called the first feminist novel — a characterization Lessing rejected as "stupid."

Queue Listen Now

Mark Consuelos (from left), John Goodman, Clark Johnson and Matt Malloy star as four Republican senators sharing a house in Washington in Alpha House, Amazon's first original series.

Arts

Amazon Opens An Entertainment Door With 'Alpha House'

8:07pm November 15, 2013

by Eric Deggans

The online retailer is premiering its first original show — a comedy about four senators bunking together in D.C. NPR's Eric Deggans says the series, which stars John Goodman, isn't quite the sharp comedy you might expect from creator Garry Trudeau.

Queue Listen Now

El Rey, which will be targeting a young Latino audience, is being spearheaded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, shown at the premiere of his recent film Machete Kills in October.

Arts

Comcast Deal Puts New Minority-Run Channels In Play

8:15am November 12, 2013

by Mandalit del Barco

The conglomerate is launching new networks — targeted at diverse audiences and run by Sean Combs, Magic Johnson and Robert Rodriguez — to satisfy an agreement made with the FCC when the company merged with NBCUniversal.

Queue Listen Now

This Blockbuster store in Mission, Texas, is franchised by Border Entertainment. The company has 26 stores across Texas and Alaska that will live on after the last 300 or so company-owned stores are closed by early January 2014.

Blockbuster Fades Out, But Some Zombie Stores Will Live On

8:08pm November 08, 2013

by Serri Graslie

Dish Network announced this week that it will shutter the 300 or so remaining Blockbuster stores it owns across the country. But in some places, dozens of the video stores will have an unlikely afterlife.

Queue Listen Now