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In Finding Neverland, his latest film, Johnny Depp plays Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. NPR's Elizabeth Blair speaks with Depp about Barrie and some of the other eccentric characters he's inhabited.

Downloading popular songs to use as personal cell phone ring tones has turned into a $3 billion global industry. A growing revenue stream for songwriters and publishers, ring tones are now outselling digital downloads of music. NPR's Michele Norris talks to Geoff Mayfield, the director of charts for Billboard Magazine, which has just launched a "Hot Ringtones" chart.

Day to Day book critic David Kipen reviews a new collection of writings by President Theodore Roosevelt, entitled simply Letters and Speeches. He's surprised at how many of the former U.S. president's letters and speeches are still relevant today.

During pop singer Ashlee Simpson's recent appearance on 'Saturday Night Live,' it was revealed that she was lip-syncing when the wrong song was cued. The singer has blamed a sore throat for her need to have a backing track. The show's former bandleader, GE Smith, says he is surprised that lip-syncing is allowed on what is billed as a live show.

In the first of an ongoing series, filmmaker Nora Ephron says she wishes she'd written the soap opera scene in the movie, Tootsie, where Dustin Hoffman offers a revealing disclosure. Ephron also explains how she and others came up with the restaurant scene in the film, When Harry Met Sally. Hear Ephron and NPR's Susan Stamberg.

When they aren't seeing patients, many doctors moonlight as musicians. Doctors' orchestras exist in a handful of cities around the country. Many doctors say these groups help them unwind. Some think it makes them better physicians, too. Joel Rose of member station WHYY reports.

Day to Day television critic Andrew Wallenstein reviews Alf's Hit Talk Show -- a new talk show hosted by the loveable (and some might say, mostly forgotten) 1980s alien puppet.

A San Francisco man has created a universal remote control that offers only one function: the 'off' button. His keychain device, TV-B-Gone, is designed to extinguish televisions in public places. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and inventor Mitch Altman.

Slate contributor Seth Stevenson rates several new 15-second ads by Emerald Nuts. The Diamond Nut Co. is seeking to expand its brand to take advantage of the new vogue for nuts.

Day to Day television critic Andrew Wallenstein reviews Cold Turkey, a new reality show on Pax TV that puts 10 chain smokers under one roof, and presses them to quit smoking. A.J. Benza hosts.

Alan Cheuse reviews Country of Origin by Don Lee, a mystery whose main character is a young American woman who was born in Japan under mysterious circumstances and returns to the country of her birth to find out her true origins.

The lights will apparently continue to light up Broadway's theater district. Contract talks between Actor's Equity and the League of American Theatres and Producers have produced a tentative agreement, averting threats of a strike. Jeff Lunden reports.

It's fall again, and everybody knows what that means: a new TV season. Believe it or not, the networks are promising the best lineups ever, with more reality shows, more crime dramas and plenty of hype.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews recently released DVDs of Judy Garland musicals. Meet Me in St. Louis, Ziegfeld Girl and In The Good Old Summertime are among the titles.

Andrew Wallenstein of The Hollywood Reporter reviews Kevin Hill, the new UPN drama starring Taye Diggs as a self-involved lawyer whose life is changed when he's compelled to care for a baby.

Legendary comedian Groucho Marx's TV game show You Bet Your Life is celebrated in a new DVD. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and DVD co-producer Robert Bader.

Despite commentator Joseph C. Phillips' diatribe against the movie Soul Plane and the African-American stereotyping he says it represents, the film still made it back into the top 12 films nationwide last weekend. This Father's Day, Phillips is looking outside the multiplex to gatherings taking place in cities across the country.

As part of our weeklong motivational check-up series, NPR's Tavis Smiley checks in with public relations guru Terri Williams, who explains how to bring balance to our lives.

Woodie King Jr., one of black theater's most respected voices and author of the new book The Impact of Race: Theatre and Culture, talks with NPR's Tavis Smiley about the politics of black theater. [Editor's note: This report contains language that some may find offensive.]

Avenue Q, an adult musical featuring naughty puppets, wins the prize for best new musical at Sunday night's Tony Awards. In a major upset, Idina Menzel -- who plays the green-skinned Elphaba in Wicked, a retelling of the Wizard of Oz -- wins in the toughest race of the night, best actress in a musical. Phylicia Rashad becomes the first African American to win best actress in a play for her role in a A Raisin in the Sun. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Anthony Holborne was an English composer during the Elizabethan age. While his music is fairly popular, little is known about his life. A group of musicians has created an imaginary biography of the composer's life, using the titles of Holborne's songs. This whimsical biography is performed by the Kings Noyse on a CD called My Selfe. Tom Manoff has a review.

HBO's Emmy-winning show Sex and the City was known for its bawdy tales of four single girlfriends in New York and their different trysts and relationships. As the series begins national syndication on cable's TBS next week, critics worry whether editing can really make the show appropriate for a family friendly channel. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports.

NPR's Alex Chadwick reports on the action sports films featured at the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colo., and how they are helping to broaden to the appeal of various "extreme" sports -- and taking the craft of filmmaking to new levels as well.

NPR's Allison Keyes profiles the life and work of legendary dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones. (Editor's note: This piece contains language that some may find offensive.)

The singer Morrissey, who led the 1980s British band The Smiths, has just released his first recording in seven years. The CD, You Are the Quarry, reflects Morrissey's unique blend of the political and the personal, with songs like "Irish Blood English Heart" and "America is Not the World." Mikel Jollett has a review.