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In his latest book, Soul of Nowhere, author and Morning Edition commentator Craig Childs explorers the wild and dangerous desert in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. NPR's Howard Berkes recently hiked and camped with Childs, who finds beauty in "this cracked ugly place."

Victorians received the first installment of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations in December 1860. Now, Stanford University has serialized the story and is mailing out chapters to readers every two weeks. NPR's Laura Sydell reports.

Author Richard Conniff has written about the natural world for National Geographic and Smithsonian magazines.

The independent nature of the annual Sundance Film Festival has been eroded in recent years as more films shown there have already landed distribution deals. But despite criticism that it's become too "corporate," Sundance still produces surprises. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan.

Pianist and singer Vienna Teng recorded most of her debut full-length CD, Waking Hour, while studying computer science at Stanford University. After graduating in 2000, Teng took a job as a computer engineer, but quit this past spring to perform her music around the country. NPR's Liane Hansen talks with Teng about her music.

In his book Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, author Ross King says the artist saw his commission to paint the Sistine Chapel as an attempt by enemies to set him up for failure. NPR's Michele Norris talks to King.

Dee Brown wrote 29 books, fiction and non-fiction before he died Thursday at 94. He will live on in the pages of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Published in 1970, the book revised the history of Western expansion and enlightened millions about the brutal treatment of Native Americans. Hear NPR's Jacki Lyden.

The much-examined life of Christian spiritual giant Francis of Assisi is explored anew in a biography by theologian Donald Spoto. Reluctant Saint draws on a wealth of new material, including an ecumencial meeting in 1219 in Egypt between Francis and the leader of Muslim forces in the Fifth Crusade. Spoto speaks with NPR's Liane Hansen.

The Kennedy Center 2002 Honors awards this evening in Washington. Chita Rivera is one of the five recipients, as are James Earl Jones and Elizabeth Taylor. The original Anita in West Side Story, Rivera has spent five decades on the stage and shows no sign of stopping. Kim Kokich reports.

"Art Inside Out," now at the Childrens' Museum of Manhattan, highlights three distinctive art forms: large, bright Elizabeth Murray canvases that can look like puzzles; William Wegman's well-known photos of his dogs; and Fred Wilson's displays of museums themselves. Karen Michel reports.