Weekend Edition

In 2002, when the British rock band Coldplay was on tour with its second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, frontman Chris Martin said, "I just want to make the best music of all time with my best friends." Since that time, Coldplay, with Jonny Buckland on guitar, Guy Berryman on bass and Will Champion on drums, has become one of the biggest acts in rock.

NPR's Scott Simon spoke with Martin and Champion on the occasion of their fifth album, Mylo Xyloto, due out this week. Martin says that, at the very least, the part about friends is still true.

Alabama has what many consider to be the strictest anti-immigration law in the country. Now that the law has been in effect for a few weeks, the state's residents are starting to see what some of the unintended consequences are. Andrew Yeager of member station WBHM reports from Birmingham.

In this week's essay, host Scott Simon reflects on the comforting superstitions of athletes.

Protests against big banks and Wall Street are nothing new in American history. Host Scott Simon talks to Professor Steven Fraser of Columbia University about how the Occupy Wall Street protests fit into that history.

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SCOTT SIMON, host: Time for your letters.

(SOUNDBITE OF TYPEWRITER AND MUSIC)

SIMON: Hundreds of responses to a story last week by NPR's Tom Bowman about a study by the Pew Research Center. The study found many civilians and military leaders don't share the same views on patriotism, or on who should bear the burdens of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The rap on composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton has always been that his music is difficult.

But Braxton himself is far from austere. He's easily approachable, so much so that he uses the term "friendly experiencer" to describe his audience.

Goth metal has always been a niche genre, but over the years, a few artists have found ways to give it Top 40 appeal. Evanescence has pulled off that trick with two multiplatinum albums: Fallen in 2004 and The Open Door in 2006, both of which unite loud, heavy guitars and drums with the ethereal voice of singer Amy Lee.

I'm going to make a confession. I have enjoyed many of the same Onion headlines as everyone else over the years, from the exploits of presidents and Congress to the activities of store clerks and sad dads. But their sports coverage, while it's passed around somewhat less often and is a bit less well-known, is generally my favorite stuff they do.

While people were talking about the religion of former Gov. Mitt Romney at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, Romney was wrapping up a two-day swing through South Carolina. Romney finished fourth in this state's primary in 2008, and his Mormonism was one of the issues seen as holding him back. This time around, there's been less talk about religion and more about policy, but Romney still has a tough row to hoe in this early-voting state. NPR's Ari Shapiro explains why.

On Sept. 17, 1992, a group of Iranian and Kurdish opposition leaders were assassinated in a Greek restaurant in Berlin. Despite pressures to keep the investigation at the lowest possible level, a German prosecutor unraveled a tangle of threads that led to Iran's Supreme Leader himself. Host Scott Simon speaks with Roya Hakakian, author of the new book, Assassins of the Turquoise Palace.

Nobody glowers like Frank Langella. The man who brought Richard Nixon to life in his Tony Award-winning turn in Frost/Nixon and who was a true lizard in Seascape is now playing Gregor Antonescu, an acclaimed international financier who was exposed as a flagrant and successful fraud.

He's starring in a revival of Terrence Rattigan's 1963 play Man and Boy, which has its opening night Oct. 9. The play centers on the sudden reunion of the father (Langella) and the son he'd thought was dead. (Actually, the son's just living in Greenwich Village.)

Brooke, Samantha and Mollie McClymont are three sisters from Australia who have topped the charts Down Under — singing country music. Now, they're bringing their voices topside.

As The McClymonts, the three sisters have just released their latest album, Wrapped Up Good, and recently relocated to Nashville.

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SCOTT SIMON, host: There's something missing this year from the fall scenery in the Northeast, especially in upstate New York. The state is normally a top pumpkin producer, but about a third of its crop was destroyed in the recent tropical storms.

Marie Cusick, of NPR member station WMHT in Albany, takes us to one farm that was spared.

MARIE CUSICK: There's no shortage of pumpkins at the Black Horse Farms roadside stand in Athens, New York. But some customers still aren't taking any chances.

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SCOTT SIMON, host: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

"Homeland" premieres tomorrow night on Showtime. It's a psychological espionage thriller that centers on a CIA officer, played by Claire Danes, who hears about a conspiracy when she gets a tip from a terrorist who is about to be executed by the Iraqi government.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SERIES, "HOMELAND")

CLAIRE DANES: (as Carrie Anderson) You said you were an important man. You said you had information about an attack on Abu Nasir.

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SCOTT SIMON, host: Times are tough in Europe these days. But if you crave comfort food in Denmark to lift your mood, it'll cost you. Starting today, shoppers in Denmark will pay extra kroner, according to the saturated fat levels of certain foods. Not just potato chips, ice cream, sweet rolls and candy bars, but famously clean, creamy Danish butter.

Next week, the Chicago Bears, who won the 1985 Super Bowl, will finally be received at the White House — now that a Bears fan lives there. Their original visit was canceled when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded in January 1986.