Does anybody really understand jazz? Hands down, hands down – it was a rhetorical question. For me, it’s alll about mood, rhythm, sway and surprise. Good jazz changes your emotions and takes you places full of surprise and invention. That, I imagine, is what attracted documentary filmmaker Robert Mugge to his latest project, Saxophone Colossus, which is a portrait of legendary jazz musician Sonny Rollins Mugge, after all, calls Rollins “the greatest jazz improviser.”

Seve Morse was on the staff at the Boston Globe from 1975 all the way through 2005. He still freelances for the paper on occasion, as well as for other outlets. He created an online course for the Berklee College of Music titled “Rock History.” It’s an expert’s view of the genre, packing in observations, facts and video interviews with superstars such as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and John Lennon record producer Jack Douglas.

Robert Knight is the subject of "Rock Prophecies," a new documentary film broadcast and released by PBS. It captures not just the man at work but also his devotion to many of his subjects as well as his personal trials, such as taking over the care of his Alzheimer’s disease-afflicted mother after the death of his father.

Nevin Martell is a devout fan of the old comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson. And who isn’t? Owning a complete edition of the published strips wasn’t enough; he wanted to know more about Watterson, to talk with him and the people who knew and admired him and write a book about what made the man fly as high as Spaceman Spiff. He went out seeking Calvin. Watterson, however, had other ideas.

The whole vampire chic thing passed me by. Not just the Twilight movies and the HBO series “True Blood,” either—I never got hooked on Joss Whedon’s “Buffy the Vampire Series,” either. Vampires? Yuck? I think the last vampire movie I enjoyed was the Dracula remake starring Frank Langella back in 1980. So I was surprised how quickly I devoured the first four books in Heather Brewer’s five-book young adult series, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod.

Cheryl Hines has one of the most challenging acting jobs on television: she plays Larry David’s long-suffering TV wife on the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” now in its sixth season. For years, many people have assumed she was David’s real wife, and further complicating the premise this year is the news that David and his wife Laurie have divorced. What does this development mean for the show? Joining us today is the lovely Cheryl Hines.

Rick Rosner, with an IQ of 192, is the smartest man in America. Lance Richlin, whose politics are ultra-conservative, is also in the arts; he is a painter. The two came together for a 60-hour marathon in which Rosner poses for a portrait of himself painted by his best friend, Richlin. As the painting comes together, video cameras capture them arguing about everything your mother taught you not to discuss in mixed company. The sessions are now visible to the public as “Lance vs. Rick,” a YouTube TV serie

From 2008, my interview with then TV critics Aaron Barnhart and Eric Deggans. Barnhart was then with the Kansas City Star; he is now specializing in Kansas history; Deggans was with the St. Petersburg Times; he is now TV critic for NPR.

From her days as sidekick to Dr. Drew Pinsky, on through acting roles opposite Denis Leary on “The Job” and “Rescue Me,” past working with Rob Morrow for several seasons on “Numb3rs” and, most recently, getting down and dirty as David Duchovny’s teaching assistant on “Californication,” Diane Farr has charisma to burn. Maxim magazine once called her “Rescue Me” character Laura “the world’s hottest firefighter.” No argument there! And a New York Times headline said, “Looks like B

“Take one grain of sand, put it under a microscope and describe it to me,” was probably the best advice I ever got as a writer. I was reminded of it when reading Ashley Kahn’s book, "Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece." Because that’s exactly what Kahn did in doing an autopsy of two days in the career of an American master Miles Davis.