Rush Limbaugh said a number of things about Sandra Fluke that created such a stir that he ultimately had to apologize. But most of the reactions focused on that once word: slut. Linguist Geoff Nunberg observes that our reaction to the word says a quite a lot about the society we live in.
Peter Bergman, one of the founding members of the four-man surrealist comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre, died Friday of complications from leukemia. He was 72. Fresh Air remembers Bergman with excerpts from a 1993 interview.
In December, Columbia released a box set of the 19 studio albums Dave Brubeck's quarter recorded between 1955 and 1966. Besides familiar titles like Time Out and Dave Digs Disney, there were a host of all-but-forgotten albums. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a few of them are well-worth tracking down.
In February, President Obama signed an aviation bill requiring the FAA to make plans to integrate drones into American airspace. Brooking Institution senior fellow John Villasenor explains what these drones will be able to see -- and how our privacy and national security may be affected.
In Friends with Kids, Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt play two best friends who decide to have a baby together while keeping their relationship platonic -- so the baby doesn't interfere with their romantic lives. Critic David Edelstein say the film is simply marvelous.
The comedian spent seven seasons on Saturday Night Live and went on to star in the raunchy comedy Bridesmaids. Now she's exploring what's funny about parenting in the new movie Friends with Kids and the TV series Up All Night.
The HBO made-for-TV movie, which focuses on John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 election, has already been attacked by conservative groups. But TV critic David Bianculli says the movie is fair -- and balanced.
Springsteen told Rolling Stone that Wrecking Ball is "as direct a record as I ever made." It's also one of his most stylistically diverse, including elements of gospel and hip-hop as well as rock and blue. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the music "testifies to a bottomless ingenuity, invention and exhilaration."
In his new one-man show, William Shatner talks about his childhood growing up in Montreal -- and the ups and downs of creating iconic characters, from starship captain James T. Kirk to lawyer Denny Crane.
The Federal Reserve shrugged off warnings and let banks pay shareholders billions of dollars in dividends last years, despite warnings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ProPublica investigative reporter Jesse Eisinger says banks should have been forced to set aside the money as a rainy-day cushion.
Every habit-forming activity follows the same behavioral and neurological patterns, says New York Times business writer Charles Duhigg. His new book The Power of Habit explores the science behind why we do what we do -- and how companies are working to use our habits to market products to us.
Bentley has been releasing albums for a decade and has achieved substantial success. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the singer's latest album, Home, is an attempt to raise his profile to a new level, with mixed results.
The animated feature, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, is based on the classic Dr. Seuss environmentally themed children's book and stars the voices of Ed Helms, Danny DeVito and Zac Efron. Critic David Edelstein says the movie is by far the best Seuss adaptation.
The new NBC drama stars Jason Isaacs as a man who survives a terrible car accident with either his wife or child. He's living one existence, and dreaming the other -- but which is real? It's a lot of work for the viewer, but critic David Bianculli has faith in the show's creators.
Media suppression, corruption and murder have marked the regime of Vladimir Putin, who is running for hi third term as president in Russia's election next week. His rise to power is spelled out in journalist Masha Gessen's new book, The Man Without a Face.
Writer Nick Flynn was working in a homeless shelter in his 20s when his father — an alcoholic and self-proclaimed writer who left when Flynn was a baby — showed up as a client. His story is now a movie called Being Flynn, starring Paul Dano and Robert De Niro.
Our brains are filled with billions of neurons. Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung explains how mapping out the connections between those neurons might be the key to understanding the basis of things like personality, memory, perception, ideas and mental illness.
A small group of engineers, soldiers and firemen risked their own lives to help prevent a complete meltdown after the quake and tsunami hit. Investigative reporter Dan Edge chronicles the aftermath of the disaster in a new Frontline documentary.
Journalist Craig Timberg, the former Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post, says international AIDS organizations working in Africa went off in the wrong direction in fighting the spread of HIV across the continent.
