NPR: In Character Podcast: Episodes
Though fierce political opponents, John McCain and Barack Obama agree on a literary matter: Each picks Ernest Hemingway's 1940 novel <em>For Whom the Bell Tolls</em>, featuring the stoic freedom-fighter Robert Jordan, as a favorite.
The singer's 1973 hit "Jolene" has been covered more than any of her other songs. Parton says that "Jolene" remains popular in part because of how universal it is: Everyone relates to the singer's sense of inadequacy, and that comes through in each musician's rendition.
Army sergeant Vernon Waters from <em>A Soldier's Story</em> is a complicated character. He's a murderer. And he's obsessed with protecting the dignity — and future — of the African-American race.
One of the best-known politicians of the 20th century was Willie Stark, the populist hero who rose to rule his state in <em>All the King's Men</em>. Stark has lived on in three stage plays, two movies, an opera and several required-reading lists.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company prides itself on reducing Shakespeare to "short, sharp comedies." The three-man comedy troupe has applied its talents to the NPR series <em>In Character,</em> finding a Pandora's box within NPR's own halls.
She's a spider's spider — sophisticated, pretty (by her own account), authoritarian — and she says something profound about love and commitment. Melissa Block looks at the heroine of <em>Charlotte's Web.</em>
An eccentric, a free spirit and an unflaggingly open-minded heroine, Mame Dennis taught more than one protege — including NPR's Bob Mondello — how to open new windows without worrying about the view.
When Henry Fleming joins the Union Army, he's got big ideas of what glorious battles await him. He's eager to impress his friends and a brown-haired girl he likes. But soon he questions himself — and his courage.
When the movie <em>The Dark Knight</em> opens Thursday, thousands of people will be haunted by the late Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker. Batman's arch-nemesis has not always been such a menacing, sadistic fellow, however.
He was like the boy next door — if the boy next door never left his house and took up taxidermy as a hobby. For millions, <em>Psycho</em>'s soft-spoken innkeeper made showering a dreaded experience.
In 1932, director Merian Cooper approached Fay Wray about playing a lead role in a new movie he was planning — <em>King Kong</em>. But when Cooper first proposed the film in 1931, not everyone thought it was a good idea.
She was born in 1930, but she's perpetually<em> 18 — an</em>d always one step ahead of the adults. For NPR's In Characte<em>r series, Re</em>nee Montagne delivers the scoop on the iconic American girl sleuth: Nancy Drew.
The strong-willed second oldest sister of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, has inspired generations of femal—f<em>ans with </em>her independence and pluck. But does she set too lofty an ideal?
When Gene Roddenberry was putting <em>Star Trek</em> together, NBC execs had some advice: "Lose the Martian." We all know how that turned out: Mr. Spock (a Vulcan) ranks among the most <em>fascinating</em> characters in TV history.
Is Carrie Bradshaw, the main character in <em>Sex and the City</em>, a narcissist? Many — including Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays her — would say "yes" without flinching. As part of our "In Character" series, NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, self-absorption is part of Carrie Bradshaw's charm.
In essays on the 'In Character' blog, NPR audiences have been waxing thoughtful about their own favorite characters. An 11-year-old, in foster care for the past four years, says he feels a kinship with the protagonist of <em>A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray</em>.
His given name is Jeffrey Lebowski — but the stoner hero of <em>The Big Lebowski</em> prefers to be called the Dude. As Guy Raz discovers, he's part fiction, part reality. But there's a little Dude in each of us.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer saved the world and the sanity of NPR's Jamie Tarabay while she was in Baghdad. Tarabay explores why she needed the slayer during her time in Iraq.
In the 1950s, the man who loved Lucy helped introduce mainstream America to a slice of Latin culture. He was based on Desi Arnaz — yet Arnaz was hardly just playing himself. Felix Contreras has a musical portrait of the fictional Cuban-American bandleader.
He's the protagonist — you can't quite say "hero," unless you add "tragic" in front — of August Wilson's play <em>Fences.</em> James Earl Jones, who first played the part, helps explain why he's unforgettable.