What Spelling Changes Say About French Culture

For three decades, Villella was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine. During that time, he also negotiated better pay for American performers. His career took a severe physical toll; now he's the artistic director for the newly formed Miami City Ballet.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz has nothing but praise for two new CDs on the Pearl label, which feature recordings by the great violinist, Joseph Szigeti. Later in his career, Szigeti's developed a reputation for flagging technique and questionable intonation, but Schwartz says these performances should restore his reputation as a master musician.

Mubarak Awad grew up in the Occupied Territories; he later became a U.S. citizen, but returned to Palestine to advocate for civil disobedience as the best way to resist Israeli rule and discrimination. He joins Fresh Air to give his perspective on the intifada and Palestinian organizations like PLO, whose violent actions Awat sees as acts of resistance, not terrorism.