Arts

A Disappearance in Damascus, by Deborah Campbell

Books
Arts

In 'Damascus,' A Chilling Mystery With A Personal Connection

12:06pm September 12, 2017

by Deborah Amos

Deborah Campbell's A Disappearance in Damascus is both a taut detective story and an intimate account of friendship during war — and that's before our reviewer discovered her own part in the story.

Sir Peter Hall ran the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. He's pictured above in London in July 1987.

Arts

Director Peter Hall, A Champion Of British Theater, Dies At 86

8:10am September 12, 2017

by Jeff Lunden

Hall ran two of the most important theater companies in England — the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. He directed Waiting for Godot and Amadeus, among dozens of plays, old and new.

Len Wein, Co-Creator Of Wolverine And Storm Comics, Dies At 69

8:16pm September 11, 2017

Len Wein, co-creator of iconic comic book characters such as Wolverine and Storm, has died. He was 69 years old.

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Wold Without Mind by Franklin Foer (Emily Bogle/NPR)

'World Without Mind': How Tech Companies Pose An Existential Threat

6:31pm September 11, 2017

by Ari Shapiro

From Facebook's algorithms to our reliance on phones instead of our memories, tech giants are taking us to a future that's either utopian or dystopian, author Franklin Foer says.

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Arts

Goodbye National Folk Festival, Hello North Carolina Folk Festival

2:57pm September 11, 2017

by David Ford

Hundreds of traditional musicians, craftspeople and dancers gathered over the weekend in the Triad for the 77th National Folk Festival.

Gorbachev: His Life and Times By William Taubman

Books
Arts

'Gorbachev' Is A Gripping, Sympathetic And Detailed Portrait

9:38pm September 10, 2017

by Mark Katkov

In Gorbachev: His Life and Times, biographer William Taubman makes a convincing case that the former Soviet leader's decency — the word appears throughout the book — is key to understanding him.

Not My Job: We Quiz Arcade Fire's Win Butler On Odd Arcade Games

1:47pm September 10, 2017

The band's fifth album, Everything Now, was released in July. We'll ask Butler about a game from the 1980s, a rather surprising game from Japan, and The Last Barfighter — a game with a twist.

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Where No One Has Gone Before, For Good Reason: (L-R): Penny Johnson Jerald, Mark Jackson, Seth MacFarlane, Peter Macon, Scott Grimes, Adrianne Palicki, J. Lee and Halston Sage star in The Orville.

Arts

Make It So-So: Fox's 'The Orville'

6:00am September 10, 2017

by Eric Deggans

Unable to fix on a tone, the series "is trying so hard not to be so many things, it isn't fully any one thing," says critic Eric Deggans, who calls it "the strangest misfire of the fall TV season."

Virtual Reality Project Captures Experience Of Immigrants And Refugees

6:53pm September 09, 2017

by Mandalit del Barco

Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu tackles a new medium with "Carne Y Arena," a project that explores the personal journeys of Mexican and Central American immigrants and refugees.

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The Riviera Set: Glitz, Glamour, and The Hidden World of High Society by Mary Lovell

Books
Arts

Take A Dip Into The Glittering Past Of 'The Riviera Set'

10:00am September 09, 2017

by Jacki Lyden

The fabulously louche social scene of the mid-century French Riviera — where socialites and stars mixed with the likes of Winston Churchill — comes alive again in Mary S. Lovell's The Riviera Set.