Arts

Then and now: In his new documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, director Lonny Price, left, reconnects with fellow cast members — including Ann Morrison and Jim Walton — from the 1981 Broadway flop, Merrily We Roll Along.

Arts

How A 1981 Sondheim Flop Turned Out To Be The 'Best Worst Thing'

5:12pm January 17, 2017

by Bob Mondello

Most musicals that close after 16 performances barely prompt memories, let alone documentaries. But Merrily We Roll Along rolled along so bizarrely, it became the stuff of Broadway legend.

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Arts

Remembering Rubinstein At Wake Forest University 50 Years Later

4:39pm January 17, 2017

by David Ford

Fifty years ago this week, there was a notable evening for the arts in the Triad. Winston-Salem played host to one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century: pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

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Entertainer DJ Khaled attends the Yahoo News/ABC News White House Correspondents' Dinner Pre-Party on April 30, 2016.

Rest Your Greatness: 6 Key Moments With DJ Khaled

2:29pm January 17, 2017

by Linda Holmes

NPR's David Greene recently spoke with producer-musician-Snapchatter DJ Khaled about his Jet Ski adventure, his love of pillows, and all the things "they" don't want you to know.

How Mormon Polygamy In The 19th Century Fueled Women's Activism

1:43pm January 17, 2017

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich says that for Mormon women living in 19th century Utah, "plural marriages" were empowering in complicated ways.

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Arts

Rachel Bloom Upends Romantic Comedy Tropes On 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'

1:43pm January 17, 2017

Bloom talks to Fresh Air's Ann Marie Baldonado about the CW musical comedy series, now in its second season, that she co-created and stars in. Bloom plays a woman who follows an ex across the country.

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Books
Arts

'Transit' Is A Journey You Won't Want To End

7:00am January 17, 2017

by Heller McAlpin

Rachel Cusk's latest — the second in a trilogy that began with Outline — follows a writer unmoored by the breakup of her marriage, and the people she meets as she goes about her strange new life.

622 Pieces — That's How Many Legos It Takes To Build An NPR Headquarters Model

6:05pm January 15, 2017

Tyler Williams is on a quest to get the Lego company to make a new kind of lego set...a replica of NPR Headquarters.

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Books
Arts

'The New Odyssey' Allows Migrants Stories To Humanize The Crisis

6:05pm January 15, 2017

The Guardian's Migration Correspondent Patrick Kingsley's book The New Odyssey follows several migrants on their journeys from war-torn countries in the Middle East and Africa to Europe.

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Follow the Sugars on Twitter @dearsugarradio.

Arts

A Wanderluster And A Wandering Eye

12:15pm January 15, 2017

Dear Sugar Radio is a podcast offering "radical empathy" and advice for the lost, lonely and heartsick. Today the hosts consider if it's worth it to have a short relationship away from home.

'Pretty Big Movement' Takes On Dance Company Stereotypes

8:02am January 15, 2017

A video of a dance company in New York has gone viral, with over 7 million views. Akira Armstrong explains why she founded the dance company for "full-figured" women, called "Pretty Big Movement."