Arts
The Arts
‘Today, I Am A Witness To Change’: A Crowdsourced Poem Against Anti-Asian Hate
LISTEN BY RACHEL MARTIN April is National Poetry Month, a celebration of poets and poetry that’s been in place for 25 years. Last month, as the U.S. grieved over attacks
‘I Feel Like I’m An Olympian’: Youn Yuh-jung On Her Historic Oscar Nomination
Youn Yuh-jung is an institution in Korean cinema. Her career spans five decades and includes starring roles in classic Korean films and famous TV dramas. Now, at 73, she has newfound fame in the U.S. for her role in the Oscar-nominated film Minari.
BOOK REVIEW: A Daughter Struggles To Escape Her Mother’s Shadow In ‘Libertie’
Libertie, a new novel by Kaitlyn Greenidge, is inspired by the life of Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, the third African American woman to earn a medical degree in this country.
Northwest Native Brandi Carlile Talks Ambition, Avoidance And Finally Finding Her Place
Growing up poor in Washington state, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile learned about harmony and rhythm while performing as a backup singer for a friend’s dad, who worked as an Elvis impersonator.
A Poem On How The Human Spirit Survives Overlapping Crises
In Dr. Fady Joudah’s poem “House of Mercury,” a severe summer storm has blown over Houston. The storm’s destructive winds woke up the narrator’s father, who hears the “snaps and creaks” of the two oaks in the front yard. But it was a “nearly uprooted fig tree,” the poem notes, that brought the father to tears.
Camping Is An Adventure For All Americans In ‘Fatima’s Great Outdoors’
Ambreen Tariq’s new children’s book, Fatima’s Great Outdoors is a story about an Indian immigrant family’s first time exploring the outdoors, and it’s as much a story about curiosity and adventure as it is about trying to assimilate as an immigrant in this country. Tariq says Fatima’s story is her own story. “Every moment in that book is real. Every snippet, every story.”
We Swoon, We Faint — ‘Bridgerton’ Will Return For Season 2 Without Its Hunky Duke
Season two of the hit TV series Bridgerton will roll out for fans without its hunky star, Regé-Jean Page, who played Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. Set during the Regency era in 1813 London, the show’s first season was a steamy love story between Simon and Daphne Bridgerton.
Washington State Names Its First Native American Poet Laureate
The author of two poetry books and a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation, Priest is the sixth poet and first Native person to be selected for the two-year term, a program of the Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington.
Filmmakers Call Out PBS For A Lack Of Diversity, Over-Reliance On Ken Burns
Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed onto a letter given to PBS executives, suggesting the service may provide an unfair level of support to white creators, facing a “systemic failure to fulfill (its) mandate for a diversity of voices.”
Tina Turner’s Life Explored In New Documentary
Near the end of HBO’s new documentary, Tina, the movie implies the legendary singer has made a decision: after this film rolls out, Tina Turner just might be done appearing in public and talking about her life. It’s an odd message, coming from a woman whose life story and experiences have inspired at least four books, an Oscar-nominated biopic, a Broadway musical and, now, this new film.
Comedian Eddie Izzard Switches To Screenwriting And Acting For ‘Six Minutes To Midnight’
Eddie Izzard, the wildly-admired and inventive comic, was in a museum in the British resort town of Bexhill-on-Sea, where she spent much time as a child, when historians showed her an old badge from the Augusta Victoria school for girls in the 1930’s. There was a Union Jack on the crest — and a Nazi swastika.
Farcical ‘Life Of The Mind’ Skewers Academic Life And Adjunct ‘Hell’
The Life of the Mind is about endings that dribble to a close, the inexorable erosion of dreams, the slow leak of youthful buoyancy. It’s about being young-ish at a time in history when it feels like many things might be fading away, including the natural world. The great accomplishment of Smallwood’s taut novel is that while it is, indeed, about all those grim subjects, it’s also one of the wittiest, most deliciously farcical novels I’ve read in a long time.
