John Adams

Composer and conductor John Adams. There's a new 10-CD box retrospective of his work, that spans the last two decades. It includes his orchestral pieces like Harmonium, and his operas "Nixon in China," and "The Death of Klinghoffer." The boxset is titled "The John Adams Earbox" (Nonesuch).

Composer John Adams. Although he comes out of the classical tradition, Adams is not afraid to use drum machines, synthesizers and silent-movie chord progressions in his music. His latest work, "The Wound Dresser", is a setting of a poem by Walt Whitman about the experience of tending wounded soldiers during the Civil War. For Adams, the work has connections to both the AIDS crisis and his father's recent battle with Alzheimer's disease. Adams also talks about his best-known work, the opera "Nixon in China".

Adams is often associated with other minimalist composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. His new album, The Chairman Dances, features parts of his new opera-in-progress called Nixon in China.

In 1936, George VI reluctantly ascended to the British throne after his older brother abdicated. Tom Hooper's new film, The King's Speech, tells the true story of George VI's stammer and his relationship with an unconventional speech therapist who helped him speak.

Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli reviews HBO's new series John Adams, produced by Tom Hanks.

A new book details the scandalous, sensational, partisan press — of the 1700s. Fox News journalist Eric Burns' Infamous Scribblers: the Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism tells the stories.