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Influential jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy died Friday of cancer at age 69, ending a career that was noticed by both John Coltrane and the MacArthur Genius Awards. Hear NPR's Tom Cole.

Producers Jonathan Menjivar and Barrett Golding offer this portrait of the Chicago protest group known as the Pink Bloque -- a group of college kids who got tired of staging demonstrations in the usual way, and re-invented the art of the protest. This report is part of the series Chicago Matters: Our Next Generation from member station WBEZ.

Commentator Connie Rice is back with another top-10 list. This week, she tells NPR's Tavis Smiley about the top-10 "unreality" shows Hollywood should snap up right now.

Some might say actor John Lithgow was born into the craft: His father, Arthur, was a college professor and Shakespearean actor. As Father's Day approaches, the Emmy and Tony-winning actor -- and writer and composer -- reflects on his father's influence on his own career. For Intersections, NPR's Noah Adams reports.

Avenue Q, an adult musical featuring naughty puppets, wins the prize for best new musical at Sunday night's Tony Awards. In a major upset, Idina Menzel -- who plays the green-skinned Elphaba in Wicked, a retelling of the Wizard of Oz -- wins in the toughest race of the night, best actress in a musical. Phylicia Rashad becomes the first African American to win best actress in a play for her role in a A Raisin in the Sun. Hear NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Andrew Wallenstein of The Hollywood Reporter reviews the second season of Reno 911, a spoof on reality cop shows that he says is dead-on funny.

Despite commentator Joseph C. Phillips' diatribe against the movie Soul Plane and the African-American stereotyping he says it represents, the film still made it back into the top 12 films nationwide last weekend. This Father's Day, Phillips is looking outside the multiplex to gatherings taking place in cities across the country.

Alan Cheuse reviews The Curse of the Appropriate Man by South African expatriate writer Lynn Freed. The book is a collection of short fiction, with mostly Jewish South African female characters.

George Romero's 1968 horror movie Night of the Living Dead inspired numerous sequels, remakes and spin-offs. But NPR's Bob Mondello says none has been quite as "lively" as Shaun of the Dead, the comic British version that opens in theaters Friday.

Slate contributor Seth Stevenson reviews the latest ad campaign for Old Spice, the old fragrance giant that's hoping to appeal to a younger crowd.