Arts

Nichelle Tramble Spellman (left) and her husband Malcolm Spellman are African American writers who are also executive producers on Confederate.

Arts

Black Producers, HBO Defend Upcoming Series 'Confederate'

4:32pm July 27, 2017

by Eric Deggans

Executive producers Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman spoke to NPR's Eric Deggans to push back against the notion the show will be "a celebration ... of slavery."

Books
Arts

The Zoo Is A Terrifying Place In 'Fierce Kingdom'

2:00pm July 27, 2017

by Lizzie Skurnick

Gin Phillips' new novel — which follows a young mother trying to keep her child safe during a mass shooting at a zoo — explores the way violence can be a safe abstraction for kids, or cruelly real.

Now Here's Something We Hope You'll Really Like: An appreciation of the late June Foray, voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and many others, shown here arriving at an Oscars reception in 2013.

Books
Arts

Whatever The Character, June Foray's Voice Was Warmly Familiar

1:00pm July 27, 2017

by Glen Weldon

Foray voiced a wide variety of animated characters, and she brought the same genial humor and warmth to them all — except one.

Killing Is My Business: A Novel, by Adam Christopher

Books
Arts

3 Supernatural Noir Tales That Reflect The Inhuman Condition

7:00am July 27, 2017

by Jason Heller

Some great noir fiction has been written about Los Angeles, but what happens when a different genre bleeds through? We've got three tales of murder, magic and robot detectives to cool your summer.

Cover detail from Chester B. Himes, by Lawrence P. Jackson.

Books
Arts

New Chester Himes Biography Reveals A Life As Wild As Any Detective Story

1:45pm July 26, 2017

by Maureen Corrigan

Lawrence P. Jackson's biography tracks the writer's course from prison to published novelist. Critic Maureen Corrigan says Himes' life story is well worth reading.

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Looking Back At The Most Powerful Earthquake Ever To Strike North America

1:45pm July 26, 2017

Science writer Henry Fountain says the deadly quake that shook Alaska in 1964 was so loud some thought it was the beginning of World War III. His new book is The Great Quake.

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(L to R) Dina (Tiffany Haddish), Ryan (Regina Hall), Sasha (Queen Latifah) and Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith) paint the town red (and Bourbon Street yellow) in Girls Trip.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Girls Trip'

11:24am July 26, 2017

by Glen Weldon

The "surprising" success of the raunch-com Girls Trip didn't particularly surprise us; we talk about precisely where this "out-of-nowhere" hit came from.

Hip Hop deejays Stretch Armstrong (right) aka Adrian Bartos and Bobbito (left) aka Robert Garcia became legends on The Stretch Armstrong Show during the 1990s. Back then, they were hip hop tastemakers on college station WKCR in New York City. Now they're

Stretch & Bobbito On Race, Hip-Hop, And Belonging

11:18am July 26, 2017

by Aleli May Vuelta

The pioneering hip-hop radio duo drop by the Code Switch podcast to talk about making their way in a traditionally black genre and their new NPR interview show, What's Good? with Stretch & Bobbito.

Books
Arts

'Strange Practice:' The Doctor Is In

11:08am July 26, 2017

by Jason Sheehan

In Strange Practice, Vivian Shaw kicks off a new series about Dr. Greta Helsing, descendant of the famous Professor Abraham Van Helsing and general practitioner to the ghouls and ghasts of London.

Arts

Making Art Accessible To Everyone: 20 Years Of Art-o-mat

8:00am July 26, 2017

by Bethany Chafin

Debbie Page Harris sits behind a table at the Southe

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