WNYC looks back at the best Oscar-related conversations on our air - from Leonard Lopate's talk with Samuel L. Jackson to the real-life sex surrogate who inspired Helen Hunt's Academy Award-nominated role.

+ Full List: 'Lincoln' Leads With 12 Oscar Nominations

+ Bookmark it: Awards Night Bingo with Studio 360

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" has sparked conversation and controversy over its use of violence, portayal of slavery, and more. Tricia Rose, professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and author of The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop-And Why It Matters, discusses the film with Dana Stevens, Slate's film critic and co-host of Slate's Culture Gabfest, now airing on WNYC. Plus: how "Lincoln" and "Django" treat slavery differently.

Steven Spielberg's Civil War epic "Lincoln" led the Golden Globes on Thursday with seven nominations, among them best drama, best director for Spielberg and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

A few of our favorite things this week. It's like opening up a few doors of an advent calendar all at once.

Middle East Peace: Past, Present, and Future | Child Poverty on the Rise in the United States | Black Characters (or the Lack Thereof) in 'Lincoln' | Why the G.O.P Should Go Over the Fiscal Cliff | Why Obama Should Go Over the Fiscal Cliff

Now, it is for us to ask, with all that we have achieved, have we yet reached the larger objective Lincoln envisioned for us, as a functional democracy in the 21st century

With the new Steven Spielberg biopic "Lincoln," Louis CK’s Abe Lincoln parody for Saturday Night Live, the big budget summer release "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," lots of new Lincoln books, and the 150th anniversary of the civil war, it seems the 16th president is hotter than ever. Is he? Or has he always been on fire? James Cornelius, a museum curator, and Maira Kalman, an author, explain.

In 2011 two franchises based on novels for teens — "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two" and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One" — overtook stoner comedies, CGI kiddie movies, and comic book adaptations at the box office. In 2012, the bigscreen adaptation of "The Hunger Games" will wage a similar battle against "The Dark Knight Rises." But this year won't be all explosions: a new take on "The Great Gatsby" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and a biography of Lincoln starring Daniel-Day Lewis will also hit theaters.

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has never shied away from controversy. This time it is the commentator's new history book, "Killing Lincoln," that's in the eye of the storm. A reviewer for the National Park Service's bookstore at Ford's Theatre has recommended that the store pull the book due to "lack of documentation" and "factual errors." O'Reilly responded to his critics on his show. (Video after the jump.)

New York Fashion Week, which kicked off Thursday, generates more than $400 million and draws roughly 230,000, including fashion elite, style mavens and A-list celebrities. But it also temporarily employees thousands -- and not all of them are models.

Last week’s show about the Lincoln Memorial reminded me of the opportunity I had a few years ago to see Lincoln's handwritten draft of the Emancipation Proclamation at the New-York Historical Society.

The document is so fragile that it can be displayed only 10 days out of ...

In this week's show, Kurt says that we can find the Lincoln Memorial on the back of any old penny. Well, that old penny is getting a new backside. Last week, the United States Mint released a new one-cent coin, in honor of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. ...