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Former SNL cast member Julia Sweeney has written a new memoir of her life as a Midwestern mother. She speaks to NPR's Scott Simon about her decision to adopt from China, how her daughter got to be named Mulan (yes, after the Disney character), and gaining a new appreciation for her own mother.

These days, a hit show can run not just for years but for decades. So how do you keep it fresh for new audiences? Reporter Jeff Lunden talks to people who work on three of Broadway's biggest hits to find out.

Comedian, actor and author Jenny Slate just released "Lifeform," a new collection of essays about life, love and having a child.

Roger Ebert wrote simply, abundantly, gorgeously — and on deadline for 46 years at the Chicago Sun-Times. Over the years, his work reminded us that empathy is the grace note of a good life, not just great art.

Over the weekend there were violent clashes between federal agents, witnesses and protesters. Locals say the festivities were muted this year, and fear more violence is in store for the city.

Despite the disappointing jobs numbers released Friday, there are some bright spots in the economy. The recession forced some workers to reconsider their careers and, in some cases, find new ones. Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon talks with two people who have rebounded into completely new fields: Donna Latta of Shelton, Conn., and Chris Cluck of Springfield, Mo.

April is famously the cruelest month — according to the poem — but it's also the month we celebrate poetry. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith says we all need poetry, and even those of us who don't write poems can still learn how to see and hear the world through poetry.

As a child, the Welsh singer rocketed into success with classical and religious music, and performed for Nelson Mandela and the pope. Now she's back with a new album, One & Two, and a new sound.

Actor Jonathan Pryce is playing the Jewish moneylender in a new touring production of The Merchant of Venice that reimagines Shakespeare's supposedly-comic villain as a tragic and universal figure.

Now that the national conventions have concluded, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans looks back on both, judging them purely as television programs. Policy aside, did either convention make for compelling TV?