Television 2015: The Future In Questions
We've spent two weeks looking at the state of television, and now it's time to ask some questions about where it's going from here.
Arts
Presenting: The Holy Romance Trinity Of J
Blogger Sarah Wendell usually reads on a Kindle, but she treasures a row of crumbling paperbacks by authors she calls the Holy Romance Trinity of J: Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood and Judith McNaught.
For Carl Phillips, Poetry Is Experience Transformed — Not Transcribed
Phillips' new collection is both raw and refined, drawing on intimate experience while shunning autobiography. "I become uncomfortable when people make an equation between author and poem," he says.
For Inca Road Builders, Extreme Terrain Was No Obstacle
A new exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian highlights the engineering prowess of the Inca, whose great road once spanned mountains, deserts and forests in 6 South American countries.
The Gentlemen Bastards Unfold Sumptuous Stories Within Stories
This weekend, the NPR Books Time Machine is rewinding Scott Lynch's swashbuckling Gentleman Bastard series, a combination fantasy of manners, heist caper and heartfelt buddy comedy. With pirates.
Making Sense Of A Tragedy, One Narrator At A Time
June Reid has lost everyone she loves in one horrifying moment, but she's not the only one grieving. Bill Clegg's new novel tells of June's loss through the voices of those who know and encounter her.
A Colombian Kingpin Gets The 'Goodfellas' Treatment In 'Narcos'
A new Netflix series offers a fictionalized account of how smuggler Pablo Escobar built his cocaine empire. The show is compelling and complex — especially for fans of classic crime stories.
Television 2015: Some Writing About Writing About TV
Television coverage is in more places than ever, doing more work than ever, involving more people than ever. In that way, it's a lot like the medium it's analyzing.
'The Wake' Is An Unlikely Hit In An Imaginary Language
Paul Kingsnorth self-published The Wake, his tale of the 11th-century Norman conquest of England, written in a pastiche of Old and modern English — and was startled when it became a smash hit.