Arts

'Thank You, America': A Crowdsourced Holiday Poem That's A Blessing To Read

5:02am November 22, 2018

by Laura Roman

NPR recently wanted to know: What about America are you most thankful for? Our audience answered, and writer Kwame Alexander crafted an epic poem of celebration and gratitude from the replies.

Tony (Viggo Mortensen) drives Don (Mahershala Ali) through Green Book's cursory reading of interracial tensions.

Arts

'Green Book' Offers By-The-Book Uplift

5:01pm November 21, 2018

by Mark Jenkins

Peter Farrelly's tale of a black musician chauffeured through the Deep South of the 1960s by a white driver is "a well-meaning but glib and shallow ode to interracial healing."

Michael B. Jordan is back on his beatdowns as Adonis "Donny" Creed in Creed II.

Arts

'Creed II' Isn't In The Same Weight Class As 'Creed,' But It's Got Heart

5:00pm November 21, 2018

by Chris Klimek

The sequel to 2015's winning overhaul of the venerable Rocky franchise is "is a more listless and ordinary film than Creed by any measure, but still a rewarding one."

Books
Arts

'Extinctions' Digs Up Buried Memories and Unacknowledged History

4:48pm November 21, 2018

by Martha Anne Toll

The title Josephine Wilson's new novel refers to its protagonist, an elderly man who feels useless, extinct — and whose journey is to find the means for growth and change within himself.

Rami Malek stars as Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

'You Better Own This': How Rami Malek Came To Embody Freddie Mercury

4:10pm November 21, 2018

by Terry Gross

Malek sang at the top of his lungs while playing Queen's iconic lead singer in the new biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Still, he says, "No one can sing like Freddie Mercury."

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Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) wants things to stay the same; Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman) has other plans in Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Arts

Toxic Masculinity Is The Bad Guy In 'Ralph Breaks The Internet'

12:49pm November 21, 2018

by Scott Tobias

The sequel to Wreck-it Ralph is awash with jokes about cross-promotion, brand extension, comments sections and Disney clichés; it feels like the way we live now — with more heart.

'Heirs Of The Founders' Looks At Efforts To Stave Off Civil War

11:51am November 21, 2018

by Scott Detrow

H.W. Brands brings to life a transitional era of American politics when the scope and power of the federal government was unknown, as were the boundaries of the United States.

Arts

Sumptuous And Gloriously Alive, 'The Favourite' Is The Best Costume Drama In Ages

9:42am November 21, 2018

by Justin Chang

Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz vie for the favor an ailing Queen Anne in a new comedy-drama set in the 18th century. Justin Chang says it's director Yorgos Lanthimos' most "emotionally resonant work."

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Books
Arts

An Artist Looks Back — Way Back — In 'I Am Young'

7:00am November 21, 2018

by Etelka Lehoczky

M. Dean's psychedelic collection of graphic short stories chronicles how music affects the lives of a group of young people in the 1960s and '70s, with masterfully nostalgia-invoking illustrations.

Arts

'The New One' Follows Comedian Mike Birbiglia's Journey To Parenthood

5:11pm November 20, 2018

Comedian Mike Birbiglia was staunchly opposed to having a kid. Then he and his wife had one. He talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about his new Broadway show, The New One, about what happened next.

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