Deceptive Cadence
5:57 am
Sat November 12, 2011

Aaron Copland's Forgotten Score Premieres At Last

American composer Aaron Copland began work on Quiet City in 1939 and completed it two years later. A lonely trumpet and an English horn, backed by hushed strings, offer an ode to New York.

The orchestral version of Quiet City is fairly well known, but there's more to this story. Another version has recently come to light.

Read more
The Record
4:00 am
Sat November 12, 2011

Non-Jamaican Reggae: Who's Making It And Who's Buying It

Credit Tammy Moniz / Courtesy of Press Junkie PR
Hawaiian reggae band The Green. From left to right Zion Thompson, JP Kennedy, Caleb Keolanui and Ikaika Antone.

Reggae music and the island of Jamaica are inseparable, right? Lately, a crop of artists from places like Hawaii, California and Italy are proving that hit reggae can come from anywhere. In the process, they're raising some complex questions about culture and ownership.

There's a new generation of reggae artists with two things in common: They're not from the birthplace of reggae music, and they are enormously successful.

Read more
Author Interviews
3:36 am
Sat November 12, 2011

'Mrs. Nixon' Reimagines An Enigmatic First Lady

Originally published on Thu November 17, 2011 6:41 am

Aside from being the wife of one of the most well-known politicians in recent American history, Pat Nixon is mostly a mystery. Throughout crisis and scandal, she somehow managed to remain a private public figure.

Read more
Law
3:05 am
Sat November 12, 2011

Unpaid Interns: Real World Work Or Just Free Labor?

Credit Courtesy of Alex Footman
Alex Footman worked as an unpaid intern for the award-winning film Black Swan. He and another former unpaid intern for the movie are suing the film's production company for back pay.

Originally published on Wed November 16, 2011 10:30 am

Over 1 million Americans a year work as interns. About half of them are unpaid.

Alex Footman was among them, until recently. He worked as an unpaid intern for Black Swan, a film that won numerous awards and grossed over $300 million.

Read more
Middle East
12:46 am
Sat November 12, 2011

In Arab States, It's Good To Be The King

Three Arab autocrats who ruled their countries for decades have been ousted from power this year, and others are in danger of being overthrown. Yet no king or emir has suffered such a fate.

Protests have taken place in countries ruled by monarchs, including Bahrain, which had widespread demonstrations last spring. And after protests in Morocco and Jordan, the kings offered up limited political changes that have, at least for now, staved off any real threat to their rule.

Read more
Africa
10:51 pm
Fri November 11, 2011

Families Of Prisoners Pressure Libya's New Leaders

Credit Sean Carberry / NPR
A woman outside the Hudba el-Gassi compound in Tripoli, Libya, holds up a sign asking, "Where's my father?" Once a military police base, Hudba el-Gassi is now a makeshift prison for regime loyalists and others rounded up by armed militiamen.

In the new Libya, uncertainty is the one certainty.

Contradictions and conspiracies proliferate faster than street demonstrations now that the iron fist of dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime has been lifted.

Among those searching for answers are relatives of prisoners locked away by various revolutionary military councils. Some of the prisoners are former Gadhafi loyalists with blood on their hands. But family members say others were seized for motives of revenge.

Read more
Credit Mito Habe-Evans / NPR

Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. She writes for NPR's music news blog, The Record, and she can be heard on NPR's newsmagazines and music programs.

One of the nation's most notable music critics, Powers has been writing for The Record, NPR's blog about finding, making, buying, sharing and talking about music, since April 2011.

Powers served as chief pop music critic at the Los Angeles Times from 2006 until she joined NPR. Prior to the Los Angeles Times, she was senior critic at Blender and senior curator at Experience Music Project. From 1997 to 2001 Powers was a pop critic at The New York Times and before that worked as a senior editor at the Village Voice. Powers began her career working as an editor and columnist at San Francisco Weekly.

Her writing extends beyond blogs, magazines and newspapers. Powers co-wrote Tori Amos: Piece By Piece, with Amos, which was published in 2005. In 1999, Power's book Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America was published. She was the editor, with Evelyn McDonnell, of the 1995 book Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Rap, and Pop and the editor of Best Music Writing 2010.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University, Powers went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of California.

The Two-Way
4:06 pm
Fri November 11, 2011

Rights Group Accuses Syria Of Crimes Against Humanity

Credit MOHAMMED HOSSAM / MOHAMMED HOSSAM/AFP/Getty Images
Pro-democracy protesters, holding a huge pre-Baath era Syrian flag outside the Arab league headquarters in Cairo on November 2, 2011.

Human Rights Watch today accused the Syrian government of committing crimes against humanity during its crackdown on the restive central region of Homs. The rights group called on the Arab League, scheduled to meet in Cairo tomorrow, to suspend Syria's membership in the organization.

"The systematic nature of abuses against civilians in Homs by Syrian government forces, including torture and unlawful killings, indicate that crimes against humanity have been committed," Human Rights Watch said in their 63-page report released today.

Read more
The Two-Way
3:54 pm
Fri November 11, 2011

The Video Game 'Call Of Duty' Sets Sales Record

Credit Ethan Miller / Getty Images
A customer buys a copy of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" for the Xbox 360 during a launch event for the highly anticipated video game.

Originally published on Fri November 11, 2011 3:57 pm

Here's today's stunning figure: The video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sold about 6.5 million copies the first day it went on sale. According to Activision Blizzard, which released the numbers today, that adds up to more than $400 million in sales in North America and the U.K.

Read more
The Record
3:30 pm
Fri November 11, 2011

'Stairway To Heaven' Turns 40: Celebrate With 7 Covers

Credit Paul Natkin / WireImage
Heart's Nancy Wilson onstage in 1983, looking very Jimmy Page.

Originally published on Thu November 8, 2012 2:25 pm

Pages