Arts

Books
Arts

'Y Is For Yesterday': Sue Grafton's Penultimate Mystery Series Novel

6:29pm August 20, 2017

Sue Grafton's latest novel is the second to last in a series spanning A to Z and 35 years worth of best-selling murder mysteries featuring fictional female detective Kinsey Millhone.

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Arts

Sunday Puzzle: It's Time To Rhyme

7:06am August 20, 2017

by Will Shortz

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Puzzlemaster Will Shortz of The New York Times play the Sunday Puzzle with Shari Meyer of Sommerville, Mass.

Books
Arts

Sweet, Generous 'Wild Things' Is A Playful Survey Of Kid Lit

7:00am August 20, 2017

by Annalisa Quinn

Bruce Handy's new book takes an emotional, intuitive look at the world of children's books, from Goodnight Moon to Charlotte's Web, which he calls "a mastery novel of ideas" about life and death.

Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. You can read more of her work on The Record blog.

'Good Booty': Backing Up How Music And Sex Helped Shape American Culture

6:10pm August 19, 2017

by Dwane Brown

In her new book Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music, Ann Powers explores how popular music became America's primary erotic art form.

Arts

How Late Night TV Addressed Charlottesville And This Week In Politics

6:10pm August 19, 2017

by Eric Deggans

This week gave late night television shows a lot of material to work with — a recap and review of how they did.

Arts

In 'Patti Cake$,' An Aspiring Rap Artist Reaches For The Stars

6:10pm August 19, 2017

NPR's Dwane Brown speaks with director Geremy Jasper and lead actress Danielle Macdonald about the film's message of finding yourself.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will skip the Kennedy Center Honors later this year. It will be the fourth time in 40 years of the event that the sitting president won't be attendance.

President Trump To Skip Kennedy Center Honors, Highlighting Rift With Artists

4:45pm August 19, 2017

by Miles Parks

Three of the five honorees had already spoken out against the president and said they either planned to boycott a White House event or were considering it.

Smith has played the role of Marjorie both on screen and on stage.

Arts

A Hologram Husband Keeps Lois Smith Company In 'Marjorie Prime'

8:12am August 19, 2017

by Scott Simon

Smith has been acting for more than 60 years, and she's earned rave reviews for her performance in Marjorie Prime. How does she explain her continued success? "I'm very lucky," she says.

Books
Arts

'Stay With Me' Is A Novel Of Commitment, Culture And The Struggle To Conceive

8:12am August 19, 2017

by Scott Simon

Set in Nigeria in the 1980s, Ayobami Adebayo's debut novel tells the story of a couple who desperately want to have a child, in a society where that's what's expected of them.

Books
Arts

In 'The Stone Sky,' Some Worlds Need To Burn

7:00am August 19, 2017

by Amal El- Mohtar

N.K. Jemisin won Hugo Awards for the first two volumes of her Broken Earth trilogy. The Stone Sky is a powerful, timely finale to this story of a world built on oppression and exploitation.