Arts

BET Continues To Redefine Brand With Nelson Mandela Miniseries

5:29pm February 01, 2017

by Eric Deggans

The new BET miniseries, Madiba, starring Laurence Fishburne as Nelson Mandela, premieres Wednesday night. BET says the show is at the heart of their Black History Month programming. The show is also part of the latest attempt to redefine the BET brand with high quality scripted shows.

Arts

'The Salesman' Offers A Brilliant Portrayal Of Marriage And Vengeance

3:13pm February 01, 2017

by David Edelstein

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's latest film is one of the five nominees for this year's foreign-language Academy Award. Critic David Edelstein says The Salesman is tense and powerful.

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Arts

Remembering 'Elephant Man' Actor John Hurt

3:13pm February 01, 2017

The British actor, who died last week, became famous in the U.S. in the '70s for his starring role in the BBC series I, Claudius, and later appeared in the film Alien. Originally broadcast in 1989.

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Indian Oven's bunny chow features shrimp with a side of tomatoes and cucumbers. The restaurant is located in Hout Bay, a suburb of Cape Town.

Bunny Chow: South Africa's Sweet-Sounding Dish Has A Not-So-Sweet Past

11:52am February 01, 2017

by Alan Greenblatt

The country's street-food staple is a fusion meal that has nothing to do with rabbits, and everything to do with the rise of immigrant Indian workers in the 19th century and the era of apartheid.

Arts

Critic Says This Year's Sundance Was The 'Most Fraught' He Can Recall

11:45am February 01, 2017

Los Angeles Times critic Justin Chang tells Fresh Air's Ann Marie Baldonado that politics sometimes overshadowed the films at this year's festival. Call Me By Your Name was one of his favorite films.

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Books
Arts

4 Lives In Parallel Run Through Ambitious '4 3 2 1'

11:21am February 01, 2017

by Michael Schaub

Paul Auster's new novel is a departure for the author — 880 pages of flowing prose about four versions of one character, living four mostly-parallel lives. It's sometimes confusing, but never boring.

Arts

Ad For Nice Living: Discover Trees, Now With Chlorophyll

4:28pm January 31, 2017

We hear one of the five selected listener suggestions for our updated Commercials for Nicer Living project: trees.

Arts

Jim Jarmusch On Iggy Pop, Hip-Hop And Finding Poetry In Mundane Things

1:49pm January 31, 2017

Jarmusch's new movie, which was inspired by William Carlos Williams' epic poem Paterson, is about a bus driver who writes poetry. Jarmusch also made a documentary about Iggy and the Stooges.

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An exhibition at The Getty Center in Los Angeles features some 200 works of news-inspired art, dating back to the 1960s. Above, The Air Power of the World from Masao Mochizuki's 1976 "Television" series.

Arts

'Breaking News' Artists Use Mass Media As Their Medium

1:13pm January 31, 2017

by Susan Stamberg

An exhibition in Los Angeles features some 200 works of news-inspired art, dating back to the 1960s. Many of the images are disturbing; "Art is more than a pretty picture," says curator Arpad Kovacs.

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Worshipful female followers fought for the Mad Monk's leftover bread crusts. His infamous sweet tooth led to his death. Or did it? A century later, rumors about Grigori Rasputin, Russia's czarina whisperer, still swirl.

Fact Or Fiction? Even When It Comes To Food, It's Hard To Tell With Rasputin

11:55am January 31, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Worshipful female followers fought for the Mad Monk's leftover bread crusts. His infamous sweet tooth led to his death. Or did it? A century later, rumors about Russia's czarina whisperer still swirl.