Arts

Arts

Remembering James Salter, A 'Writer's Writer' Who Died Friday

6:21pm June 21, 2015

The acclaimed author died in New York at age 90. A master of his craft, Salter never received the mainstream success many believe he deserved. His novels include A Sport and a Pastime and All That Is.

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Books
Arts

Beyond The 'Sometimes Sentimental' Story Of Filipino Migrants

6:18pm June 21, 2015

by NPR Staff

Mia Alvar's new short story collection spans the globe — from Manila to New York to Manama, Bahrain — to offer a more complicated narrative of Filipino exiles, emigres and wanderers.

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The Brink imagines how the White House situation room — and the U.S. secretary of state, played by Tim Robbins — respond when Pakistan is taken over by a certifiably crazy general.

HBO's 'The Brink' Puts The Situation Room In Situation Comedy

4:04pm June 21, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

The show is a response to the notion that sitcoms have generally ceded political satire to fake news programs. It opens with a certifiably crazy general taking control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

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Arts

A Mental Block May Help Solve This Puzzle

3:48pm June 21, 2015

by Will Shortz

Today's puzzle is called "Monkey Business." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase starting with "M" and "B" — as in "monkey business."

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Jonathan Goldsmith plays "The Most Interesting Man in the World" in beer company Dos Equis' ad campaign.

Arts

The Man Behind 'The Most Interesting Man' Is Interesting, Too

1:42pm June 21, 2015

by Daniel Hajek

He drove a garbage truck in LA and fibbed his way into Hollywood westerns. But Jonathan Goldsmith's big break was getting cast in Dos Equis beer commercials as "The Most Interesting Man in the World."

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Words Made Flesh: Literature And The Language Of Prayer

7:03am June 21, 2015

by Juan Vidal

No American writer has been able to pin down the intersection of faith, prayer and art like Flannery O'Connor. Critic Juan Vidal reflects on her Prayer Journal, and the faith that words can live.

Erik Jensen portrays rock critic Lester Bangs in the new one-man play How to Be a Rock Critic.

'Lester, You Changed Our Lives': Channeling Bangs In 'How To Be a Rock Critic'

6:42pm June 20, 2015

by NPR Staff

Husband-wife team Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank talk about their play based on the life and writings of legendary rock scribe Lester Bangs.

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Mindy Kaling speaks at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations on July 10, 2014 in North Hollywood, Calif.

Arts

Not My Job: Mindy Kaling Gets Quizzed On Do-It-Yourself Projects

11:05am June 20, 2015

Since Kaling was the star of The Mindy Project, we're going to ask her to play a game called "The Home Improvement Project."

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Books
Arts

Survival Is Insufficient: 'Station Eleven' Preserves Art After The Apocalypse

10:40am June 20, 2015

by NPR Staff

In Emily St. John Mandel's novel, Station Eleven, a Shakespearean troupe clings to scraps of civilization after a deadly pandemic. Mandel and NPR's Scott Simon talk about art at the end of the world.

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Simon Armitage frowns with dignity after being awarded the Commander of the British Empire medal at Buckingham Palace in 2010. Though he began the nomination process for the Oxford post as an underdog, he emerged from the ensuing drama with the professors

Books
Arts

After Verses Turn To Versus, Poet Emerges With Renowned Oxford Post

5:47pm June 19, 2015

by Colin Dwyer

If you didn't know better, you might mistake the hubbub for American politics. But amid the fickle endorsements and dust-ups, poet Simon Armitage won election as the newest Oxford professor of poetry.