It's no secret that there's a lack of compelling roles for women in Hollywood. Often, they are confined to adoring secretaries or sex objects, but in the noir films of the 1940s and ‘50s, the femme fatale uses her cunning and sex appeal to get the better of men. Host Frank Stasio will talk about the range of roles given to women in Hollywood and find out what makes a strong female character with Laura Boyes, the film curator at the North Carolina Museum of Art; Nathan Rabin, the head writer at the AV Club and author of "Weird Al: The Book" (Abram Images/ 2012); and Shilyh Warren, Assistant Professor of Film at University of Texas at Dallas.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Shawn Wen joined the staff of The State of Things in March 2012 and served as associate producer until February 2014.