FRESH AIR
By the end of The 40 Year Old Virgin, the title character had lost his virginity — and actor Steve Carell had become a star. The actor, who
was a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show for several years, has gone on to films including Little Miss Sunshine and Evan Almighty, and next summer he’ll star as hapless secret agent Maxwell Smart in a Hollywood adaptation of the vintage TV series Get Smart. And of course he’s got a central role on NBC’s The Office. Now Carell is starring in Dan in Real Life, a big-screen comedy about a newspaper columnist who dispenses advice about parenting — never mind his own problems on the home front. Among other things, he falls in love with a woman without realizing that she’s his brother’s girlfriend.
RADIO TIMES
Hour 1
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported last week that nearly 94,000 Americans are infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA bacteria each year and that the bacterial infection, once found only in health care settings, is now prevalent in the general population. TOM FEKETE, chief of infectious diseases at Temple University joins guest host Alan Tu to explain it all. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
Hour 2
(Rebroadcast tonight at 11)
Historian THOMAS H. KEELS joins guest host Alan Tu to talk about the buildings that played an important role in the City’s history but have been torn down to give way to a contemporary Philadelphia. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
THE WORLD CAFE
Leslie Feist has long attracted serious buzz: For the last several years, she’s appeared on the verge of jumping from underground success to mainstream stardom. In recent weeks, she’s started to fulfill that promise, with her song “1234” surfacing in ubiquitous commercials and her face appearing on top late-night talk shows. The tremendous response would have been hard to predict a few years ago — with roots in punk bands, Feist was known primarily as a participant in the Canadian indie-rock collective Broken Social Scene — but she possesses a naturally smoky voice that makes her instantly accessible. A remarkably gifted torch singer, Feist has the power and skill to connect with a diverse audience. Her seductive, infectious breakthrough album The Reminder came out earlier this year, building on the success of her 2005 debut (Let It Die), as well as a relentless tour schedule. The result is a shoo-in for “Best of 2007” lists, as well as a springboard for even bigger success down the road.
FEIST: My Moon, My Man