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Sweden has the distinction of producing surströmming, one of the foulest-smelling foods in the world. More than a decade ago, NPR's Ari Shapiro tried eating it and failed. It's time for a rematch.

A driving force behind City Museum in St. Louis, the sculptor created spaces that invite adults and children to interact with his creations. He died in late September, working on a massive project he called Cementland.

The 2004 movie Garden State transformed the Shins from a little known indie-rock band to a mainstream sensation. Their eagerly awaited new album is out today. The album shows the Shins expanding their sound without losing the melodic pop-writing they're known for.

American photographer and filmmaker William Klein isn't well known in his native country, in part because he's spent the last half-century in France. But this spring, Americans can acquaint themselves with Klein's work in a flurry of events -- including a new book, two New York City gallery shows, a film retrospective and the re-release of Klein's classic 1974 documentary, Muhammad Ali, the Greatest. David D'Arcy reports.

Commentary Leroy Sievers has spent a long career as a journalist covering war, genocide, and natural disasters. Now after decades of observing other people's deaths, he is forced to contemplate the possibility of his own. He's fighting cancer.

Commentator Jake Halpern describes the phenomenon of the "para-social" relationship. In it, TV viewers come to feel that they know television characters because they see them all the time. Jake Halpern says that he feels like this about the characters in the show Cheers.

Amid efforts to jump-start stalled negotiations on an Iraqi constitution, thousands gather near President Bush's Texas ranch. Many are there to voice support for his Iraq policy. Others back Cindy Sheehan, a Gold Star mother who opposes the war.

Commentator Judy Muller has been reading NBC anchorman Brian Williams' new Web blog, and she's not sure she likes where this new journalistic medium is going. The postings often detail newsroom discussions over what stories should lead the broadcast.

Zach Condon is a young singer-songwriter who grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., but whose musical interests have looked abroad. His debut, which drew on Balkan gypsy music, was a surprise hit among Internet indie-rock cognescenti last year. His second set with the band Beirut is The Flying Club Cup.

Ann Patchett first read The Ambassadors — that notoriously opaque Henry James novel — at the suggestion of a good friend. Little did she know she was about to discover "the literary equivalent of a religious text."