Journalist Maggie Mahar, author of Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Healthcare Costs So Much, has studied the economics of U.S. health care and drawn a few conclusions. She weighs in on the current debate on a health-care system overhaul.
The Fiery Furnaces' new album, I'm Going Away, features pared-down songs to reflect the darker national mood, the brother-sister duo says. For the listener, it's a transporting experience.
Critic Milo Miles reviews The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics. It's Dennis Kitchen and Paul Buhle's illustrated biography of influential artist and writer Harvey Kurtzman, the inventor of MAD Magazine.
Did the Bush administration discourage an investigation into a mass grave of Taliban prisoners? Dr. Jennifer Leaning, Nathaniel Raymond and Dr. Nizam Peerwani of Physicians for Human Rights discuss their investigation of the alleged massacre at Dasht-i-Leili.
Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to swim the English Channel, finishing faster than any of the five men who had done it before. Young Woman and the Sea shows how Ederle's fame grew, then evaporated.
Writer-director Judd Apatow's new film Funny People is a vaguely autobiographical comedy starring Apatow's former roommate Adam Sandler as a comic mentoring a younger colleague (Seth Rogen).
The Mad Ones is the tale of real-life gangsters Larry, Albert "Kid Blast" and "Crazy" Joe Gallo — a Mafia clan that inspired Bob Dylan's "Joey" and were a major inspiration for The Godfather.
Tobacco smuggling is a lucrative business used to fund terrorist organizations around the world, according to a new report. David Kaplan, editor of "Tobacco Underground," explains how the illicit trade fuels organized crime.
In a 1993 interview, venerable newsman Walter Cronkite shares his experiences holding down the CBS evening news. Cronkite died Friday of complications related to dementia.
There are two types of history to consider when trying to put CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite into context. There's the history of broadcast news and there's history itself. TV critic David Bianculli offers an appreciation of the venerable newsman.
Seattle director Lynn Shelton's fabulously squirmy film Humpday centers on two seemingly straight men who decide to have sex with each other as part of an amateur porn video competition.
John Powers reviews a luminous cinematic memoir by the 81-year-old French director Agnes Varda. Like all Varda's films, The Beaches of Agnes brims with its creator's independence and vivacity.
The New Republic senior editor Jonathan Cohn discusses power players of health care reform, including the insurance lobby, the pharmaceutical lobby, the American Medical Association and Congress.
Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter are creators and stars of Michael and Michael Have Issues — a series about two neurotic sketch-comedy writers who can't stand each other.
Walter Jacobs, aka "Little Walter," was a harmonica virtuoso whose life was consumed by blues music. A new five-disc Hip-O Select re-release of Walter's complete recordings for the record label Chess is on shelves now.
Investigative journalist Jane Mayer discusses a secret CIA counterterrorism program that was reportedly concealed from Congress under direct orders from then Vice President Dick Cheney.
