For her latest film, Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley turns her camera on her own family. (Roadside Attractions)

Fresh Air Weekend: Gerwig, Baumbach, Dawes And Polley

May 18, 2013 (Fresh Air from WHYY) — In Frances Ha, a 27-year-old (Greta Gerwig) navigates New York City -- and the transition from prolonged adolescence to proper adulthood. Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach co-wrote the script. Dawes has a new album, Stories Don't End. In a documentary, Sarah Polley turns the camera on her own family.

Fresh Air Weekendhighlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interview with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Gerwig, Baumbach Poke At Post-College Pangs: In Frances Ha, a 27-year-old (Greta Gerwig) navigates New York City — and the transition from prolonged adolescence to proper adulthood. Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach co-wrote the script; they join Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about the project.

Dawes Knows Where It's Been And Where It's Headed: Dawes has just released its third album, Stories Don't End. The band has cited Neil Young and Crosby, Stills & Nash among its influences, but channels them with good humor and confidence that its own distinctiveness will shine through.

A Polley Family Secret, Deftly Pieced Together: In a striking documentary, Sarah Polley turns the camera on her own family. The director and actor, known for films such as Away from Her and The Sweet Hereafter, was teased growing up about not looking like her actor father. At 27, she discovered that it wasn't a joke.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

• Gerwig, Baumbach Poke At Post-College Pangs
• Dawes Knows Where It's Been And Where It's Headed
• A Polley Family Secret, Deftly Pieced Together

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

A boy holds the burqa of his mother as they walk down a street in the old city of Kabul on November 1, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images)

Afghan Parliament Halts Debate On Women's Rights Bill

May 18, 2013 — The bill would have banned violence against women, child marriages and forced marriages. Detractors said the bill would bring Western values into Afghanistan.

After protests from some MPs and after only about 15 minutes, the Afghan parliament halted debate Saturday on a bill aimed at curbing violence against women.

As the BBC reports, the bill would have solidified a law passed by presidential decree in 2009, which banned "violence against women, child marriages and forced marriages."

Supporters of the bill wanted to bring it before parliament to make it more permanent. That is, a new president could scrap the decree but if the bill was passed by parliament, that would be more difficult.

The BBC adds:

"One of those against the move was prominent MP Farkhunda Zahra Naderi. She told the BBC after Saturday's events in parliament that her fears had been proved right.

"During the debate, mullahs and other traditionalist MPs accused President Karzai of acting against Islamic Sharia law by signing the decree in the first place, the BBC's David Loyn reports from Kabul.

"In particular, they demanded a change to the law so that men cannot be prosecuted for rape within marriage, our correspondent said."

The AP reports that the debate in Parliament was particularly heated around the issue of banning the prosecution of rape victims.

According to the AP, Nasirullah Sadiqizada Neli, a conservative lawmaker from Daykundi province, suggested that prohibiting the prosecution of rape victims "would lead to social chaos, with women freely engaging in extramarital sex safe in the knowledge they could claim rape if caught."

Fawzia Kofi, a women's rights activist and a potential presidential candidate, told the AP she was disappointed, especially because some the bill's detractors were women.

The AP adds some background:

"Freedoms for women are one of the most visible — and symbolic — changes in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led campaign that toppled the Taliban regime. While in power, the Taliban imposed a strict interpretation of Islam that put severe curbs on the freedom of women.

"For five years, the regime banned women from working and going to school, or even leaving home without a male relative. In public, all women were forced wear a head-to-toe burqa, which covers even the face with a mesh panel. Violators were publicly flogged or executed."

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

A boy holds the burqa of his mother as they walk down a street in the old city of Kabul on November 1, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images)

Limericks

May 18, 2013 (Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!) — Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: Salt Treat-ee, Smoked Meat, The Unlunchables.

Former bandmates Draco Rosa and Ricky Martin, seen here on stage at Univision's 2013 Premio Lo Nuestro awards celebration, reunite on Rosa's new album, Vida. (Getty Images)

Draco Rosa: A Pop Survivor Returns From The Brink, With Friends

May 18, 2013 (All Things Considered) — In the 1980s, he was Robi Rosa, the lead singer of Menudo at the boy band's peak of popularity. Rosa went on to write hits for bandmate Ricky Martin and develop a solo career. When Rosa was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, some of the biggest names in Latin music assembled to support him.

Menudo, the hugely popular Puerto Rican boy band, cycled through dozens of lineups in its decades together — but it's best remembered for the 1980s era that featured two stars in the making. One, a then-pubescent Ricky Martin, would become one of the most successful pop artists of the 1990s.

The other was Robi Rosa, whom Martin has to thank for the hit songs that launched him to international fame. Rosa was Menudo's lead singer during its glory days, but since then he has taken a behind-the-scenes role, writing and producing for Martin and others and making his own records. Three years ago, Rosa was diagnosed with cancer. So he decided to get together with some of his friends — who happen to be some of the biggest names in Latin music — and record what he thought might be his final album.

