Around the Nation

_Here are four arts and culture videos from public broadcasting partners around the nation._ Mark Twain said that a classic is a book that people praise but don't read. "WNYC features a reading group":http://culture.wnyc.org/articles/know-your-neighbor/2012/feb/13/nea-big-read-staten-island/ in Staten Island challenging that idea and finding ways to make great literature fun and accessible:   Said Salah Ahmed is an acclaimed Somali poet and writer who uses art to educate. "MN Original profiles his children's book":http://www.mnoriginal.org/art/?p=10466, "The Lion's Share," which is based on Somalian folklore and later became the inspiration of a play he produced at the Steppingstone Theater in Minnesota:

On Tuesday, Frontline will air "The Interrupters," "the latest documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Steve James":http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/. The film follows three individuals who try to protect their Chicago communities from violence in which they themselves once participated. ("Art Beat talked with James":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2011/05/from-hoop-dreams-director-a-film-about-interrupting----and-maybe-stopping----violence.html and one of the featured interrupters, Ameena Mathews, last spring.):

Watch The Interrupters Preview on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Craig Finn is best known as the frontman for the Hold Steady, but this master songwriter recently released a solo album, "Clear Heart Full Eyes." He performs a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR headquarters: