Arts

Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc in Knives Out.

Arts

Daniel Craig: 'Knives Out' Aims To Be One Of Those 'Grand Pieces Of Entertainment'

9:18am November 30, 2019

by Scott Simon

As a kid, Craig remembers Agatha Christie "event movies" such as Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. He says his new whodunit, Knives Out, strives for a similar effect.

Books
Arts

'My Fake Rake' Turns The Makeover Trope On Its (Well-Coiffed) Head

7:00am November 30, 2019

by Kamrun Nesa

The ugly duckling who transforms into a swan is a common trope in literature and pop culture — Eva Leigh turns it upside down in My Fake Rake, which features a shy, quiet hero who gets made over.

Arts

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

5:45pm November 29, 2019

Encore presentation of a 2018 conversation with comedian Mike Birbiglia, who was staunchly opposed to having a kid. Then he and his wife had one. He talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about what came next.

NPR wants to hear about someone special you lost in 2019.

Arts

Exceptional But Not Famous: Tell Us About Someone You Lost in 2019

1:21pm November 29, 2019

by Ian Stewart

At the end of the year, NPR's Weekend Edition will feature stories of people in your lives who passed away in 2019.

Arts

'Beautiful Day' Director On Mister Rogers' 'Radical Notion': Telling Kids The Truth

1:08pm November 29, 2019

by Terry Gross

Marielle Heller's film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood centers on Fred Rogers' unlikely friendship with a cynical journalist. Originally broadcast Nov. 20, 2019.

When Leonardo da Vinci arrived in France in 1516, he brought three of his own paintings with him — "Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" (left), "Saint John the Baptist" (right) and the Mona Lisa.

500 Years After Leonardo Da Vinci's Death, France Celebrates His Life And Work

7:01am November 29, 2019

by Eleanor Beardsley

A new exhibition at the Louvre includes Leonardo's sketches, drawings and 11 paintings. "You can really get into his brain and try to see how he thought," says biographer Serge Bramly.

Somayeh, from Blank Pages of an Iranian Photo Album.

'My Iran' — A Show Of Photography And Video By 6 Women — Contrasts Memory And Reality

7:00am November 29, 2019

by Jackson Sinnenberg

Photographs and video created by six Iranian women are now on view at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C.

In childhood, "telling stories was crucial to my existence and indeed to my survival," writer and cultural critic Clive James said. He died Sunday at age 80.

Books
Arts

Clive James, Writer, TV Host And Cultural Critic, Dies At 80

7:25pm November 28, 2019

by Elizabeth Blair

"Fiction is life with the dull bits left out." That is just one of the many clever observations of the writer, TV host and cultural critic Clive James. He died Sunday in Cambridge, England.

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Arts

Hoops, High Jumps, Movement Of Muscles: A Crowdsourced Poem Inspired By Sports

5:09am November 28, 2019

by Casey Noenickx

Poet Kwame Alexander creates a poem from submissions about tennis, baseball, ballet, track, football, basketball and hockey, as well as themes of winning and losing and technique and talent.

Mason Davis, Elizabeth Ho, Hayes MacArthur, Lucas Jaye, Ashley Tisdale, Dennis Quaid, Brent Morin, Bridgit Mendler, Siobhan Murphy, and Adam Rose in Merry Happy Whatever.

Arts

The Dismal 'Merry Happy Whatever' Is The Downside Of Binge-Watching

5:00am November 28, 2019

by Linda Holmes

You can understand why Netflix thought people might want a holiday-themed family comedy to watch this season. But unfortunately, the one they made is a big miss.