View pictures of the elaborate makeup and costumes of Chinese Opera.

Take a walk through television and movie history with photos of the George Barris automobile collection.

Read what's on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Revisit today's jazz picks with Down Beat editor Jason Koransky: saxophonist Joshua Redman, vocalist Luciana Souza and the jazz/rock fusion of Kneebody.

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We're looking for stories about becoming independent. Have you sought independence from anything or anyone? Tell us your story...

And, if you'd like to share you comments about our story on televised car chases, or anything you heard on today's program, post them here on our staff blog.

I just heard the story about the an American boy singing "Chinese Opera" on weekend America today. Being a Chinese, I found the story is way off the mark.

First, the 1920th record you broadcasted is "Yue Ju" which means Cantonese Opera. It is a local entertainment popular in Canton province and Hongkong. The most popular "opera" in China is Peiking Opera.
Second, the boy did not sing any Cantonese Opera on the radio. What he sang was popular songs and has nothing to do with Cantonese Opera. "The girl who picking up mushroom" is a popular song at 1980s in China.
Third, claiming that it is American who keeps the "Chinese Opera" alive for centries is very absurd. Both Cantonese Opera and Peiking opera together with other local "Operas" have been performed continuously in theatres. They are not as popular as before though because of the young generation has more interest in popular music nowadays.

I appreciate you made a story about "Chinese Opera" but please make the facts correct before broadcasting it.

Hi there,

You mentioned looking for stories about Independence - not sure if this is the
right forum, but here goes.

One of my biggest breakaways happened as I was sitting in the desert in Moab,
Utah around a campfire, when I realized that I owned my future and that I needed
to write my parents who were 3,000 miles away to let them know about it.

I wrote a nine page letter about how important being a camp counselor was to me,
and that, though they wanted me to pursue a "real" job, I was going to head back
for one more summer, following my heart. The never even mentioned receiving the
letter, (and I may not have had a phone at the time in case they wanted to) but
I had enough presence of mind to photocopy it. While many would still question
my judgement, you can't deny the sense of liberation in the writing.

It was amazing.

Car chases...the ultimate, life-or-death "Reality TV". We've all become
voyeurs...people who want to be intimately involved, and yet have no real connection to the humanity of the person they watch.

The story about the man hunted down on the street in L.A. reminded me of a story
by Stephen King "The Running Man".( also made into a movie i think) Its about a
time in the future when criminals are released and then hunted down by the
pulbic , all the while televised in real time. A national pastime......the
future is now.

It's really revolting. just because we have the basic, innate fascinations with
fear, danger adn violence - quite adaptive through the millenia in keeping our ancestors alive - does not mean it's useful to us today or edifies or enriches us in anyway. It seems like an assault on the viewer to interrupt a show - a cartoon, like in your story - with a car chase that ends in a violent slaughter of the central figure. All real, all live. It's sick to inflict that upon people. While it's true people can get up and turn it off, it is entirely true that we dohave that innate fascination with chases - but kids, families, etc., should not be sucked in to witnessing a murder, live, when that is not what they signed up for when they turned on the TV.

Are we in a new age where if you want to watch any TV you just have to take the risk of witnessing a live murder on your local freeway? You can't just turn it on for the shows you're interested in?

You guys dropped the ball entirely. The reason the footage in question was of
note was that the man was KILLED - shot dead senselessly. Yet one more televised
car chase with a "Bad Boys"-style tackle and handcuffing of the perp wouldn't have registered on your or anyone's radar screen. The REAL, unaddressed issue of violence in the name of justice - whether it is explicit or not - is what makes
people's blood curdle when they see something "inappropriate".

And who was the joker you brought in as an "expert"???!!! Talking to the media
about the media on the media...give me a break. What happened to interviewing
serious intellectuals who make reference to the larger social context? Did the University of Chicago go out of business recently? I must not be listening to enough news. On second thought, if this inthe best you can do, I've had enough. You made a self-referential nothing out of the gratuitous murder of a REAL person. Shame on you.