Pop Culture

The MTV Video Music Awards were held in Brooklyn, New York, Sunday night. The video of the year trophy went to Justin Timberlake for "Mirrors."

The fictional Australian hard-boiled detective is the star of several sharp, funny novels by Peter Temple. Two of those books have recently been adapted into TV movies starring Guy Pearce. Critic-at-large John Powers says Pearce perfectly conveys a complex blend of old and new masculinity.

In the new FX series, Bichir plays a Mexican detective who teams up with an El Paso cop to solve a series of murders. He tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies that The Bridge aims to give equal treatment to both sides of the border.

Melissa Block talks with Lolis Eric Elie, a writer and editor behind the HBO series Treme about a new cookbook written in the voices of the show's characters. Elie says it reflects both old New Orleans traditions and more recent influences.

Werner Herzog's latest project is a slight departure for the acclaimed filmmaker: a 35-minute public service announcement on the dangers of texting and driving. Yes, it's long, he says, but the "inner landscape" of great suffering such accidents can cause "can only be shown if you have more time."

This weekend, AMC begins showing the final episodes of its acclaimed drama series, and launches a new one: Low Winter Sun. Meanwhile, HBO presents its newest made-for-TV movie — this one a comedy, starring and co-written by Larry David.

Orange Is the New Black's showrunner explains how a story about a privileged white woman and criminality allows her to tell "really fascinating tales" of black women, Latinas, old women and criminals. Kohan also created the Showtime series Weeds.

Guest-host Celeste Headlee speaks with Scottish actor David Tennant about his role as brooding detective in Broadchurch. The moody BBC crime drama follows a mismatched cop duo investigating the murder of a young boy in a British seaside town.

Doctor Who fans waited with bated breath this summer for the announcement of the latest actor to play the Doctor. But the Doctor is more than a character on a show that millions love, he's arguably the chosen hero of the millennial generation.

Clowns are terrifying — that's pretty much a given. Even children, to whom they're supposed to appeal, are said to dislike them instinctively. Writer Linda McRobbie says darkness has always been a part of clowning.

In the latest installment of our library series, NPR's Bob Mondello visits some notable libraries in popular culture: Jorge Luis Borges' Library of Babel; Lucien's Library in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman; and the stacks in Buffy, Hogwarts, Doctor Who and Fahrenheit 451.

The program is part of a national push for science education among minorities. A U.S. Department of Commerce study found that blacks and Latinos are half as likely as whites to have a job in science or engineering.