Arts

'Sad And Absurd': The U.S.S.R.'s Disastrous Effort To Create A Jewish Homeland

2:00pm September 07, 2016

Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen discusses the Soviet effort, in 1929, to create an autonomous Jewish state in the country's far eastern region. Gessen is the author of Where The Jews Aren't.

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Books
Arts

'Everfair' Looks Into Steampunk's Dark Heart

7:00am September 07, 2016

by Amal El-Mohtar

Nisi Shawl's new alternative history novel imagines a group of socialists and missionaries who found a new nation — Everfair — as a safe haven for those fleeing Belgian atrocities in the Congo.

More than a month and a half after Shack Shack opened its first store in South Korea, in the Gangnam District of Seoul, the lines remain incredibly long, as our photographer confirmed last Friday.

What's Behind South Korea's Shake Shack Fever?

6:01pm September 06, 2016

by Sangyoub Park

Koreans have been lining up for hours to sample the food at the Seoul outlet of this American burger chain. A South Korean sociologist looks at the factors behind the frenzy.

What does it take to build something from nothing?

Arts

Coming Soon: How I Built This

5:52pm September 06, 2016

On September 12, NPR launches a new podcast, How I Built This, hosted by Guy Raz. The show features innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.

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Celebrated street artist Keith Haring painted this mural in the stairwell of a former convent in the 1980s. Now, the church that owns the Manhattan building — which offered low-cost housing — says it's suffering financial difficulties and has asked it

Arts

In An NYC Stairwell, One Of Keith Haring's Murals May Be In Peril

4:35pm September 06, 2016

by Joel Rose

The celebrated street artist painted the mural in a former convent that offered low-cost housing in the '80s. Now the church that owns the building is strapped for cash and has asked tenants to leave.

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Jonathan Safran Foer's new novel chronicles the dissolution of a marriage against a backdrop of global crisis.

Books
Arts

'Here I Am' Balances Domestic Strife And Global Crisis

4:35pm September 06, 2016

by NPR Staff

Jonathan Safran Foer is back with a mammoth new novel that explores the dissolution of a marriage, and larger questions: What kind of lives are we living, and how do we respond to the world around us?

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Arts

'Atlanta,' 'Queen Sugar,' Bring Modern Black Culture To TV

4:35pm September 06, 2016

by Eric Deggans

A new comedy by Community alum, Donald Glover, called Atlanta premieres on FX on Tuesday night. And over on Oprah's network, OWN, Queen Sugar premieres. Both shows reflect the push toward diversity in prestige cable television, with creators, stars and subject matter focused on black people.

Pamela Adlon plays a single mother to three girls in the series Better Things, which premieres Sept. 8th on FX.

Arts

Actress Pamela Adlon Says 'Better Things' Is Dedicated To Her Daughters

2:27pm September 06, 2016

Adlon's new FX series is based on her own experience raising three girls as a single mom. Her daughters are "very much a part" of the show, she says.

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Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer (Emily Bogle/NPR)

Books
Arts

'Here I Am' Grapples With Weighty Matters ... And Weighty Paragraphs

1:22pm September 06, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

Jonathan Safran Foer returns with a door-stopper of a meditation on family, identity and Judaism. It's the story of a crumbling marriage set against the backdrop of a crisis in Israel.

Donald Glover plays Earnest Marks in Atlanta.

Arts

Singular Points Of View: 'Atlanta,' 'One Mississippi' And 'Fleabag'

10:22am September 06, 2016

by Linda Holmes

We look at three fall shows that step away from generic, broad-appeal TV concepts and come straight from the specific sensibilities of their creators.