Arts

An organic market on Boulevard des Batignolles in Paris.

'A Taste Of Paris': How The City Of Light Became The City Of Food

12:39pm November 08, 2017

by Eleanor Beardsley

In his new book, food historian David Downie takes readers on a gourmet jaunt through time to reveal how the French capital became a gastronomic powerhouse. (Hint: You can thank Rome.)

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Lou Reed performs in New York City in 2004. "I wanted to write a book that took Lou ... seriously," says biographer Anthony DeCurtis.

Biographer Sought To Write The Kind Of Book Lou Reed 'Deserved'

12:01pm November 08, 2017

by Terry Gross

"It wasn't like I had to go looking for the drugs and the sex," Anthony DeCurtis says. "Lou wrote about it ... so I felt it was fair game." DeCurtis' new book is Lou Reed: A Life.

Books
Arts

'Mrs. Osmond' Presents A Portrait Of A Lady As Mopey Schemer

10:00am November 08, 2017

by Jean Zimmerman

Author John Banville makes a valiant imaginative leap with Mrs. Osmond, his attempt to craft a new ending for the heroine of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady, but he doesn't quite land it.

Books
Arts

'Radio Free Vermont' Offers A Modest Proposal For Resistance

7:00am November 08, 2017

by Jason Heller

Activist Bill McKibben answers his own call for topical fiction with Radio Free Vermont, a gently surreal tale about a septuagenarian troublemaker who inadvertently sparks a secession movement.

Stephen Thompson, Linda Holmes, and Glen Weldon on stage during Pop Culture Happy Hour's live show at the Bell House in Brooklyn on June 6, 2017.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Pop Culture Advice, Live From Seattle

6:00am November 08, 2017

by Glen Weldon

Live from Seattle's Neptune Theatre, the PCHH crew (feat. Audie Cornish) offer listeners advice about some pop-culture-related topics.

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Left: Johannes Vermeer's Lady Writing, 1665. Right: Caspar Netscher's Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a Page, 1666.

Arts

Dutch Artists Painted Their Patriotism With Pearls And ... Parrots?

4:55pm November 07, 2017

by Susan Stamberg

In the 1600s, after decades of war, the Netherlands was thriving. Artists like Johannes Vermeer celebrated the nation's wealth with images of fine clothing, glimmering pearls and imported parrots.

Bo, the first dog, boards Air Force One for a weekend trip to Chicago on May 27, 2010.

Photographer Pete Souza Reflects On 8 Years (And 1.9 Million Photos) Of Obama

4:11pm November 07, 2017

by Terry Gross

As the chief official White House photographer for President Obama, Souza sometimes shot more than 2,000 photos a day. "I was there all the time," he says. His new book is Obama: An Intimate Portrait.

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Books
Arts

'Spineless' Dives Deep Into The World Of Jellyfish

10:00am November 07, 2017

by Brian Castner

Part memoir, part travelogue, part science tome, Juli Berwald's book is thoroughly entertaining, and makes the case for the jellyfish as both fascinating animal and a bellwether for climate change.

Books
Arts

Alan Bennett's Inimitable Voice Just Keeps 'Keeping On'

7:00am November 07, 2017

by Heller McAlpin

His new 700-page omnibus of collected bits and pieces shouldn't be read all at once — but taken in careful sips, it's a cheeky, crotchety, sometimes serious, sometimes satirical delight.

Arts

Actor Greta Gerwig Stays Behind The Camera In Her Solo-Directing Debut 'Lady Bird'

5:14pm November 06, 2017

by Bob Mondello

Greta Gerwig makes her solo-directing debut with an autobiographical movie called Lady Bird, a comedy that follows a teenager in her senior year of high school. The story is loosely based on Gerwig's life.

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