After leaving Menudo, Robi became Draco Rosa — a little less boyish (it means "Dragon" in Spanish). He now has a farm in Puerto Rico, a clothing company and a line of rum, as well as a recording studio and performance space he built in West Hollywood.

"This place is on fire when we have what we call the Fairfax sessions," Rosa says in his studio. "Avant-garde jazz. It's fantastic. A few nights ago, we had Cuban night. It was on fire."

These days, the 43-year-old has a cult following for his experimental, alternative Latin rock — a far cry from the bubblegum songs he sang and danced to with Menudo. A certain amazed nostalgia remains.

Sitting in his studio, Rosa remembers one particularly insane concert tour in Brazil.

"We had arrived on a private jet that belonged to the Shah of Iran. The manager bought the jet, so it had Menudo on it, the logo," he says. "I looked out the window and I was like, 'Are those people running?' It was fans. They had broken through. They had to close the airport, shut down all these flights, 'cause all these kids were on the tarmac. It was nuts. Then I was like, 'Wow, this is definitely scary.' "

Two women died during chaotic shows that became a mob scene, with inadequate security.

"I was like, we're a part of this mess. The pop, idolatry, the whole massive-appeal thing," Rosa says. "Towards the end, I wanted out. And I think I spiraled into the void for many years."

Rosa says the void included years of drugs and rehab. For a while, he lived in Brazil and New York, where he performed with alternative rock bands. He traveled the world and even starred in the 1988 dance movie Salsa, where he met his wife. Rosa became known as a "vagabond poet."

"They always say he's like the Latin Lenny Kravitz or the Latin Prince," Billboard magazine editor Judy Cantor-Navas says. "He does these very, very intimate songs; they're very atmospheric, and they're often about life and death."

'La Vida Loca'

Some of Rosa's songs have been commercial hits. In the late 1990s, he helped launch the crossover career of Ricky Martin — a fellow Menudo alumnus — by co-writing the songs "Livin' La Vida Loca," "She Bangs" and "Shake Your Bon-Bon."

Rosa reunited with Martin to record, perform and make a music video for Rosa's new album, Vida. It's a collection of 16 songs Rosa has written over the past 20 years, including "Más y Más," a duet he sings with Martin.

"When it comes to Ricky, we go way back," Rosa says. "I was 14 or something; he was 12 or something. Here we are, with being in the group together and having the success, and we stayed in touch. He was like, 'Definitely, count me in. And it was the perfect song.' "

Martin wasn't the only one: Shakira, Marc Anthony, Juanes, Ruben Blades, Juan Luis Guerra and the bands Maná and Calle 13 all rallied to support their friend by singing duets on the album while he was battling disease.

"I had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, just for those who don't know," Rosa says. "So I was dealing with that and I was really excited about doing this record, and I thought, 'Well, if it's my last and that'll be it, at least I'm gonna go out with a big bang with all the fellas and friends.' I thought, one last hurrah."

Colombian superstar Juanes says that during recording for the album, Rosa's cancer was in the back of everyone's mind.

"At that time, he was trying to cure himself with raw food," Juanes says. "He was drinking this juice, green juice, talking about God, faith and how his life was changing."

In addition to alternative and experimental treatments, Rosa underwent chemotherapy. In the end, doctors in LA replaced the stem cells near his liver.

"After that was all said and done, Dec. 31, 2012, I was declared cancer-free," Rosa says. "I always had faith, beyond life itself, because I am a romantic."

'A Celebration Of Life'

"You know, Robi sometimes talks like Yoda, like a Buddhist," says Ruben Blades, who adds that he never believed this would be Rosa's final album. "He's very spiritual, so I knew he had it in him. Summoning the love he has for the music, I really think the record was as important as the actual treatments that he received."

In their duet "El Tiempo Va," Blades and Rosa sing about time going by so quickly, like an arrow, like water leaking through fingers, like an hourglass in your veins, drop by drop.

"The sense of mortality that accompanied the song, the mixture of nostalgia with hope with resignation, with illumination ... " Blades says. "It was a very strong, emotional song.

Cancer-free, and with a hit album, Rosa says he's gone from a brooding rocker to an optimist who looks forward to many more years of music.

"I'm very thankful," he says. "It's amazing to be walking amongst the living. It's a celebration of life for me, and I'm reflecting on that, most definitely."

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Former bandmates Draco Rosa and Ricky Martin, seen here on stage at Univision's 2013 Premio Lo Nuestro awards celebration, reunite on Rosa's new album, Vida. (Getty Images)

Prediction

May 18, 2013 (Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!) — Our panelists predict what failed-spy Ryan Fogle will do next.