Search results for

Most Cajuns, whose ancestors settled in southern Louisiana in the 17th century, spoke French up until World War II. But as Cajun culture is celebrated in music, film and food, only a fraction of the local population calls French its first language. NPR's Renee Montagne speaks with historian Shane Bernard about the Americanization of the Cajuns.

Movie makeup artist Ve Neill is up for her fourth Oscar for her work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. For Intersections, a Morning Edition series on artists and their inspirations, Neill discusses how an early love of horror flicks helped fuel her career transforming Hollywood's faces.

Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson has spent more than 20 years writing a cycle of plays that chronicle black life in 20th-century America, decade by decade. For Intersections, a Morning Edition series on artists and their inspirations, the playwright discusses how he first found the language of the black experience in blues legend Bessie Smith.

In 1831, Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Va., that killed more than 50 white people. An independent film debuting on PBS examines The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron's controversial 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Turner's alleged jailhouse statements and other versions of Turner's story. Pat Dowell reports.

Mel Gibson's film The Passion of The Christ -- which seeks to portray the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life -- has prompted awkward Vatican denials that Pope John Paul II warmly endorsed the movie after a private viewing. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

Stellastar is a four-piece band from Brooklyn, N.Y., that makes music reminiscent of early U2 or Joy Division. The young band has released a debut CD, the eponymous Stellastar. Jim Fusilli has a review.

Kirsten Dunst has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal. It's one of 12 nods that the film received.

The pandemic has been especially difficult on the mental health of Black Americans, who had already struggled to access care.

The latest album from the Danish folk duo Harald Haugaard and Morten Hoirup is called Om Sommeren, or "In Summer." The CD underscores the distinctions that set Danish folk music apart from its Scandinavian cousins. Music critic Chris Nickson has a review.

In contrast to Annie Liebowitz's posed celebrity portraits, Charles Peterson gets the sweat, anger, and noise of the Seattle scene on film in his new book, Touch Me, I'm Sick. Marcie Sillman reports on the challenges of capturing performance in the static medium of photography.