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NPR's Michele Norris talks with Boston Globe technology reporter Hiawatha Bray about this year's video game offerings, which include realistically violent games such as Halo 2 and Doom 3; morally controversial ones such as Grand Theft Auto; and some games that the whole family can enjoy.

Los Angeles Times movie critic Kenneth Turan says the film Alexander, starring Colin Ferrell as the conqueror Alexander the Great, plays like a fantasy self portrait of writer-director Oliver Stone.

Reese Erlich reports from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the evolution of tango music in the South American nation where the dance was born. Musicians are now fusing tango with electronic instruments -- a controversial move in a genre that values tradition.

The legendary music producer Phil Ramone's vast discography includes the likes of Bob Dylan, Stan Getz, Madonna, Billy Joel and Ray Charles. Ramone speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about his work.

Playwright David Henry Hwang's award-winning plays include 1980's FOB (or "Fresh Off the Boat") and M. Butterfly. For our series Scenes I Wish I'd Written, Hwang discusses an exchange from Tony Kushner's play Angels in America.

In Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey plays Bobby Darin, a pop superstar and Oscar-nominated actor who died in 1973 at age 37. Not only did Spacey write, direct and co-produce the film, he also channels Darin in a live musical act currently on tour.

BBC disc jockey John Peel, whose nightly Radio One program is credited with launching the careers of bands including New Order and Joy Division, suffered a fatal heart attack Monday. Peel's boss at Radio One, Rhys Hughes, talks about his legacy.

Slate contributor Seth Stevenson rates several new 15-second ads by Emerald Nuts. The Diamond Nut Co. is seeking to expand its brand to take advantage of the new vogue for nuts.

Reviewer Alan Cheuse offers his annual recommendations for holiday gift-giving. This year's list includes novels of travel on Earth and in space, new versions of tales from the Bible, Africa and Mesopotamia, and collections of poetry and song.

After World War I, an entire generation of American composers went to Paris initiating a musical exchange of ideas between the U.S. and France. Oddly enough, it was in Paris, through the eyes of the French, that expatriate composers started to appreciate their American roots.