Arts

Ursula K. Le Guin speaks at the 2014 National Book Awards, where she was presented with lifetime achievement honors.

Books
Arts

Ursula K. Le Guin, Whose Novels Plucked Truth From High Fantasy, Dies At 88

7:44pm January 23, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

The author, best known for works such as the Earthsea series and The Left Hand of Darkness, used her fantastic realms to grapple with difficult themes. She leaves a legacy as a literary trailblazer.

Books
Arts

Prolific Science Fiction And Fantasy Author Ursula K. Le Guin Dies At 88

7:28pm January 23, 2018

by Petra Mayer

Author Ursula K. Le Guin has died at age 88. She was a prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy who brought feminism into her work and raised the genres into literature.

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Mount Carmel burns to the ground at the end of a 51 day standoff between David Koresh, the Branch Davidians and the FBI in Waco.

Arts

25 Years After The Tanks, Tear Gas And Flames, 'Waco' Returns To TV

7:01pm January 23, 2018

by Kelly McEvers

The story of the standoff between federal agents and a fringe religious group called the Branch Davidians — suspected of stockpiling weapons — is now being retold in a six-part miniseries.

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Arts

Breaking Down The 2018 Oscar Nominations

4:19pm January 23, 2018

The Oscar Nominations have arrived. NPR's Linda Holmes and Bob Mondello discuss the whys and wherefores behind both surprises and snubs from this year's contenders.

Arts

Oscars Debut New Rules To Avoid Another Envelope Mix-Up

3:09pm January 23, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

Last year's historic Best Picture debacle prompted the accounting firm responsible for the security of envelopes to come up with new fail-safes. Most important: Stop tweeting and put away that phone.

A placard showing Gui Minhai is seen outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong in January 2016. At the time, the publisher had disappeared, only to surface later in Chinese detention. Authorities there released him last fall. He was arrested again las

China Seizes Publisher Of Banned Books Again — Just Months After Releasing Him

1:55pm January 23, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong-based bookseller with Swedish citizenship, was on a train to Beijing for medical treatment when police detained him. Now, Swedish authorities are demanding answers.

Daniel Day-Lewis (left) plays a renown fashion designer, and Vicky Krieps is his muse, in Phantom Thread.

Oscar-Nominated 'Phantom Thread' Focuses On Fashion's 'Most Obsessive'

1:55pm January 23, 2018

by Terry Gross

Paul Thomas Anderson's new film stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a renowned fashion designer. Phantom Thread landed six Oscar nominations, but Anderson says making sewing look dramatic wasn't easy.

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Despite the disbanding of communes and the persistence of capitalism, culinary contributions from hippies have not only endured, but helped set the framework for the way we eat today.

The Far Out History Of How Hippie Food Spread Across America

1:49pm January 23, 2018

by Menaka Wilhelm

Finding granola, hummus, organic produce and whole grains is easy now, but it wasn't always. Jonathan Kauffman's new book, Hippie Food, explores the people and places that expanded America's palate.

The 2018 Oscar nominations had enough freshness and enough room for new voices that they didn't feel rote.

'Shape Of Water,' 'Dunkirk' And 'Three Billboards' Lead Oscar Nominations

12:14pm January 23, 2018

by Linda Holmes

This year's Academy Award nominations include a lot of old favorites, but also some new voices — including the first women ever nominated for cinematography.

An Oscar statuette is shown backstage at the 2017 Academy Awards. The 2018 awards ceremony will take place on March 4.

Arts

WATCH: 2018 Oscar Nominations

9:42am January 23, 2018

by Nicole Cohen

This year's Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning via live stream.