Search results for

His new feature film, The Magdalene Sisters, is based on the real-life laundries run by the Sisters of the Magdalene Order in Ireland near the end of the 19th century. Girls considered wayward or unruly were sent there as punishment for their sins and forced to do labor under sweat-shop conditions. The last of the laundries was shut down in 1996. Mullan's film follows the lives of four young women and takes place from 1964 to 1969. Before writing and directing, Mullan was best known for his acting and starred in The Big Man, Riff-Raff, Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. He won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in Ken Loach's film My Name is Joe.

Guest host Steve Inskeep interviews Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of the group Steely Dan. They discuss the group's tour in New York and their music.

NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks with Jane Juska about her new book, A Round Heeled Woman, in which she tells the story of how, at age 66, she placed a personal ad stating her desire to have sex with a man she likes. She received more than 60 responses and had a number of encounters.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new film American Splendor.

Would you sample a grape in the produce aisle without paying for it? Would you notify the cashier if she undercharged you? NPR's Susan Stamberg poses these and similar questions to shoppers at a supermarket. She then talks to Tom Morris, a self-described "public philosopher," about supermarket ethics, and ethics in the wider world. Morris, a former philosophy professor at Notre Dame, explains why he thinks taking even one grape in the supermarket "makes you a thief."

The U.N. Security Council approves a U.S.-backed resolution that recognizes the creation of an interim governing council in postwar Iraq and mandates a formal U.N. mission to provide humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. Syria, the only Arab member of the council, abstains from the vote. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

Surfers travel all over the world in search of the perfect wave. In Step Into Liquid, filmmaker Dana Brown captures the surfing culture and lifestyle. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Brown.

An estimated 2 million Americans use wheelchairs or motorized scooters. For some, obstacles such as stairs, elevated curbs and rocky terrain may no longer pose such a steep challenge. The Food and Drug Administration has signed off on the iBOT, a wheelchair that climbs stairs and bounds over curbs. NPR's Joe Shapiro reports.

As word of the massive power outage affecting U.S. cities reaches Baghdad, many Iraqis find the news cause for merriment. Some hope the blackout will help Americans better understand the plight of Iraqis, who have been living without regular power for months. Hear NPR's Anne Garrels.

Junior Senior's single "Move Your Feet" has spent nine weeks on Britain's top 10 pop charts and sold more than 200,000 copies. Now the Danish musical duo hopes to take America by storm. Their CD, Don't Stop the Beat, makes its U.S. debut Tuesday. Charles de Ledesma reports.