Arts
The Arts
![Tom Hanks. CREDIT: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Tom-Hanks-CREDIT-Richard-Shotwell-Invision-AP-500x450.jpg)
‘Wait Wait’: We Call To Check In On Tom Hanks (And Ask Him To Play Not My Job)
Hanks recently recovered from the coronavirus, so we called to check in on him. While he was on the line, we asked the man who played Mr. Rogers to answer three questions about very bad neighbors.
![April Passport Lineup Thumnail](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/April-Passport-Article-Thumbnail-Updated.png)
Curb Your Boredom With NWPB Passport’s April Lineup
APRIL LINEUP: Need new shows to watch while social distancing? Stream a variety of new or popular shows on NWPB Passport and learn what’s in the spotlight for April 2020.
![](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/stephen-king.by-shane-leonard_wide-f9df986f26c8d66ecb63cf8e49bded6360cbd9d3-500x500.jpg)
Stephen King Is Sorry You Feel Like You’re Stuck In A Stephen King Novel
The horror writer says he understands why fans have said the COVID-19 pandemic feels like living inside one of his novels. King says he doesn’t feel panic or terror, but rather, a “gnawing anxiety.”
![Letters submitted to the "Dear Stranger" project sponsored by Oregon Humanities. Martha Ann Overland/Courtesy Oregon Humanities](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/dear-stranger-5_custom-64fa50005f8616337dea2a1d2ebd85a062ed0e57-500x500.jpg)
‘Dear Stranger’: Connecting People 1 Letter At A Time
As the coronavirus forces people to keep their distance, a humanities program in Oregon brings residents together in an old-fashioned way.
![How Much of These Hills is Gold, by C Pam Zhang](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/zhang-1-eecb7a81e91e0161987ce2b2c30e70bf0fd690bd-500x500.jpg)
BOOK REVIEW: In ‘How Much Of These Hills Is Gold,’ This Land Is Not Your Land
C Pam Zhang’s debut novel follows a brother and sister, children of Chinese laborers, as the search the dusty hills of Gold Rush-era California for a place to bury their father’s body.
![Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Ginger-and-Fred-sing-YouTube-screenshot-500x442.jpg)
Fred And Ginger Cheered Us Up During The Depression. Might They Do It Again?
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers gave Americans a much-needed on-screen escape in the 1930s. You can find their dance numbers online, but critic Bob Mondello recommends you watch their films in full.
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Julia Alvarez: Literature Tells Us ‘We Can Make It Through’
Julia Alvarez returns to adult fiction with Afterlife, which she calls her first novel as an “elder.” It’s about a newly retired woman whose comfortable life is upended when her husband dies.
![Laura Benanti performs in Washington in 2015. She recently asked high school students to send her videos of their musical theater performances after many of them were canceled. CREDIT: Paul Morigi/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/gettyimages-474685624_custom-155e0bdfa413104cedfe15b427f4170859b96951-500x500.jpg)
A Broadway Star And #SunshineSongs Bring Canceled High School Musical Theater To Small Screens
High school musicals are canceled around the country over coronavirus concerns. Broadway star Laura Benanti asked disappointed high school singers for the next best thing: performance videos.
![Two profiles of a man and woman with speech bubbles inside their heads.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/gettyimages-475138880_custom-512973806d50ca306f228a228e7f14db400bc823-500x500.jpg)
Feisty. Ambitious. Lucky. Female Writers On The Words That Undermine Women
Pretty Bitches, a new essay collection edited by Lizzie Skurnick, explores how words that sound complimentary can actually be loaded with sexism. “These words are code,” Skurnick says.
![Screenshot of video, McKayla cooking](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/McKayla-cooking-screenshot-500x500.png)
Staying Inside A Lot? Some Food Thoughts
If you’re hunkered down, doing your part to flatten the curve…maybe food is on your mind. You may be feeding your family – or cooking to deal with cabin fever. Here are some suggestions from NWPB staff.
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‘Ordinary People’ Books Can Help In This Extraordinary Time
Our kids’ books columnist Juanita Giles reports that, stuck at home with her family, she’s turned to a series by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos, for stories about relatable heroes.
![Dolly Parton will read children's books on a video stream once a week, drawing titles from her Imagination Library. She's seen here performing in Nashville, Tenn., in January. CREDIT: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/coronavirus-dolly-parton-bedtime_wide-05eed24562f07ed7e80cdab197eafa8ddbea8bfb-500x500.jpg)
Dolly Parton Will Read Bedtime Stories To Kids Online Every Week
“Dolly hopes this series of stories will provide comfort and reassurance to coping kids and families during the shelter-in-place mandates,” the Imagination Library said.