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With the rise of the TV-series box set, more shows are earning fans who power through episodes one after another. Critic David Bianculli reviews two newly released sets: the debut seasons of Heroes and Friday Night Lights.

The latest film from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet takes place in France at the end of World War I. A Very Long Engagement is the story of a young woman's search for a fiancee she doesn't believe is dead. Audrey Tatou, who played the lead in Jeunet's 2001 comedy hit Amelie, stars again. NPR's Bob Mondello has a review.

Liev Schreiber stars as the real-estate salesman Ricky Roma in a production of Glengarry Glen Ross showered with Tony nominations. Schreiber, Alan Alda and Gordon Clapp are all nominated for best actor.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to actor Kevin Kline, who stars as Cole Porter in the new motion picture about the man and his music, De-Lovely. Kline made a stunning dramatic film debut in Sophie's Choice, but he may be best known for his roles in the film comedies A Fish Called Wanda and In and Out. He's also won Tony Awards for his Broadway performances in On the 20th Century and Pirates of Penzance.

When Broadway musical composer Frank Loesser wrote his shows, he made demo recordings to demonstrate to the cast what the songs sound like. Those demos were discovered years later by Joseph Weiss, the copyright manager of Paul McCartney's publishing company, which acquired Loesser's publishing company in 1979.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple. Her work includes the Academy Award winning Harlan County, USA and American Dream. She's made films on subjects ranging from Woodstock and the Hamptons to biographies of Woody Allen, Mike Tyson and Gregory Peck. She's about to receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute's documentary festival.

The new book American Taboo: A Murder in the Peace Corps tells the true story of a Peace Corps volunteer who was murdered in 1976 in the Pacific Island nation of Tonga. Another Peace Corps volunteer was accused of the murder but judged not guilty by reason of insanity by a Tongan court. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with author Philip Weiss.

For weeks, the song I Can't Wait by Hillary Duff has been in the top three on Radio Disney stations across the country, but elsewhere the song hasn't even made it to the top 50. How can this be? Some critics say that's what happens when a company controls the recording artist, the record label and the radio network. Others say it's just good marketing. NPR's Laura Sydell reports.

Linda Wertheimer talks with John Grisham about his latest novel, A Painted House, which is based in the rural Arkansas of his childhood. The story is told from the point of view of a seven-year-old son of a tenant cotton farmer. His family has hired Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to harvest the first good crop in years. Six weeks into the harvest, something happens which will change the boy's life forever. (7:30) A Painted House, by John Grisham, is published by Doubleday.

NPR's Asma Khalid speaks with Mahan Gafari, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, about the state of the pandemic in Iran and what we can learn about herd immunity.