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Jazz composer and arranger Bob Belden has written a musical suite based on the 1947 "Black Dahlia" case, involving the murder of a young actress. His influences include novelist James Ellroy and composers Alban Berg and Jerry Goldsmith. Belden is also known for producing Grammy-winning reissues of classic albums by Miles Davis.

Emmy Award winner Brian Cox's latest show is the HBO series Deadwood, whose third season is now out on DVD. This interview first aired on June 26, 2006.

Near the town of Alliance, Neb., stands an installation called Carhenge. The artwork replicates Stonehenge in England, but in the form of 38 vintage American cars, half buried in the ground. Carhenge draws about 30,000 tourists a month during the summer, and it turns 20 this weekend.

How much does the era you grow up in affect your personality? Psychologist Jean Twenge, a researcher at San Diego State University believes that a key factor in determining primary character traits is the generation that people are born in — and there may be credence to the notion of "The Greatest Generation."

Toy inventor Tim Walsh's book Timeless Toys is full of stories about a century of all things playful. He fills Liane Hansen with facts about the Slinky, Play-Doh, Lincoln Logs and other fundamentals of fun.

Barbara Kafka's Vegetable Love is a primer on how to handle produce and a recipe collection for making magic out of something as common as a carrot.

The wet spell in the Pacific Northwest is seen as an opportunity for Nancy Pearl, the Seattle librarian who regularly shares her recommended readings. She shares her list of books for a rainy day.

Esera Tuaolo played many years in the National Football League while hiding a secret from teammates: he's gay. He tells Liane Hansen about his memoir of the experience: Alone in the Trenches.

Novels by Matthew Pearl and Louis Bayard fold elements of literary history into the mystery genre. Fittingly, both feature details from the life of the man who introduced the world to tales of ratiocination: Edgar Allan Poe.

Mark Twain once said, "I never let school interfere with my education." That's just one example of an aphorism from a new collection of the handy sayings gathered and annotated by author James Geary in The World in a Phrase.