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All Things Considered

Poker, Power Go Hand In Hand, Author Says

American history is filled with powerful men who have have honed their competitive strategies around the card table. In Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker, author James McManus details how the game's logic is reflected in our history of battles and business.

Weekend Edition Saturday

Refusing Flu Shots? Maybe You're A 'Denialist'

In his new book, Michael Specter writes about smart people who reject facts.

Weekend Edition Saturday

Good, Bad And Ugly Meet In 'Life On Mars'

Philip Glenister relishes playing a fast-talking, chauvinistic boss in the British sci-fi series.

All Things Considered

Sapphire's Story: How 'Push' Became 'Precious'

The gritty realism of the film Precious is even more intense in the novel Push, upon which the film is based. Author Sapphire discusses the inspiration for her work — and her initial reluctance to allow her work to become a film.

All Things Considered

Liz Taylor: A Leading Lady For Life

From her multiple marriages to her diamond collecting, a new biography by William Mann — aptly titled How to Be a Movie Star — details the dramatic life of one of Hollywood's all-time leading ladies. "Elizabeth always loved living large, and it served her very well," he says.

A Candid Take On The Evolving Immigrant Experience

In his wide-ranging, expertly curated anthology Becoming Americans, Ilan Stavans collects four centuries of immigrants' stories.

All Things Considered

Searching For Answers? 'Googled' Disappoints

Ken Auletta's new book, Googled, chronicles the behemoth search engine company from the bottom up. But critic Troy Patterson says that few of the book's points are so penetrating that they couldn't be easily discovered via a quick Google query.



Cult Classic ‘The Prisoner’ Returns To TV

November 06, 2009, 6:05 PM
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The 1960’s cult TV series “The Prisoner” has been remade and premieres this month on the AMC cable channel. Jim Caviezel stars as No. 6 and Ian McKellen as 2. Meanwhile, the 17-episode original series starring Patrick McGoohan as No. 6 has been re-released on DVD and is airing on the Independent Film Channel.

Brother Blue, Cambridge’s Street Storyteller, Dead At 88

November 05, 2009, 4:23 PM
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The City of Cambridge lost an icon this week: master storyteller Brother Blue. For more than a decade, Brother Blue and his wife Ruth produced hundreds of hours of storytelling on Cambridge Community Television.

French Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss Dies At 100

November 03, 2009, 4:32 PM
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Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, has died. He was 100.

Grab A Couch: House Concerts Rock On In JP

November 03, 2009, 5:43 AM
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House concerts are a longstanding tradition in Boston. They happen in basements, living rooms and lofts, often sporadically, with varying levels of success. But The Whitehaus in Jamaica Plain has been packing them in every week for nearly three years.

A Playwright’s Benevolent Ghost Still Haunts BU’s Halls

October 30, 2009, 7:17 AM
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Paranormal disturbances have been reported on the fourth floor of Shelton Hall, a Boston University dormitory. On the eve of Halloween, a ghost story.

In Expansion, Gardner Museum Goes Green

October 28, 2009, 3:07 PM
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As the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum works toward completing its new building and expansion project, it’s also “going green” by digging wells far beneath the ground.

First Night Boston Weathers Financial Storm

October 28, 2009, 4:34 AM

Despite a financial setback that put this year’s First Night Boston celebration in jeopardy, the festivities will go on as planned.

BSO’s Levine To Miss Entire Beethoven Cycle

October 26, 2009, 3:45 PM
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The return of Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor James Levine after back surgery has been delayed a second time.

Boston In Books: The Character Of A City

October 23, 2009, 5:59 PM
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The inaugural Boston Book Festival is bringing authors from around the country to Copley Square this weekend. It’s a celebration of all things books, and we thought we’d examine books and stories that use Boston as a place setting.

Boston Launches Its First Book Festival

October 23, 2009, 8:41 AM

Dozens of internationally recognized writers such as Richard Russo and Cornel West are visiting Boston this weekend to take part in the workshops, panel discussions, performances, and readings at the inaugural Boston Book Festival, which opens Saturday in Copley Square.

George Higgins: The Teller Of Boston’s Stories

October 23, 2009, 7:17 AM
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As a writer, George V. Higgins had a leg-breaker’s ability to grab you hard and pull you into an alley — a Boston alley, because none of his 26 novels transpired more than an hour or two outside the city. He was all business, his writing was lean, he knew the place and he knew [...]

Levine’s Return To BSO Delayed

October 15, 2009, 3:19 PM

The return to the podium of Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor James Levine has been delayed about a week.

In Chinatown, Borrowed Books On Borrowed Time

October 15, 2009, 6:18 AM
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Boston’s Chinatown hasn’t had its own public library branch since the 1950s. Now a group of artists is changing that by transforming a vacant, street-level commercial space into a temporary “Storefront Library.” For the next three months the Chinatown community can go there to borrow books, study, do research and re-connect.

Herta Mueller Wins 2009 Nobel Literature Prize

October 08, 2009, 9:20 AM

Herta Mueller, a member of Romania’s ethnic German minority who was persecuted for her critical depictions of life behind the Iron Curtain, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday in an award seen as a nod to the 20th anniversary of communism’s collapse.

Boston Pianist Gets Heavy On The Ivories

October 06, 2009, 3:03 PM
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Boston pianist Bruce Brubaker manipulates pianos in a rare way. Small weights on the keys produce an ethereal reverb that you can’t get from food pedals. The effect is subtle, for a lifelong pianist such as Brubaker, it’s delicious.

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