Arts

Linda (Naomi Watts) and Chuck (Liev Schreiber) in Philippe Falardeau's Chuck.

Arts

'Chuck': The Boxer Who Inspired 'Rocky' Gets A Dutiful Biopic

5:00pm May 04, 2017

by Chris Klimek

Critic Chris Klimek says Philippe Falardeau's film about the fall and rise of Chuck "The Bayonne Bleeder" Wepner, starring Liev Schreiber, suffers from a prosaic, just-the-facts approach.

Two members of "The White Helmets" pause to take stock in the documentary Last Men in Aleppo.

Arts

Documentary 'Last Men In Aleppo' Profiles Rescuers Amid The Rubble

5:00pm May 04, 2017

by Mark Jenkins

An intimate and moving examination of the White Helmets, who pull survivors — and corpses — from bombed buildings in Syria's largest city.

Arts

Fidget Spinner Emerges As Must-Have Toy Of The Year

4:37pm May 04, 2017

by Kenny Malone

Toys R Us has literally scrambled the jets trying to meet the demand of this year's break-out toy, handheld whirligig known as a "fidget spinner." Unlike other toy explosions like the Tickle Me Elmo or the Furby, the fidget spinner seemed to have hit without warning and without a brand. NPR's Planet Money set out to try and figure out where this thing came from and why it seemed to appear out of nowhere.

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In the Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, boudin is a food entrenched in the history of colonization and slavery.

Boudin: A Story Of Sausage, Slavery And Rebellion In The Caribbean

3:40pm May 04, 2017

by Melissa Banigan

This bloody fare was brought to the French territory of Guadeloupe by colonists, who set off deep racial tensions that still exist. But the messy sausage-making process also unites family and friends.

Books
Arts

Remastering The Mythos: Questions For Ruthanna Emrys

10:00am May 04, 2017

by Petra Mayer

When Ruthanna Emrys first read H.P. Lovecraft's classic tale "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," her sympathies were squarely with the monsters — and that sympathy was the seed of her new book, Winter Tide.

Federal housing policies created after the Depression ensured that African-Americans and other people of color were left out of the new suburban communities — and pushed instead into urban housing projects, such as Detroit's Brewster-Douglass towers.

A 'Forgotten History' Of How The U.S. Government Segregated America

9:28am May 04, 2017

by Terry Gross

Author Richard Rothstein says the housing programs begun under the New Deal were tantamount to a "state-sponsored system of segregation," in which people of color were purposely excluded from suburbs.

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Books
Arts

'The Pearl Thief' Is Part Murder Mystery, Part Coming-Of-Age Tale

7:00am May 04, 2017

by Amal El-Mohtar

In this prequel to Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein creates a charming, compelling heroine who, along with a diverse supporting cast, must solve the mystery of a disappearance on her parents' estate.

Hala Alyan is the author of three poetry collections. Salt Houses is her first novel.

Books
Arts

'I Belonged Nowhere': A Story Of Displacement, From A Novelist Who Knows

5:05am May 04, 2017

by Steve Inskeep

Salt Houses traces several generations of a displaced Palestinian family. Author Hala Alyan says she experienced firsthand the "intergenerational trauma that went along with losing a homeland."

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The Barmecide Feast, by Simon Birch and KplusK associates (which was co-founded by Paul Kember), recreates the bedroom from the final scene of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Arts

LA's 14th Factory Offers A Warehouse Full Of Art And 'Otherworldly' Experiences

4:32pm May 03, 2017

by Mandalit del Barco

Artist Simon Birch sunk everything he had into creating the immersive (and enormous) pop-up art space. He says, "It's not like a traditional museum. ... It's the exhibition I'd want to go to."

Arts

Hip-Hop Artists Rap Beloved Children's Book 'Llama Llama Red Pajama'

4:32pm May 03, 2017

Llama Llama Red Pajama is a beloved children's book. It's also now, thanks to a Los Angeles morning DJ, source material for hip-hop artists.