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Following The Yellow Brick Road Back To The Origins Of 'Oz'

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Credit / W.W. Norton

Credit W.W. Denslow / W.W. Norton & Co.

"Exactly so! I am a humbug."

Credit W.W. Denslow / W.W. Norton & Co.

"The Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew away with her."

Credit W.W. Denslow / W.W. Norton & Co.

" 'I was only made yesterday,' said the Scarecrow."

Credit W.W. Denlsow / W.W. Norton & Co.

Chapter VII. The Journey to The Great Oz.

Credit

Credit W.W. Denslow / W.W. Norton & Co.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

Credit Dana Hull / Library of Congress

Before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz secured his place in American letters, L. Frank Baum worked as everything from a traveling salesman to a breeder of fancy thoroughbred fowls. "To write fairy stories for children," he wrote, "to amuse them, to divert restless children, sick children, to keep them out of mischief on rainy days, seems of greater importance than to write grown-up novels."

Credit / W.W. Norton & Co.

The illustrator W.W. Denslow was the first to draw Dorothy's now-iconic companions, pictured on the cover of the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

By editor

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 2:24 pm

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It's safe to say that most Americans are familiar with the classic film featuring a stumbling Scarecrow, a rusted Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy, played by actress Judy Garland, clad in gingham and braids.

11:05 am

Mon April 15, 2013

Pretending To Be A 'Good Nurse,' Serial Killer Targeted Patients

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Credit Twelve Books

In a new book, Charles Graeber tells the story of Charlie Cullen, a registered nurse who was was dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media after he was implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients.

Credit Gabrielle V. Allen / Twelve Books

Medical student turned journalist Charles Graeber has written about science, crime and business for The New Yorker, Wired and New York Magazine, among other publications.

By editor

Originally published on Mon April 15, 2013 12:55 pm

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In 2003, police in Somerset County, N.J., arrested a hospital nurse named Charlie Cullen who was suspected of injecting patients with lethal doses of a variety of medications. Cullen would turn out to be one of the nation's most prolific serial killers, murdering dozens, perhaps hundreds of people in nine hospitals over a 16-year period.

Journalist Charles Graeber spent six years investigating the Cullen case, and is the only reporter to have spoken with Cullen in prison. In his new book, The Good Nurse, Graeber pieces together the elements of Cullen's story.

10:27 am

Mon April 15, 2013

Kenyan Author Ngugi wa Thiong'o Shares Wisdom

Credit Daniel A. Anderson/University Co / Random House

By editor

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This interview was originally broadcast on Feb. 13, 2013.

"When whatever forces put you down, you don't stay down."

Kenyan writer and professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o tells NPR's Michel Martin that this is something he constantly tells his children.

It is advice that has kept him going since he was born in 1938, at a time when his nation was still a British colony.

6:38 am

Mon April 15, 2013

Tall Glass Of Rock Star-Ness: A Q&A With Questlove

Credit Ben Watts / Courtesy of the artist

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson also teaches a class at New York University called "Topics in Recorded Music: Classic Albums."

By Lidia Jean Kott

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is the drummer and co-founder of the Grammy-Award winning band The Roots, which now serves as the house band for the talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Questlove is coming out with a memoir in June called Mo' Meta Blues, co-written with Ben Greenman. After reading it, you'll feel like you know Questlove. The book is intimate and funny. Plus, you'll come away with a crash course in hip-hop history.

12:03 am

Mon April 15, 2013

Friedkin, Who Pushed Film Forward, Looks Back

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Credit / HarperCollins Publishers

Credit Pat York / HarperCollins

Director William Friedkin is best known for the classic films The Exorcist and The French Connection. His new memoir is The Friedkin Connection.

Credit / Courtesy William Friedkin/Harper

The French Connection won five Oscars at the 1972 Academy Awards, including best picture. From left are Phil D'Antoni, Gene Hackman, Jane Fonda and William Friedkin.

Credit Warner Brothers/Getty Images

Friedkin gives direction to 12-year-old actress Linda Blair, who played the possessed Regan MacNeil, on the set of The Exorcist.

By Susan Stamberg

Originally published on Tue April 23, 2013 10:08 am

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As a kid in Chicago, director William Friedkin liked to frighten little girls with scary stories. When he grew up, he scared the rest of us with a little girl — Regan MacNeil, who is possessed by the devil in his horror classic The Exorcist.

And in The French Connection, he put knots in our stomachs with one of the great movie chases in American cinema.

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7:02 pm

Mon April 15, 2013