Search results for

Poor CD sales and Internet theft of song files spell tough times for the mainstream music business, but it's a different story for musicians who reject the conventional "record label" business model. For these artists, the same trends that hurt the conventional recorded-music industry prove to be a boon for independent musicians and producers. Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers reports.

Literature aimed at adolescents is difficult to translate to film. Yet, a buzz builds around the film version of a Newbery Award-winning novel. Like the book, the movie is called Holes. NPR's Bob Mondello says it has a shot at being as big a hit on screen as it is at bookstores.

Organizers of the Academy Awards say that the March 23 presentation show will go on, despite the possibility of war with Iraq. And the NCAA says its men's and women's basketball tournaments, which start this week, will go on as scheduled. NPR's Renee Montagne reports.

Host Bob Edwards talks with radio producer Larry Josephson, about the classic comedy skits of radio personalities Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding. Josephson has reissued a CD with a sampling of the pair's sketches, in honor of Bob Elliott's 80th birthday.

Over a century ago, William Howard Taft teed off a long tradition of presidential golf. Despite the power of his 350-pound frame, a wild swing made Taft a terrible golfer. In an interview with NPR's Bob Edwards, author Don Van Natta Jr. says their behavior on the golf course offers an insight into the character of America's presidents.

The children's book Holes arrives in movie theaters. The Newbery Medal-winning author, Louis Sachar, also wrote the screenplay. Andrew Davis, who also directed The Fugitive, works with a young cast plus grown-up stars Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film is Germany's Nowhere in Africa, a fact-based story of refugees in a time of war. Now showing on U.S. screens, the movie follows a German-Jewish family that fled to Kenya in 1938 to escape the Nazis. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan offers a review.

The Pentagon's practice of embedding reporters with U.S.-led troops in Iraq has an unexpected consequence. Many military families can keep better track of their loved ones through the news media than through infrequent e-mails and phone calls. NPR's Linda Wertheimer reports.

An old theater in south Memphis that served as the studio for Stax Records is making its debut this weekend as the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Two of the top songwriters at Stax were Isaac Hayes and David Porter. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

The new film A Mighty Wind -- from the comic talent behind Spinal Tap -- spoofs the folk music era of the early 1960s. The original songs were filmed as live performances. Eugene Levy, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest are among the stars. They talk with NPR's Melissa Block.