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Monkey See
2:45 pm
Fri January 18, 2013

I've Heard That Somewhere: 'Glee' Covers 'Baby Got Back,' And It Sounds ... Familiar

Credit Kwaku Alston / Fox
The cast of Glee, which is in its fourth season on Fox.
It's All Politics
1:50 pm
Fri January 18, 2013

Inauguration Mashup: The Speech In 11 Easy Steps

Credit NPR
An 11-step guide to the perfect inauguration speech

Originally published on Sat January 19, 2013 6:29 am

May the eagles of democracy soar above the covenant that binds our great nation in an era of new beginning ... or something.

Have you ever watched an inaugural address and wondered: How DO those guys (because they're always guys) do it? Well, we've prepared this handy guide so you, too, can give a speech like the chief executive.

Our instructions are based on a century of recorded footage. William McKinley's address was the first to be recorded by a "motion picture camera" (in 1897). Calvin Coolidge was the first to be broadcast over the radio (in 1925).

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Movies
12:06 pm
Fri January 18, 2013

'Mama': A Good Old-Fashioned Horror Movie

Originally published on Tue January 22, 2013 1:29 pm

I was weaned on horror movies and love them inordinately, but the genre has gone to the dogs — and to the muscle-bound werewolves, hormonal vampires, flesh-eating zombies, machete-wielding psychos, etc. It's also depressing how most modern horror pictures have unhappy nihilist endings in which everyone dies and the demons pop back up, unvanquished — partly because studios think happy endings are too soft, but mostly because they need their monsters for so-called franchises.

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Opinion
11:44 am
Fri January 18, 2013

Lance Armstrong, Tragic Hero? Not Exactly

Annalisa Quinn is a freelance writer for NPR Books.

Lance Armstrong, in the interview Thursday night with Oprah Winfrey in which he admitted to doping, understood the role that storytelling played in his fall: "You win the Tour de France seven times, you have a happy marriage, you have children. It's just this mythic, perfect story. And it wasn't true."

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Monkey See
10:58 am
Fri January 18, 2013

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Globes, Oscars, And Who Are You Calling A Snub?

Credit NPR
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Author Interviews
10:49 am
Fri January 18, 2013

The Inquisition: A Model For Modern Interrogators

Originally published on Mon January 28, 2013 1:41 pm

This interview was originally broadcast on Jan. 23, 2012.

The individuals who participated in the first Inquisition 800 years ago kept detailed records of their activities. Vast archival collections at the Vatican, in France and in Spain contain accounts of torture victims' cries, descriptions of funeral pyres and even meticulous financial records about the price of torture equipment.

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Deceptive Cadence
10:22 am
Fri January 18, 2013

Classical Crib Sheet: Top 5 Stories This Week

Credit Martin Sigmund / courtesy of the artist
Conductor Andres Orozco-Estrada, who has just been named as the next music director of the Houston Symphony.

Originally published on Fri January 18, 2013 10:28 am

  • After a five-year search that encompassed some 50 contenders, the Houston Symphony has announced its new music director: Andrés Orozco-Estrada. The 35-year-old Colombian trained in Vienna and will take over from the retiring Hans Graf, who is departing at the end of this season.
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From The NPR Bookshelves
9:53 am
Fri January 18, 2013

Brush Up For The Inauguration With Books By And About The Obamas

As the nation gears up for the second inauguration of President Obama, NPR Books dove into the archives to find some of our favorite interviews with biographers of the first family. Here, you'll find profiles of the president's mother and father, an exploration of Michelle Obama's ancestral roots, and a portrait of the president and first lady's relationship. You'll also find books written by the Obamas themselves.

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Arts & Life
3:41 am
Fri January 18, 2013

In A Fragmented Cultureverse, Can Pop References Still Pop?

Originally published on Fri January 18, 2013 9:11 am

On a recent episode of Saturday Night Live when the comedian Louis C.K. played host, one skit parodied his eponymous show on F/X. It riffed on the theme song and the discursive style of his comedy.

But here's the thing: Fewer than 2 million people watch Louie. About 7 million watch Saturday Night Live. That means even optimistically, at least two-thirds of the audience is missing the joke.

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