Skip to footer

Top Picks: The BBC podcast 'Soul Music,' the Fairfield Four album 'Still Rockin' My Soul,' and more

The movies 'Steve Jobs' and 'Black Mass' include a performance that was heralded by the Oscars and one that didn't make the cut, the PBS program 'Carole King: Natural Woman' examines the hitmaker's life, and more top picks.

|
FairfieldFour.com
  • By Staff

A cappella soul

A gospel quartet formed in 1921 is nominated for a Grammy this year. The Fairfield Four may have changed members several times since then, but their heralded new album is Still Rockin’ My Soul – and ours. Sung entirely a cappella, the collection features gospel chestnuts such as “Rock My Soul,” “Jesus Gave Me Water,” and the rousing “Children Go Where I Send Thee.” The latter features guest star Lee Ann Womack, who gets into the spirit, and then some!

Arts archive

The BBC offers an eclectic podcast that explores “pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact” called Soul Music. New 30-minute podcasts are only added sporadically, but there is a wealth of archives to discover, such as the harrowing stories behind “Strange Fruit,” made famous by Billie Holiday, and the many settings of the much-loved 23rd Psalm. The podcast is available at http://bit.ly/BBCSoulMusic.

American Masters/PBS

Hitmaker

Singer-songwriter Carole King was behind some of the most famous songs of all time. The new “American Masters” program Carole King: Natural Woman looks at her career from writing classic songs for Aretha Franklin and The Shirelles to creating her massive hit album “Tapestry.” The program airs on PBS on Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. Check local listings. 

Warner Bros.

Oscar watch

As Oscars night approaches, catch up on Steve Jobs, starring nominees Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, available on DVD and Blu-ray Feb. 16. Under the direction of Danny Boyle, the movie is brainy, high-speed entertainment. The academy may have overlooked Black Mass, but Johnny Depp (pictured) as James “Whitey” Bulger holds the screen as pure malevolence, and costar Joel Edgerton shines, too. It’s out on DVD and Blu-ray Feb. 16.  

Black history

Were the motivations and aims of the militant Black Panthers movement of the mid-1960s misunderstood? The new documentary Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution examines the formation of the black armed citizens’ patrols that sought to monitor the behavior of police officers and challenge police brutality in the African-American community. It will be released on DVD and Blu-ray Feb. 16 and will air that evening at 9 p.m. on PBS. Check local listings. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Top Picks: The BBC podcast 'Soul Music,' the Fairfield Four album 'Still Rockin' My Soul,' and more
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2016/0212/Top-Picks-The-BBC-podcast-Soul-Music-the-Fairfield-Four-album-Still-Rockin-My-Soul-and-more
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe