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Actor Michael C. Hall plays David Fisher, the gay brother who co-runs a funeral home on the HBO hit series Six Feet Under. The American Film Institute has nominated Hall for Best Male TV Actor-Drama for his role in the series. Hall comes to TV from the stage. Most recently, he was on Broadway as the emcee in Cabaret. Prior to that role, he was in a number of off-Broadway productions.

Host Cheryl Corley talks with author and NPR Commentator Bebe Moore Campbell about her latest book, What You Owe Me. The story of betrayal and reconciliation centers on the hot marketplace for African-American beauty products and takes its characters from the late 1940's to the present.

Democrats accuse the Bush administration of hiding the scope of a post-war Iraq oil contract awarded to a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corp., formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the "operation of facilities and distribution of products" does not represent an expansion of Halliburton's role. Hear NPR's John Ydstie.

The British rock band Supergrass arrived in 1995 with a mixture of '70s glam-rock, wall-of-sound production and sweet bubblegum refrains. Critic Tom Moon of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the group's fourth release, Life On Other Planets, is more in tune with current trends.

Actor, director, producer and comedian Mel Brooks talks about his new Broadway musical Young Frankenstein, the movie and potential stage production of Blazing Saddles, and his long and successful career.

From illegal counterfeits — products with forged logos hawked by street vendors — to legal knockoffs — copycat designs with non-designer labels sold in stores — imitation couture is a controversial, multibillion-dollar industry.

Journalist Gillian Tett warned about the problems in the financial industry long before many of her colleagues. In her new book, Fool's Gold, Tett examines the role J.P. Morgan played in creating and marketing risky and complex financial products.

The increase in takeout orders during the pandemic has resulted in a ketchup shortage. Heinz has promised to increase production by 25% to catch up.

Jyl Hoyt recently visited Peru, and prepared this piece about efforts there to legalize the coca leaf. Coca, which produces the base substance of cocaine, is banned by the United Nations. Farmers in Peru argue that the leaf itself is no more addictive than a couple of cups of coffee. They say they ought to be able to use the leaf in products like tea or toothpaste, and if coca were legalized, they would no longer have to sell the leaf illegally to drug dealers.

NPR's Margot Adler reports that the European manufacturer of the abortion pill RU-486 decided to stop prouduction today and gave the European production rights to a new company. Roussel Uclaf, which is owned by Hoechst AG, abandoned the effort to sell RU-486 in the United States several years ago, due to anti-abortion groups threats of a boycott of the company. The company gave rights to manufacture the pill in the United States to the Population Council in New York.

to keep a fairly constant sleep schedule to be productive and healthy. Researchers found that our internal biological clocks can adjust to sleeping during daylight hours...the trouble comes from constantly switching back and forth to different sleep schedules.

A strike by 1,800 workers at Chrysler Corp. that began last Thursday is costing the auto maker $10 million a day, forcing it to halt production at four assembly plants that produce Dodge pickups and vans and Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicles. And in Oklahoma City, a strike at a General Motors Corporation assembly plant that produces the Chevrolet Malibu and Oldsmobile Cutlass entered its 11th day. From Detroit, NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

Critic Bob Mondello takes a look at the abundance of holiday movie releases. Movie studios are trying to please all kinds of audiences this year...which is why we're seeing film productions of Evita and Hamlet as well as "Beavis and Butthead Do America" amd "The Preacher's Wife." Mondello has a comprehensive look at what to expect at the theaters in the next few weeks.

Haynes is the writer and director of the new movie Far From Heaven, inspired by the 1950s Douglas Sirk movie All that Heaven Allows. Friedberg, as the movie's production designer, worked with Haynes to bring a 1950s look to the film. Haynes also directed the movies, Safe and Velvet Goldmine.

Starting next month, Swiss cheese manufacturers can make the holes in the cheese smaller. Manufacturers and the Agriculture Department met in 1999 to discuss the size of the holes and agreed to allow the change. Larger holes, which used to be required by the USDA, can cause cheese to get tangled in high-speed slicing machines. Linda talks with Warren Clark PhD, Chief Executive Officer with the American Dairy Products Institute.

PepsiCo will buy Quaker Oats for $13.4 billion in stock, giving PepsiCo a new array of food and beverage products, including Quaker's big seller -- Gatorade. The deal gives PepsiCo a boost in its battle with arch rival Coca-Cola over customers who drink non-carbonated beverages. Coke withdrew a pricier bid for Quaker Oats last month. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

ClearPlay produces digital filters that sanitize DVDs by screening out the sex, violence and profanity. Some in the movie industry have tried to sue over copyright infringements, but Congress has passed legislation that allows companies like ClearPlay to sell such products.

More than 6,000 police departments around the country now use tasers, the electronic stun guns that have been hailed as an alternative to lethal force. But Taser International, which makes the weapons, is facing questions about the safety of its products, and the accuracy of its sales reports. NPR's Laura Sullivan reports.

A new advocacy group has bought a full-page ad in Monday's editions of USA Today, criticizing America's largest retailer for destroying American jobs by purchasing most of its products from China. A watch group called Wal-Mart Watch launched the operation.

Britain names Jeremy Greenstock, its U.N. ambassador, as its special representative to Iraq. The appointment of Greenstock, a fluent Arabic speaker, comes as peacemaking and reconstruction efforts in Iraq encounter difficulties. In Basra, Iraqi officials say oil exports are on target to resume this month, but that post-war looting and sabotage of oil plants are hurting oil production. Hear NPR's Guy Raz and NPR's Nick Spicer.