Arts

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Arts

A Podcast Reopens Old Wounds In 'Are You Sleeping'

10:00am August 06, 2017

by Bethanne Patrick

Kathleen Barber's debut novel is an on-trend mashup of murder, social media and Serial-style true-crime podcasting, but though well paced, it suffers from thin characters and a lack of context.

Happiness: A Memoir: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After By Heather Harpham.

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'Happiness' Explores The Complex Push And Pull Of Human Relationships

7:00am August 06, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Heather Harpham's memoir centers on her baby daughter's struggle with a dangerous illness — but broadens out to include her family and her own fraught relationship with the baby's reluctant father.

George Lopez visited NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Arts

George Lopez Reflects On 'The Wall,' A Lifetime Of Comedy And Jokes About Trump

5:21am August 06, 2017

After nearly 40 years in comedy, George Lopez reflects on jokes in the time of President Trump and how that will factor into the comedian's new HBO special.

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Poetry Of Failure Comes To Life At Chicago's 'Baudelaire In A Box'

6:47pm August 05, 2017

by Dan Weissman

This weekend in Chicago, a small theater troupe with a big resume will present all of the poems in Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal" — sung by more than 50 performers from around the world.

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Arts

Not My Job: Jeffrey Tambor Gets Quizzed On The Timber Industry

11:51am August 05, 2017

Tambor's memoir, Are You Anybody?, is about his life as an actor. We'll make him play a game called "TAMBOOOOOOOORRRRR!" ... which has absolutely nothing to do with acting.

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'New People' Author Danzy Senna Loves The Troublesome Characters

8:11am August 05, 2017

by Scott Simon

Author Danzy Senna's new novel follows a young, interracial couple — Khalil and Maria — whose seemingly charmed life falls apart after Maria becomes infatuated with a mysterious poet.

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The Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians play on June 16, 2015, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Take A Pilgrimage To America's Sport Sanctuaries In 'The Arena'

8:11am August 05, 2017

by Scott Simon

Rafi Kohan traveled all over the country to research stadiums for his new book. He learned the secrets of ground crews and ticket scalpers and explored the economics of tax-funded stadiums.

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Arts

The Stories All Start The Same Way In 'The First Line'

8:11am August 05, 2017

NPR's Scott Simon talks with David LaBounty, co-founder of the literary quarterly The First Line. LaBounty gives readers the first line of a short story, and they continue from there.

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'After On' Sees The End Of The World In A Dating App

7:00am August 05, 2017

by Jason Sheehan

Silicon valley entrepreneur and novelist Rob Reid takes on artificial intelligence — and how it might end the world — in his weird, funny new techno-philosophical thriller After On.

"Hydrant: In the Air," 1963 — "It's significant because it shows us. We were not allowed to go to the public pools. So we opened our hydrant and we cooled ourselves off. But when I saw it and photographed it I made it more than just poor people turning

Arts

What Hiram Maristany Saw Looking Through The Lens At El Barrio

2:31pm August 04, 2017

by Beck Harlan

Photographer Hiram Maristany has spent more than 50 years documenting the Puerto Rican community in New York City's East Harlem neighborhood — through poverty, beauty and gentrification.