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Composer Phil Kline saw lyrics in the engravings made on cigarette lighters owned by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. Veteran William Crapser saw memories of a hell on earth. Jeff Lunden reports.

In the 19th and early 20th century, cosmetics entrepreneur and self-made millionaire C.J. Walker helped redefine ideals of beauty for African-American women. In the third part of her series on beauty, NPR's Susan Stamberg talks with A'Lelia Bundles, Walker's great-great-granddaughter and author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker.

At the American Museum of Natural History, a lost world is taking shape. Artists, writers and scientists have joined forces to create the most up-to-date dinosaur show ever. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

Political theater is all most people are talking about today, but Hollywood has been dealing a lot lately with theater of the old fashioned sort -- the kind that happens on stage. Hear NPR's Bob Mondello.

The creators of South Park have something new to insult the sensibilities of just about everyone — an R-rated satire of big-budget action movies, the politics of Hollywood, Michael Moore, jingoistic patriotism and racial profiling gone awry. NPR's Bob Mondello says Team America: World Police, populated entirely by puppets, gives creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker a chance to blow up some of the most elaborate miniature sets ever built.

Opera singer Robert Merrill died this weekend, at his home in New Rochelle, New York. The baritone sang with the Metropolitan Opera for over 30 years. He also helped introduce opera to a wider audience, with regular appearances on talk shows, and at Yankee Stadium, singing the national anthem. NPR's Jeffrey Freymann-Weyr has an appreciation.

Hearings this week considered whether the nearly bankrupt Barnes Foundation will be allowed to move the private art collection to a new museum in downtown Philadelphia. The collection's late donor had stipulated that the art remain in a suburban location. Museums and collectors wonder what the case might mean for future donations. Joel Rose of member station WHYY reports.

For most of the 17th century, women were banned from the English stage and key Shakespearean characters such as Juliet and Ophelia had to be played by men. But in 1660, everything changed. NPR's Bob Mondello says the new movie Stage Beauty is about the moment when women were first allowed to act -- and some exceptional female impersonators found their lives turned upside down.

While the statewide mask mandate will end for vaccinated residents, that doesn't mean everyone in the state will be able to remove their masks indoors — even if they've gotten the shots.

NPR's Michele Norris talks with David Evans, editor of Air Safety Week, about methods of investigating airline disasters, and NOVA's documentary Crash of Flight 111, which airs tonight on PBS. The program describes the events -- and investigation into -- the crash of an airliner off Nova Scotia that killed 229 people in 1998.

The warships passed through the Turkish straits into the Black Sea on Tuesday on their way to waters near Ukraine. Russia insists the movement is part of a planned naval exercise.

New York will no longer require masks in most indoor public settings, but they will still be required in schools and health care facilities. Several other states have made similar moves this week.

In 1928, violinist Louis Kaufman became the first person to buy a painting by Milton Avery. A year later, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., became the first museum to acquire a work by Avery. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports on a new exhibit at the Phillips that celebrates the long friendship between the two artists. See paintings and photos from the show.

For most of the 1980s, Naomi Judd and her daughter Wynonna were the top country music duo. In the late 1990s, Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C and told she had just a few years to live. Judd documents her miraculous recovery, and offers advice to others with the disease, in her new book, Naomi's Breakthrough Guide: 20 Choices to Transform Your Life. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with Judd.

John le Carre's Absolute Friends is the former British spy's new thriller, set in post-Cold War Europe. The novel follows a British agent who becomes a CIA informant; it also raises questions about the limits of loyalty among such firm allies as Britain and America. Alan Cheuse has a review.

A growing number of Hollywood studios are filming movies abroad, where labor costs are cheaper. Over the last two years, the U.S. film industry has lost about 50,000 jobs. The Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild are pushing for state and federal subsidies to help persuade studios to keep productions in the United States. David D'Arcy reports.

A growing number of TV series are now available on the DVD market. Television shows on DVD make up a reported 10 percent of all DVD sales and rake in $1.5 billion, a rise of roughly 60 percent over the previous year. TK Arnold of Video Store magazine says more than 3,300 titles are currently available. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and Arnold.

Cardiff-based Yolk Recruitment Ltd. is taking its more than 50 employees on an all-expenses-paid vacation to the island of Tenerife in April. The four-day trip will reportedly cost more than $135,515.

Author Colson Whitehead roamed the streets of New York for years, noting the many small details that make up the life of the city. His new book of essays, The Colossus of New York, tries to capture the essence of the Big Apple. Jon Kalish reports.

With Maus, a comic book based on his parents' survival of the Holocaust, Art Spiegelman won international acclaim. In the latest installment of Intersections.

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick's return to Broadway has resuscitated the hit musical The Producers. Audiences have eagerly welcomed the actors back to the roles they played in 2001. The pair's return comes as they prepare for a re-make of the 1968 movie. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Ben Brantley, theater critic for The New York Times.

Dutch writer Harry Mulisch has often been cited as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, but his work is not well known in the United States. In his latest novel, Siegfried, Mulisch envisions a world in which Hitler has a son who is part Jewish. Frank Browning profiles the author.

NPR's Steve Inskeep interviews Tobias Wolff, author of Old School. Set in a prep school attended by many young, would-be writers, the work raises themes of personal identity and literary integrity. It's the first full novel from the author of This Boy's Life.

Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition movie critic Kenneth Turan reviews Elf. Turan thinks that this elf is no turkey. And even though it's weeks before Thanksgiving, Turan says this movie has enough Christmas cheer to spare.

The Barbarian Invasions, winner of the "Best Screenplay" and "Best Actress" awards at this year's Cannes International Film Festival, opens in U.S. theaters. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition movie critic Kenneth Turan offers a review.