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Donovan Reynolds of Michigan Radio looks at the career of actor David Oyelowo. He's been called "The Black Olivier," and is currently performing the lead in Shakespeare's Henry the Sixth for a touring production by The Royal Shakespeare Company. His casting caused quite a stir in England, where some say only whites should play Shakespeare's kings. Oyelowo sees the role as a way to break one of the last racial barriers in acting.

NPR's Emily Harris reports on a new Federal Trade Commission study into the responsibility of oil companies for the exceptionally high Midwestern gasoline prices last summer. The FTC concludes that the oil industry did not take illegal collective action to drive gasoline prices upward, but that individual companies did limit refinery production to maximize prices. In Chicago, Milwaukee, and other parts of the Midwest, prices at the pump exceeded $2 a gallon.

Actor Om Puri is a star of Bombay's film industry, known as Bollywood. In his two decades of acting he's worked with every major Indian film director including Satyajit Ray. In western films he had roles in Gandhi and City of Joy, and in the TV series The Jewel in the Crown. Hes had starring parts in two British films My Son the Fanatic, and the film East is East. His latest film is the Merchant Ivory production, The Mystic Masseur based on the novel by V.S. Naipaul.

U.S. forces take into custody one of Iraq's top biological weapons experts, nicknamed "Dr. Germ" for her work in the production of biological warfare agents such as anthrax and botulinum toxin. Rihab Taha, a British-educated microbiologist, was not on the U.S. list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, but U.S. officials say her capture was still a top priority. Hear NPR's Tom Gjelten.

This Sunday he will be roasted by Comedy Central. He's also starring in the new film The Secret Lives of Dentists. Leary is also known for his work in films such as The Thomas Crown Affair and The Ref. Leary has completed more than 20 feature films, several cable specials, a book, a CD, and he has his own production company, Apostle. This interview first aired April 18, 2002.

Alan Ball, creator of the hit HBO series Six Feet Under, has served as producer, writer and director for the show. He won an Academy Award for writing the screenplay for American Beauty. His other production credits include the TV shows Cybill and Oh Grow Up. (This interview originally aired June 25, 2001.)

With a penchant for constantly reinventing his sound, Andrew Bird is an unusual combination of songwriter, violinist, guitarist, vocalist and professional whistler. On his new CD, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, he plays virtually every instrument.

Every November and December, arts organizations around the country compete for the lucrative "family holiday entertainment" dollar. A production based on Irving Berlin's tunes is aiming to be musical theater's newest seasonal tradition.

Pared down to an efficient duo, Earlimart completed its new record, Hymn and Her, in just over four weeks, as opposed to the three-year production of its last project. The band plays its straightforward and intimate California pop tunes in a session from WXPN.

Back in 1971, college student Ted Chapin got extra credit for working on the Broadway-bound Stephen Sondheim musical, Follies. Thirty years later, Chapin has written about that experience in the book, Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical 'Follies', which details the ups and downs of what became a controversial production. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Ted Chapin.

His new film is No Such Thing. Its about a monster and a young woman who finds him. According to the films production notes, the monster has been in existence since the dawn of time and nothing can kill him. Along comes Beatrice, a young girl who makes friends with the monster and together they seek out the doctor who can finally end the monsters life. Hartley's work includes Trust, Henry Fool, Flirt, and Amateur.

Eleven new clothing factories open in Lesotho, making the kingdom Africa's largest exporter of textiles to the United States. The African Growth and Opportunity Act -- U.S. trade legislation lifting tariffs on hundreds of products from sub-Saharan Africa -- is credited with transforming Lesotho's economy. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports.

He's been called the D.W. Griffith of stage shows. His lighting and stagecraft has turned musical acts into major productions. And he got to speak on stage at Woodstock. Now, 64-year-old Edward "Chip" Monck is being honored with the stage and lighting industry's highest honor, the 2004 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award.

Soprano Deborah Voigt has just released Obsessions, her first solo recording of Strauss and Wagner arias. The release coincided with her highly publicized firing from a Covent Garden production because of her weight.

As reports show the U.S. economy added 308,000 jobs in March, Republicans on Capitol Hill generally claim the numbers vindicate the GOP's tax policies. Democrats have conflicting reactions: relief that Americans are finding jobs, but criticism that job production is still not good enough. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

The Food and Drug Administration says patients on some popular antidepressants should be closely monitored for warning signs of suicide. The agency asked the makers of 10 drugs to add the caution to their product labels. In changing its requirement, the FDA stressed that it is not yet clear that the drugs actually lead to suicide. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Langewiesche is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, and he is the author of a number of books including Inside the Sky: A Meditation on Flight. His new book is The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos and Crime. It's about the unregulated world of the open sea where some 40,000 ships travel carrying raw materials and products. Their crews are often poorly trained and poorly paid. The ships are vulnerable to accidents, piracy and terrorists.

Pat Dowell profiles Canadian Director Guy Maddin, whose new movie, Pages from a Virgin's Diary, is a screen adaptation of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production of Dracula. Maddin describes his movie making technique as "primitive," because he strives to give his story telling a dream-like effect. He was motivated to make this movie by curiosity about elements of female sexuality and male jealousy in the Dracula story.

Three questions for the bronze medal winner about people stealing other people's ideas or products.

Host Lisa Simeone talks to Terry Ryan about her new book The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. Terry's mother Evelyn entered hundreds of contests during the advertising heyday of the 1950s and 60s. The contests usually required a short poem praising a product, and sometimes the prizes were quite substantial. Ryan won thousands of dollars and hundreds of prizes during her long "career" as a jingle writer.