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Movie Reviews
9:13 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Two New Stories With A New-Wave Vibe

Lately I've been re-watching vintage Truffaut movies, and I've been struck by the resurgent influence on American independent films of the French New Wave of the late '50s and '60s.

The Truffaut borrowings are fairly explicit in Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, while Richard Linklater's Before Midnight takes its cues from Eric Rohmer's gentle but expansive talkfests. That's not a criticism: With mainstream movies seeming ever more machine-tooled nowadays, the impulse to reach back to an age of free-form filmmaking feels especially liberating.

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NPR Story
8:53 am
Fri May 24, 2013

'Crazy Ants' Spreading In The Southeastern US

In parts of the southeastern US, aggressive fire ants have been driven out by an even more recent arrival, the tawny crazy ant. Edward LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, describes the newcomers and how one invasive species can out-invade another.

NPR Story
8:53 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Reinventing Farming For A Changing Climate

Scientists say climate change could increase pests and weeds, lengthen growing seasons and turn dry soil to dust. Farmers are already on the offensive, adopting no-till cropping methods to conserve water and experimenting with different seeds. And scientists are using a technique called gene silencing to develop new crops--without tinkering with the plants' DNA.

NPR Story
8:53 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Studies Question Potential Alzheimer's Treatment

Last year scientists reported that a skin cancer drug appeared to reverse the effects of an Alzheimer's-like disease in mice. But four studies out this week in Science question the original results. Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, talks about the new findings, and the hunt for Alzheimer's drugs.

Music Reviews
8:44 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Kobo Town: A Haunted 'Jukebox' Filled With Caribbean Sounds

Credit Paul Wright / Courtesy of the artist
The Toronto band Kobo Town plays a mix of old-school calypso, ska and other West Indian styles.

Throughout Kobo Town's new album Jumbie in the Jukebox, frontman Drew Gonsalves declares his love for the past even as his feet are firmly planted in the present. The music of the Toronto band can drift between classic Caribbean pop styles and even verge on hip-hop, but the singer's perspective remains sharply focused, wry and witty. The song "Postcard Poverty," for example, ribs tourists for whom tropical slums become an exotic backdrop to fun-in-the-sun adventures.

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Interviews
8:11 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Remembering Ray Manzarek, Keyboardist For The Doors

Credit Express / Getty Images
The Doors at London Airport in 1968. Left to right: John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek. Manzarek died May 20 of bile-duct cancer.

This interview was originally broadcast in 1998.

The mythology surrounding The Doors has centered largely on its lead singer, Jim Morrison, who died under mysterious circumstances in 1971. Morrison is still considered one of rock music's tortured poets and sex gods, but instrumentally, The Doors' distinctive sound was based on Ray Manzarek's keyboard playing. His are the riffs made famous in such songs such as "Riders on the Storm," "Break on Through" and "People Are Strange."

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U.S.
7:58 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Why Former Gitmo Chief Left In Protest

President Obama is once again calling for the prison at Guantanamo Bay to be shut down, even though new polls suggest most Americans want it to stay open. But the chorus of critics has gained one surprising member: former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor Morris Davis. Host Michel Martin talks with Davis about why he now feels the facility should be closed.

Shots - Health News
7:57 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Health Insurance At 'Good Prices' Coming To Calif. Exchange

Credit Rich Pedroncelli / AP
Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, unveiled the plans and prices that will be offered by private insurers at a media briefing in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday.

California just unveiled a wide array of choices for the 5.3 million people expected to qualify to purchase coverage through its online marketplace established by federal health overhaul.

It's the first disclosure of prices in the nation's most populous state for individual health insurance that complies with the Affordable Care Act, and the menu of affordable options surprised some consumer advocates and analysts who had been expecting premiums to be much higher.

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Interviews
7:55 am
Fri May 24, 2013

Marcus Samuelsson: On Becoming A Top Chef

Credit / Courtesy of Marcus Samuelsson
James Beard award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson has been a judge on Top Chef, Iron Chef America and Chopped.

A longer version of this interview was originally broadcast on June 28, 2012.

Marcus Samuelsson owns two restaurants in New York City and two restaurants in Sweden. He's cooked for President Obama and prime ministers, served as a judge on Top Chef and Chopped, and recently competed against 21 other chefs on Top Chef Masters. (He won.) He's the youngest chef ever to receive two three-star ratings from The New York Times.

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The Two-Way
7:23 am
Fri May 24, 2013

James Joyce Coin-troversy Reportedly Could Have Been Averted

Credit Irish Central Bank
A commemorative 10-euro coin featuring James Joyce bears an image of the author that his literary estate did not approve. It also misquotes his work.

Irish banking officials should have known there were problems with the controversial 10-euro coin commemorating James Joyce, according to Ireland's RTE News. The coin misquotes the author's Ulysses, and bears an image of Joyce that his estate did not approve.

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