Showing titles in Arts & Entertainment

Gerard Schwarz shows how no artist expressed the ideals of nineteenth-century Romanticism better than Richard Wagner. With his great operas, or "music dramas", as he preferred to call them, Wagner created epic works relating stories derived from old European myths and medieval romances. Wagner was, in many respects, the dominating cultural figure in the second half of the nineteenth century. His ideas provoked more admiration, scorn, and astonishment than any other artist of the era.

Gerard Schwarz takes you through the life of Anton Dvorak, a devoted Czech nationalist who, like other composers of the nineteenth century, brought national or ethnic pride into the concert hall by using their nation's folk music to evoke patriotic sentiments.

Dass Dieter Hildebrandt immer schon ein Fußballfan und Spieler war, wissen nur wenige. So gründete er parallel zur Lach- und Schießgesellschaft den Fußballclub FC Schmiere, der mit sämtlichen Bundesligamannschaften trainierte. Zum wechselnden Kader gehörte auch die gesamte Weltmeistermannschaft von 1954. Dieter Hildebrandt erzählt mit Begeisterung von seiner Leidenschaft - und deutsche Geschichte.

Some of America's most prominent Jewish entertainers talk about their Jewish identity (or lack of one) in a panel discussion at New York's 92nd Street Y. Speakers include Jason Alexander, Leonard Nimoy, and Kyra Sedgwick. These are just some of the personalities featured in the new book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish by Abigail Pogrebin.

Best known as Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise and Captain of the Starship Excelsior, George Takei is beloved by millions as part of the command team that has taken audiences to new vistas of adventure in Star Trek, the unprecedented television and feature film phenomenon.

Rejection has never been so hilarious! After her role in a Woody Allen play was rethought, actress Annabelle Gurwitch (TBS' Dinner and a Movie) was devastated. Then, she got funny. Gurwitch and a revolving cast of fellow show-biz veterans share their stories when L.A. Theatre Works records Fired: Tales of Jobs Gone Bad.

What happens when conflicting emotions inhabit the same space? When a new vocabulary is devised to disguise the same old thoughts? In this barbed satire of political correctness, Rebecca Gilman's provocative characters spin a web of their own, revealing the latent racism that may lurk beneath the porcelain veneer of a liberated conscience.

As the '20s roared and the Harlem renaissance thrived, a young woman from rural Florida became the toast of literary New York. Jump At The Sun chronicles the passionate life of Zora Neale Hurston (author of Their Eyes Are Watching God), who went from spinning tales on the front porch of a country store to writing prize-winning stories, novels, and plays. Imbued with the rhymes and rhythms of the Jazz Age, Hurston's story reveals a woman's ferocious appetite for life, literature, and love.

If you are driving, pull over. If you are at work, close your door, unless you don't mind your colleagues seeing you doubled over, in tears, on your office floor. With this recording, taped before a delirious sold out audience at Carnegie Hall, you are there as David Sedaris performs new stories from his upcoming book. A parrot who mimics an ice maker, lovers quarrelling over a rubber hand, and a Santa Claus who moonlights from his job as bishop of Turkey, the cast of characters is like no other.

Was muss man wissen? Das Wissen von heute ist im Netz archiviert. Wahres steht neben Falschem, Unglaubliches neben Unbestrittenem. Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre hat in diesen Archiven gestöbert und aus den Bereichen Politik, Geschichte, Kultur, Sport, Gesellschaft, Wissenschaft und Technik, Hobby und Garten zusammengetragen, was man heute alles so weiss.

Bonus-Track: Exklusiv-Interview mit Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre!

It was that voice, those eyes, that hair, the cars, the girls. Elvis Presley revolutionized American pop culture when, at age 21, he became a modern superstar. A Memphis Beau Brummel even before he found fame, Elvis had a personal style that, like his music, had an immediate impact on his audience that continues to influence us today.

Was macht den Menschen zum Menschen? Wie sind biologische und kulturelle Entwicklung miteinander verschränkt, wo ergänzen sie sich, wo kommen sie sich in die Quere? Wie funktionieren die Organe, das Gehirn, das Immunsystem? Und schließlich: Kann der Mensch vollständig geklont werden? Packend, anschaulich und mit Blick auf das große Ganze entschlüsseln die Autoren das Wunder des menschlichen Lebens - und verneigen sich vor den Rätseln unserer Existenz.

Boldly going where no audio has gone before, Star Trek Memories is William Shatner's own behind-the-scenes look at the legendary '60s television series that continues to spawn movies, books, and series spin-offs 26 years after the last episode aired. Avid Trekkers are sure to be delighted with this first-hand account from Captain Kirk himself.

Covering the Greeks, Sharks, World War II, and Star Wars, this performance was recorded in New York City during an American tour.

Lee Mack, host of BBC One's They Think It's All Over, star of ITV's The Sketch Show and BAFTA Award winner, stars in this hilarious six-part comedy show as heard on BBC Radio 2.

Milan, 1497: Leonardo is completing "The Last Supper". Pope Alexander VI is determined to execute him after realizing that the painting contains clues to a baffling and blasphemous message that he is driven to decode. The Holy Grail and the Eucharistic Bread are missing, there is no meat on the table, and the apostles, shockingly, are portraits of well-known heretics and none of them are depicted with halos. And why has the artist painted himself into the scene with his back turned toward Jesus?

In this candid and revealing interview broadcast journalist Mike Wallace tells stories from his remarkable 60-year career. Included are audio clips of his 1957 interview of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; a poignant interview with First Lady Nancy Reagan concerning her husband's Alzheimer's; the story of the Secret Service agent who felt responsible for not saving John F. Kennedy; and Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, speaking out on corruption in Nigeria.

Milan, 1497: Leonardo is completing "The Last Supper". Pope Alexander VI is determined to execute him after realizing that the painting contains clues to a baffling and blasphemous message that he is driven to decode. The Holy Grail and the Eucharistic Bread are missing, there is no meat on the table, and the apostles, shockingly, are portraits of well-known heretics and none of them are depicted with halos. And why has the artist painted himself into the scene with his back turned toward Jesus?

We all know what it means these days to be a "grumpy old man", because part of that role is to be outspoken. Well, we've heard just about enough out of the men, thank you very much. Grumpy Old Women gives us the other perspective, the female take, on the million irritations of today's world.

Three months after she was kidnapped in a bloody ambush that killed her translator, Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll was set free on March 30, 2006, in Iraq. Now, hear how the Monitor reported on the end of this trying ordeal. Included from the March 31, 2006, issue are the cover story; statements from the newspaper and the Carroll family; and an editor's note.