Leital Molad

This video of Filipino inmates performing a mass-ensemble dance to "Thriller" was circulating around the web a year or so ago. Given today's news, we thought it was worth another look. Jackson's death adds a dose of poignancy to the bizarre spectacle.

Back in 2006, I declared my love for Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal on our radio show. He was just starring in his first English role, and I was afraid he would be catapulted from indie brilliance into mainstream cheesiness, much in the way of Antonio Banderas.

The LA Times just did a nice feature about Kurt and his spring semester post as "Visionary in Residence" at the Art Center College of Design.  Now if only they could get his name spelled right! They fixed it!

Amid the 1900 bands who played the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas last weekend, Janelle Monáe stood out from the crowd. She's a funk-soul singer who fills her tunes with sci-fi and robot references. Her new album is Metropolis: The Chase Suite. Studio 360’s

The SXSW music festival has an absurd number of bands play every year. So to find the gems, needless to say, is challenging -- and wonderfully refreshing if you succeed.

The legendary art-punk new wavers Devo are releasing their first new album in almost 20 years, and Friday they played Austin Music Hall. Long before their 1980 single (and video) 'Whip-it' made them famous, the band broke boundaries with their minimalist electronica, geeky theatrics and radical politics.

How did a German streetwalker become the All-American Girl? Writers, artists, scholars and (of course!) kids talk about the staying power of Barbie.

The Barbie doll turns 50 this year. She has endured countless knockoffs, bad haircuts, and limitless career choices. Studio 360's Leital Molad looks into how Barbie still looms large in the American psyche. 

While the Japanese are known to be secular or atheist, at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples you'll often see people dropping coins in an offering box and praying (albeit briefly). Another ritual at these sites is to get a fortune, or omikuji. At the Akasuka Temple in Tokyo, you ...

Our disco-era Kyoto hotel redeemed itself when we found out they rent free bikes.  So our 24-hour visit was topped off by a delightful morning ride through the hills of the Higashiyama district.  It's the section with the largest concentration of temples and shrines, with narrow streets lined by old ...

We're in Kyoto tonight after a wonderful interview with Pico Iyer in nearby Nara. (More on that to come.) In our 12 hours here, we got great tape, saw beautiful night-lit temples, and ate delicious sushi at a genuine local joint. Our accommodations, however, leave something to be desired. ...

On the streets of Shibuya today: drum circles, drumming lessons, and breakdancing. We met a young radio reporter (Pejk spotted his DAT recorder) and he told us it's the third annual Shibuya music festival, called Shibu-on.

Some video highlights: first, breakdancing unplugged - to hand drums, pan flute and didgeridoo. ...

We (Americans) love to talk about how Japanese design - sushi, origami, bonsai trees - is amazing for its beauty and detail.  And yes, those things are there. But as I've been walking the streets of Tokyo, a few things have caught my eye that are much more utilitarian.

When ...

Today I joined Lisa Katayama for her interview with Erina Matsui, a 24-year-old artist who's already gotten the attention of Takashi Murakami and other art world big-wigs. Erina paints playful and surrealistic self-portraits, which she says should make people laugh. So as we walked into the Yamamoto Gendai ...

While Pejk and Jenny wandered the peaceful Yoyogi park, I hit the streets of Shibuya with our our freelance reporter Lisa Katayama. Lisa is working on a piece about a new generation of Japanese female artists who are playing with female archetypes - like the schoolgirl - in all kinds ...

After touring the country for a year in a van, singer/songwriter Tift Merritt needed a vacation -- bad. In the Centre Pompidou, she bumped into a canvas that gave her a new sense of purpose. Produced by Studio 360's Leital Molad.

The post-ABBA generation of Swedish pop stars is taking over international airwaves and iPods. Studio 360’s Leital Molad connects the dots with singer-songwriter José González and band members of the Shout Out Louds and Peter Bjorn and John.

Studio 360's Leital Molad finds Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal irresistibly charming, no matter what kind of taboos his characters are breaking. She talked with Bernal about his breakthrough performance in Y Tu Mama Tambien and his new film The King.

How did the Barbie doll become such a powerful symbol and ubiquitous toy? For our ongoing series on American Icons, we look at how Barbie started, how she endured, and what her future may hold. Produced by Studio 360's Leital Molad with production help from

Graphic designer Stephen Heller looks at how the image of the fat guy in the red and white suit evolved into a global brand called Santa Claus. Produced by Leital Molad.