Arts

Arts

In The 'Everything Is Alive' Podcast, It's The Guests That Set It Apart

5:23pm August 29, 2018

Everything Is Alive is straightforward interview podcast with one tiny twist: the guests are inanimate objects. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with the program's host, Ian Chillag.

Queue Listen Now

Indonesian high school student Nuha Itan (L) and a classmate gaze out from the deck of a tin-mining ship in the documentary Inventing Tomorrow.

Arts

Saving The World, One Science Fair At A Time: 'Inventing Tomorrow'

5:00pm August 29, 2018

by Andrew Lapin

This documentary "makes for riveting viewing" as it follows four teams of brilliant young people with ideas for combating environmental threats as they compete in an international science fair.

An impromptu memorial for Aretha Franklin outside New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit — the same church where Franklin's father Rev. C.L. Franklin was a minister and where she began her singing career. Taken Aug. 19, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan.

Mourning From The Ground Up: Aretha's Funeral Is Part Of A Joyful American Tradition

4:40pm August 29, 2018

by Ann Powers

While it's not wrong to observe decorum and sombre reflection in the wake of such a loss, there's no reason that honoring a life as monumental as Aretha's can't be joyful — and yes, entertaining.

Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative co-founder Priscilla Chan and Goldman Sachs Foundation President Dina Powell speak during the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in 2016 in San Francisco.

Generous Giving Or Phony Philanthropy? A Critique Of Well-Meaning 'Winners'

2:48pm August 29, 2018

by Steve Inskeep

Anand Giridharadas spent time with tech entrepreneurs and affluent elites who want to change the world. But in a new book, he writes that their market-based mantras only maintain inequalities.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'Godless' Creator Was Determined To Put His Own Spin On The Classic Western

2:17pm August 29, 2018

by Terry Gross

Scott Frank packed his Emmy-nominated Netflix miniseries with train robberies and shootouts — but challenged Western norms by putting women in charge of the town. Originally broadcast Dec. 11, 2017.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Allison Janney On Sex, Sorkin And Being The Tallest Woman In The Room

2:17pm August 29, 2018

by Terry Gross

Allison Janney has been nominated for an Emmy for her role on Mom. She told Fresh Air in 2014 that her relationships with her mother and her brother, who was an addict, help inform her character.

Queue Listen Now

Fans of Aretha Franklin attend a viewing for the soul music legend at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on Tuesday in Detroit.

'She Was Our Queen': Fans Pay Their Final Respects To Aretha Franklin

12:49pm August 29, 2018

by Debbie Elliott

Fans gather in Detroit to remember how Franklin's music marked milestones in the nation's history and in their own lives.

Queue Listen Now

Vice President Mike Pence is seen leaving the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Aug. 28.

'The Shadow President' A Missed Opportunity To Better Understand Mike Pence

10:51am August 29, 2018

by Annalisa Quinn

The Shadow President looks like a book, but belongs firmly in the world of partisan TV. There is plenty to uncover about the "real" Mike Pence, but readers won't find it here.

Books
Arts

Understated And Over-Frank, 'French Exit' Is Just The Right Amount Of Funny

10:00am August 29, 2018

by Heller McAlpin

Patrick DeWitt's new novel is a sparkling dark comedy about an Upper East Side society matron and her large adult son (and their cat) who take off for Paris to escape financial and social ruin.

The Air You Breathe, by Frances de Pontes Peebles

Books
Arts

'The Air You Breathe' Is A Glorious, Glittery Saga Of Friendship And Loss

7:00am August 29, 2018

by Lily Meyer

Frances de Pontes Peebles' new novel about two women in Brazil — and later Hollywood — who take the music world by storm can sometimes slip into corniness, but it's a genuinely exciting read.