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Think 1950s food and you might conjure up Jell-O salads with a riot of add-ons or soda pop put to unnatural uses. In her new book, Something from the Oven, Laura Shapiro deconstructs food from the '50s -- and the industry that foisted it on American households. Shapiro talks with NPR's Melissa Block.

In the latest episode of the series "What Are You Listening To?" California teenager Lexi Sanborn helps us travel to distant lands, picking eclectic music from Japan and Germany.

The body of actor and writer Spalding Gray was pulled out of New York's East River Sunday, two months after he was first reported missing. He was 62. Best known for a 1987 movie based on his monologue Swimming to Cambodia, Gray inspired a whole generation of performers with his groundbreaking confessional, humorous and disarming storytelling. NPR's Bob Edwards has a remembrance.

The nominees for Best Song at Sunday's Oscar ceremonies are an eclectic mix. Two songs from Cold Mountain have been nominated, along with a song from The Lord Of the Rings: The Return of the King, Triplets of Belleville and A Mighty Wind. NPR's Scott Simon talks to American Film Institute director Murray Horwitz.

Country legend Loretta Lynn joins forces with rocker Jack White for a soulful new CD, Van Lear Rose. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and Lynn.

The latest romance in Hollywood is between filmmakers and Los Angeles public schools. Location scouts say school campuses are among their favorite settings for movies, TV shows, music videos and commercials. And schools strapped for cash are grateful for their lucrative cameos. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports.

Author Ben Macintyre's book tells the true story of Josiah Harlan, a Pennsylvania Quaker who 150 years ago became the first American to visit Afghanistan.

An exhibit in San Francisco celebrates all things Art Deco, including furniture, fashion, jewelry, architecture and industrial design from the early 20th century. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports. See photos from the show.

Author Ron Chernow releases Alexander Hamilton, his new biography of the first secretary of the Treasury. The book traces Hamilton's life from his childhood on the West Indies island of Nevis to his early designs for the American economy and his death in a duel with then-Vice President Aaron Burr. NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with Chernow.

Singer Sam Phillips began her music career as a Christian singer. She took her faith with her and began to make pop music that are modern torch songs, songs of love and pain. The music on her latest CD, A Boot and A Shoe, is stark, with production from T Bone Burnett. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Phillips about the characters and many angles the writer uses to compose music that is more impressionistic than storytelling.