Arts
The Arts
Pop Culture Happy Hour: ‘Downton Abbey’ Returns For An Extravagant New Film
If you thought the end of the series Downton Abbey would be the end of the Crawley family’s adventures, a new film has arrived to prove you wrong. Continue Reading Pop Culture Happy Hour: ‘Downton Abbey’ Returns For An Extravagant New Film
Constructing Jazz Inside Fine Art, And Vice-Versa
The jazz pianist has pulled the curtain off his polymathic abilities, bringing his fine art exhibition — which includes video, installations and performance — home to New York. Continue Reading Constructing Jazz Inside Fine Art, And Vice-Versa
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Red At The Bone’ Cuts Close To The Bone
Jacqueline Woodson’s exquisitely wrought new novel follows two black families of different classes whose lives become intertwined when their only children conceive a child together in their teens. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Red At The Bone’ Cuts Close To The Bone
Ken Burns Reveals The Song Stuck In His Head As ‘Country Music’ Series Premieres On PBS
In his latest compendium of American culture, filmmaker Ken Burns, along with writer Dayton Duncan, explores the history of “Country Music” in a new 16-hour documentary. Burns said that story-songs are a phenomenon that can be traced back centuries, to long, multi-verse ballads that were handed down from generation to generation. Continue Reading Ken Burns Reveals The Song Stuck In His Head As ‘Country Music’ Series Premieres On PBS
FILM REVIEW: In The Moody ‘Ms. Purple,’ A Karaoke Hostess Lives In The Silence Between Notes
Justin Chon’s third feature, about a karaoke hostess forced to deal with her estranged brother while her father is dying, possesses an “emotional impact [that] is loudest in its quiet moments.” Continue Reading FILM REVIEW: In The Moody ‘Ms. Purple,’ A Karaoke Hostess Lives In The Silence Between Notes
‘The Only Plane In The Sky’ Offers A Powerful, Graphic Narrative Of September 11
When today’s children someday ask what Sept. 11 was really like, Garrett Graff’s book will be the answer: He vividly recounts the most upsetting and totemic moments — and critical, little-told others. Continue Reading ‘The Only Plane In The Sky’ Offers A Powerful, Graphic Narrative Of September 11
TV: In Northern Ireland, ‘Derry Girls’ Balances Teen Comedy And Sectarian Conflict
The hit comedy follows teenagers in a Catholic school in the 1990s. Even with The Troubles as the backdrop, it’s “put Northern Ireland on the map for all the right reasons,” says one Derry Girls fan. Continue Reading TV: In Northern Ireland, ‘Derry Girls’ Balances Teen Comedy And Sectarian Conflict
BOOK REVIEW: If Salman Rushdie’s ‘Quichotte’ Drives You Nuts — That’s Fine. It’s Meant To
It could be argued that Quichotte is a novel that aims to reflect back to us the total insanity of living in a world unmoored from reality — but it’s about the power of believing more than anything. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: If Salman Rushdie’s ‘Quichotte’ Drives You Nuts — That’s Fine. It’s Meant To
How Comic Books Centered On Native Heroes Inspire Young Readers
Lee Francis IV, who owns his own comic book shop Red Planet Books & Comics in Albuquerque, said his comic work acts as a “counterpoint” to the way Native people have been portrayed in popular media over the last 400 years. Continue Reading How Comic Books Centered On Native Heroes Inspire Young Readers
In ‘The Spy,’ Sacha Baron Cohen Goes Undercover Again — But Not For Laughs
In the new Netflix series The Spy, the comic master of disguises portrays an Israeli intelligence agent who embeds in Syria during the early 1960s. It’s based on the true story of Eli Cohen. Continue Reading In ‘The Spy,’ Sacha Baron Cohen Goes Undercover Again — But Not For Laughs
FILM REVIEW: ‘Before You Know It’ Is A Charming, Soapy Comedy About Family Secrets
Two sisters (co-writers Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock) learn that their dead mother (Judith Light) is alive — and starring in a soap opera — in this “wise, witty and richly specific” film. Continue Reading FILM REVIEW: ‘Before You Know It’ Is A Charming, Soapy Comedy About Family Secrets
Hear Margaret Atwood Read From ‘The Testaments,’ Her Sequel To ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
In this recording, exclusive to NPR, Atwood returns to the world of The Handmaid’s Tale, reading from her long-awaited sequel. Some 15 years after the first book, it introduces a few new voices. Continue Reading Hear Margaret Atwood Read From ‘The Testaments,’ Her Sequel To ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
