Search results for

Cowboy poets, writers, musicians descended on the small town of Elko, Nev., for the 20th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Who better to report on the sights and sounds of it all than Morning Edition's own resident cowboy poet, Baxter Black. Hear several poems and songs from the gathering.

Fashion photographer Helmut Newton died Friday in a car accident on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. He was 83. His bold and erotic photographs started a revolution of sorts in fashion photography, and he helped define the style of the sexual revolution as well. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and David Fahey, a gallery owner who was Newton's close friend.

Documentaries are bigger than ever at this year's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and many are finding mainstream distributors. Two of the best are about food: I Like Killing Flies -- about the battles of an eccentric chef at a small restaurant -- and Super Size Me, the tale of a man who ate nothing but fast food for a month. Hear NPR's Scott Simon and New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell.

Singer Beyonce Knowles wins five awards at the 46th annual Grammys Sunday for her first solo CD, Dangerously in Love. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, from hip-hop duo OutKast, wins album of the year, while Coldplay takes home the record of the year award. Hear NPR's Mandalit del Barco.

Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings has computerized one of the most memorable characters in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novels. Gollum was a hobbit named Smeagol whose possession and loss of the powerful ring, which he calls his "precious," turned him into a distraught creature of animalistic drive. NPR's Liane Hansen talks to Andy Serkis, the actor who plays Gollum and Smeagol. He documented his experience in the book Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic.

The Sundance Film Festival opens Thursday in Park City, Utah. But so far, festival organizers have largely ignored an independent film genre thriving in their backyard: Mormon cinema. As NPR's Howard Berkes reports, films with Mormon-centered themes fill a niche market, and some have won critical acclaim.

A genre of fiction known variously as "street lit," "ghetto lit," "urban lit" or "hip-hop lit" has begun registering impressive sales, catching the attention of the publishing industry. Previously sold as typewritten photocopies on street corners, these pulp-fiction books now appear in slick paperbacks available in bookstores and online. Karen Michel reports.

Author James McGrath Morris's latest book, Rose Man of Sing Sing relays the true story of Charles Chapin, a tabloid newspaper editor of the early 20th century. Chapin was a pioneer of the tabloid style of journalism who ended up in prison after killing his wife. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep and Morris.

Actor and comedian Bob Saget's death was caused by a blow to the head that he appeared to ignore before going to bed. Medical experts say you should always seek care if you experience a head trauma.

Lawmakers are pushing for a "do-over" of an Interior Department contract to review tribal jail deaths awarded to a former official. Nearly half of the deaths he was to review occurred on his watch.