This Week



COVER STORY
Gangsters
Kurt Andersen and writer David Remnick talk about pop culture's fascination with organized crime.

La Musica Della Mafia
The songs in this collection of traditional Italian folk music were all written by, for and about the Mafia, and provide a tantalizing oral history of Italy's mythic criminal universe. Produced by David Krasnow.
Go to the official site for Musica Della Mafia
Go to a site devoted to the music of Nino
Go to a review of Musica Della Mafia

Vegas Comics
When prohibition ended, the Mafia was well-poised to maintain a grip on the country's burgeoning nightclubs, which featured comedians between the big band music and jazz. Shecky Green, Kaye Ballard and Larry Storch--some of the comics who worked those clubs in the 50s--recall what it was like to work for the underworld bosses. Produced by Michael May.
Go to comic Larry Storch
Go to comic Shecky Greene
Go to comic Kaye Ballard

Gangsters Meet Hip-Hop
"Gangster Rap" didn't just appeal to the young men whose violent sexy universe it reflected-- the LA street gang culture of the late 80's and early 90's-- it appealed to the gangster voyeur in many millions of young people. Nelson George, a writer and film-maker who has chronicled many aspects of modern African-American culture, talks about the origin of "Gangsta Rap". Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.
Go to Nelson's George's official site
Go to About.com's guide on Hip-hop

Arthur CarterSPECIAL GUEST
David Remnick
David Remnick is the editor of The New Yorker. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Lenin's Tomb and is the author of the Muhammad Ali biography, King of the World.
Go to The New Yorker website








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Commentary
Power to the Puppets
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Now Playing
Dana Gioia is the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and an accomplished poet and literary critic. But he also has an MBA and used to be a Vice President of Marketing at General Foods. Kurt Andersen asks Gioia about straddling the worlds of poetry and corporate America.
Go to the NEA website
Go to Dana Gioia's personal site


Car Alarms
The artist Nina Katchadourian explains how she decided to transform the car alarm, and install her new version that plays tape loops of raucous bird calls in cars on city streets. Produced by Tania Ketenjian.
Learn more about Nina Katchadourian's natural car alarms



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