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Arts & Life

Music

Indian Rock from Thermal and a Quarter

Bangalore fusion-rock band Thermal and a Quarter incorporates the varied musical backgrounds of four very distinct members. Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers has a profile of the group and its place in India's vast musical scene.

Indian Rock from Thermal and a Quarter

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77th Annual Academy Awards

'Million Dollar Baby' Scores Honors at Academy Awards

Last night's Oscar ceremony drew surprisingly strong ratings, though the evening itself was free of upsets. In a movie season that began amorphously, with no blockbusters in contention and no clear front-runner, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby took four awards in top categories, including best picture.

'Million Dollar Baby' Scores Honors at Academy Awards

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Review

Book Reviews

Wideman Takes New Approach in 'God's Gym'

Alan Cheuse reviews God's Gym, a collection of 10 stories by John Edgar Wideman that fuses stream-of-conscious writing in the style of James Joyce, with the improvisational methods of American jazz.

Wideman Takes New Approach in 'God's Gym'

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Technology

The Marketplace Report: Higher Prices for Online Music?

NPR's Alex Chadwick talks to John Dimsdale of Marketplace about some major music labels that want online retailers to boost the price of downloadable music.

The Marketplace Report: Higher Prices for Online Music?

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'Downfall' from Ganz and Hirschbiegel

Fresh Air

Actor Bruno Ganz and director Oliver Hirschbiegel's new film is Downfall, about the last days of Hitler. Ganz stars as Adolf Hitler. He's made over 80 films mostly in German, and was in the recent remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Downfall is Hirschbiegel's third film, and his most popular to date.

'Downfall' from Ganz and Hirschbiegel

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Movies

'Million Dollar' Night for Eastwood, Swank, Freeman

At the 77th annual Academy Awards, director Martin Scorsese's The Aviator won the most Oscars -- five, but Clint Eastwood's film Million Dollar Baby took prizes for best picture, best director, best supporting actor, Morgan Freeman, and best actress, Hilary Swank. Jamie Foxx won the Oscar as best actor for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray.

'Million Dollar' Night for Eastwood, Swank, Freeman

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Technology

Internet Downloads Revive the Concept of Hit Singles

Some recording industry observers say the Internet is reviving the sale of hit singles. Others say the future of hit singles depends on whether the music industry can convince fans to pay for what they download.

Internet Downloads Revive the Concept of Hit Singles

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Where Science Meets Art

Music of the Human Heart May Hold Clues to Healing

In the 1960s and '70s, Milford Graves was a jazz drummer who played with New York's avant-garde. He's still a musician, but he spends a great deal of time exploring the relationship between music and the human heart. Some doctors think he's onto something.

Music of the Human Heart May Hold Clues to Healing

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Pop Culture

The Popstrology of Britney, by a Double Monkee

In popstrological terms, Britney Spears is a "daughter" of Olivia Newton-John, born under the 1981 hit song "Let's Get Physical." Ian Van Tuyl's Popstrology: The Art and Science of Reading the Popstars shows how pop music's powerful forces affect us all from the day we're born.

The Popstrology of Britney, by a Double Monkee

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