NPR Staff

NPR Staff appears in the following:

Four Decades On, 'The Exorcist' Is Still A Head-Turner

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Exorcist was the story of one girl's demonic possession and the priest who saved her. It was engaging, terrifying and masterful — and it gave new meaning to the phrase "a real head-turner."

William Peter Blatty wrote the screenplay, adapting his own best-selling book. The film starred Ellen Burstyn ...

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Luscious Jackson Is Ready For Its 'Magic Hour'

Thursday, October 31, 2013

"3 Seconds to Cross," a new song by Luscious Jackson, begins somewhere in New York City. The narrator lies awake longing to be in California, though it becomes apparent a New Yorker like her really wouldn't fit in: "It only takes just a little to get yourself lost."

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Recurring Dream: Morpheus Returns In Gaiman's 'Sandman' Prequel

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Neil Gaiman started writing the Sandman comic books 25 years ago. Since then, he's written acclaimed fantasy novels, children's books and screenplays — but the pale, star-eyed Lord of Dreams remains one of his most beloved characters. Over the course of 75 issues, the series captivated fans and critics alike.

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Medicinal Laughs: Could 'Daily Show' Sour Millennials On ACA?

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Problems with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act have been all over the news — and the not-quite news. Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart has been one news-ish outlet that hasn't been too kind in its coverage.

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans spoke with All Things ...

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Debate: For A Better Future, Live In A Red State?

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

When it comes to things like the economy, taxes, health care and education, is it better to live in a red state or a blue state?

Some argue that red-state tendencies toward lower taxes and less regulated, more free-market systems make them ideal places to work and raise a family. ...

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'Hyperbole' Creator Considers All The Things

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The drawings are MS Paint-style doodles, and the stories are about everyday things like cake, poor spelling and dopey dogs. And yet each month, millions of people visit Hyperbole and a Half, the hybrid Web comic and blog created by 28-year-old Allie Brosh, who says she "tries very hard to ...

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Never Back Down: Fresh Air Remembers Lou Reed

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Lou Reed, the transgressive and transcendent songwriter, singer and guitarist, died Sunday at 71 of liver disease, several months after undergoing a liver transplant. He co-founded The Velvet Underground and then embarked upon a long solo career. Fresh Air's Terry Gross interviewed him in 1996, but he walked ...

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Biography Doesn't Hold Back On Darkest Years Of 'The Man In Black'

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

In early 1968, country singer Johnny Cash gave one of the defining performances of his career when he played for inmates at California's Folsom State Prison. Robert Hilburn, a music critic early in his career at the Los Angeles Times, was the only reporter to cover that legendary ...

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In Cambodia, A Tide Of 'Change' Sweeps Some Lives Under

Monday, October 28, 2013

In Kalyanee Mam's new documentary, A River Changes Course, a teacher stands before a room packed with grade-schoolers, leading them in an arithmetic drill. They're in Cambodia, and though the drill is in the Khmer language, the body language is clear enough as the children hold up their hands one ...

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Putting The Spotlight On Blacks In Tech

Monday, October 28, 2013

Representatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities are meeting in Stanford this week to talk about African Americans in the tech world.

According to a recent study by the National Science Foundation, Black men and women made up 5 percent of scientists and engineers working in their field ...

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Arcade Fire On Its Brand-New Beat

Monday, October 28, 2013

Fans of Arcade Fire might be feeling a bit of culture shock. The group has been called the world's most successful indie rock band — but its new album, Reflektor, explores the Haitian roots of band member Regine Chassagne.

She and her husband, frontman Win Butler, have worked ...

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Word On The Street Is Oscars 'Whisper Campaigns' Have Begun

Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Academy Awards are still months away, but some Hollywood insiders are already on the attack.

Studios have huge publicity machines that lobby for their movies to win, but there's also a shadowy strategy that's not as visible as the advertising blitz. It's good old-fashioned trash-talking: So-called "whisper campaigns" are ...

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'We Walk In Circles,' Pursuing Dreams And Finding Creativity

Sunday, October 27, 2013

At Night We Walk in Circles is set in an unnamed, war-scarred Latin American country. The book follows young actor and aspiring playwright Nelson as he traverses his nation, performing in a provocative play called The Idiot President.

It's Daniel Alarcon's second novel — his first was Lost City Radio, ...

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Predicting Quakes Still Shaky, But Being Prepared Is Crucial

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Morning recess at St. Augustine Catholic School in Culver City, Calif., is like recess in many other schools. Children run and play in the afternoon sun. But nearby, away from the basketball hoops and the games of tag, the staff is preparing.

Next to the playground sits a cargo container ...

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Song For Childhood Ghosts 'Carries On' The Sorrow

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Weekend Edition has been asking you to share your scary stories, the ones that have become family lore. This week, we're sharing those stories and delving into how and why they affect us.

Singer-songwriter Rita Hosking grew up in a house that was haunted. It was known as the Old ...

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From 'Crouching Tiger' To 'Secret Songs': Composer Tan Dun's Next Move

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Chinese composer Tan Dun has written an opera for Placido Domingo and his works have been performed by the some of the world's greatest orchestras. In addition to writing music for the Beijing Olympics, he wrote the Oscar-winning score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Now, Tan Dun has ...

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The Truth That Creeps Beneath Our Spooky Ghost Stories

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Weekend Edition has been asking you to share your scary stories, the ones that have become family lore. This week, we're sharing those stories and delving into how and why they affect us.

As a teenager, Kevin Burns babysat for his sister's daughters — a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old. Throughout ...

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Ghostwriter Carries On V.C. Andrews' Gothic Legacy

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Each week, Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

For 26 years, Andrew Neiderman has been ghostwriting for Virginia Andrews — also known as V.C. Andrews, author of the bestselling novel, Flowers ...

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For 'All Is Lost,' A Songwriter Embraces Silence

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Alexander Ebert may be best known as the singer and songwriter of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros — a band named for his messianic alter ego — which produced the addictive and catchy song "Home" in 2009.

He has also enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist since ...

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Lacking Lethal Injection Drugs, States Find Untested Backups

Saturday, October 26, 2013

The U.S. is facing a shortage of a drug widely used for lethal injections. With few options, states are turning to new drugs and compounding pharmacies, rather than overseas companies.

The move is raising safety concerns, and in some cases delaying executions. Other executions are proceeding, however, and advocates are ...

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