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The notion that beauty could inspire civic virtue informed the construction of the New York subway a century ago. Now a city program spreads beautiful mosaics, sculptures and other hidden treasures underground. NPR's Margot Adler reports.

Jonathan Caouette made Tarnation, a documentary about his difficult childhood, for just over $200. But the film earned accolades at the Sundance, Cannes and New York Film festivals. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

Political theater is all most people are talking about today, but Hollywood has been dealing a lot lately with theater of the old fashioned sort -- the kind that happens on stage. Hear NPR's Bob Mondello.

A San Francisco man has created a universal remote control that offers only one function: the 'off' button. His keychain device, TV-B-Gone, is designed to extinguish televisions in public places. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and inventor Mitch Altman.

Music commentator Miles Hoffman, a nationally renowned violist, and NPR's Steve Inskeep visit the Library of Congress' small, priceless collection of Stradivarius instruments. Hoffman plays some of the rarest instruments in the collection, including a violin called the "Betts," crafted in 1704 by Antonio Stradivari.

NPR's Susan Stamberg reflects on the career of actor Marlon Brando. The Oscar-winning star of The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire, Last Tango in Paris and many other films died Friday at age 80.

An American poetry therapist and a Haitian-American U.S. Army veteran founded a public high school four years ago for the growing Haitian community in the small city in Delray Beach, Fla. They named the school the Toussaint L'Ouverture School for the Arts and Social Justice, after the father of Haiti's independence movement. These students, most recently arrived from Haiti, learn in their native Creole language and in English. Hear a report from Youth Radio.

Demetri Martin is one of a new breed of comics who get laughs with acerbic, relaxed observational humor. He discusses his job as a writer -- for Conan O'Brien, the movies and his stand-up career.

Alan Cheuse reviews I, Robot, a collection of robot stories by the late science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. The book was first published more than 50 years ago.

Spider-Man 2 weaves its way into U.S. movie theaters Wednesday. Tobey Maguire returns as the title superhero, this time suffering a crisis of confidence. Alfred Molina joins the cast as his evil nemesis, Dr. Otto Octavius -- better known to Spidey fans as Doctor Octopus. Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.