Arts

American composer Irving Berlin sings his song "God Bless America" in front of Boy Scouts troop members and spectators gathered at a tent in Monticello, New York in 1940. Instead of collecting royalties from "God Bless America," Berlin created a fund that

From Peace To Patriotism: The Shifting Identity Of 'God Bless America'

10:47am September 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the new book God Bless America: The Surprising History of an Iconic Song, author Sheryl Kaskowitz explores the lyrical evolution of Irving Berlin's enduring song and explains how its early popularity reflected the anxiety of the pre-war period and sparked a surprising anti-Semitic and xenophobic backlash.

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Arts

BOOKMARKS Book Festival Kicks Off This Weekend

9:34am September 03, 2013

by David Ford

BOOKMARKS festival of books and authors is back this Saturday, September 7th from 10-5. The vast majority of events are free, and they'll once again take place in Winston-Salem's Downtown Arts District at 6th and Trade Streets. BOOKMARKS offers year round programming for all ages including the festival, a growing authors in schools program, and author talks. BOOKMARKS festival of books and authors 2013 features 46 programs in all, with more than 30 authors, including Debbie Macomber, and Dork Diaries author Rachel Renee Russell.

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Arts

Animated! Art Comes to Greenhill Center for NC Art

9:21am September 03, 2013

by David Ford

Animated! curated by Greenhill Center for NC Art's Edie Carpenter presents 24 artists who investigate animation from comic book heroes to digital environments, Animated! gives Greenhill visitors a chance to explore sequential art from flip books to stop-motion claymation. Hand-drawn character studies, animé, animation set design and much more will also be on display. Animated's public opening is First Friday, September 6th from 6-9pm. Green Hill curator Edie Carpenter spoke with David Ford by phone from her studio in Greensboro.

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Welcome to Night Vale is the number one most downloaded podcast on iTunes.

Arts

Welcome To 'Night Vale' — Watch Out For The Tarantulas

10:06am September 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

The popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast imagines a creepy desert town where conspiracies are real. From the hooded figures lurking in the closed-up dog park to the mysterious lights above the Arby's, Night Vale is a standard small American town that's just not quite right.

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Books
Arts

Shacochis Spans Generations In 'The Woman Who Lost Her Soul'

10:06am September 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

In his new book, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul, Bob Shacochis returns to Haiti, but also takes the reader across continents and generations. The 700-page book has been compared to the work of Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and Norman Mailer.

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Mark Malkoff makes a Skype call to Belgium.

Call Me, Haiti? One Man's Quest To Skype Around The World

11:59am August 31, 2013

by NPR Staff

Mark Malkoff has lived inside of an IKEA store, consumed beverages at 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in less than 24 hours and proved that his kid's Big Wheel bike could beat a New York City bus. Now, the comedian has video chatted with people in 162 different countries — including North Korea.

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Indonesian slang for someone who tells a joke so badly, that is so unfunny you cannot help but laugh out loud.

How Do You Say ...? For Some Words, There's No Easy Translation

7:01pm August 30, 2013

by NPR Staff

The feeling of solitude in the woods ... the sunlight that filters through trees ... someone who tells a joke so badly that you have to laugh. In English, these things require a whole string of words. Not so in German, Japanese and Indonesian, respectively.

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In Short Term 12 — named for the youth facility where it's primarily set — John Gallagher Jr. and Brie Larson play young counselors not too far removed from their own adolescent struggles.

Arts

Reaching Across What's Broken, 'Short Term' Fix Or No

4:02pm August 30, 2013

by David Edelstein

After college, director Destin Daniel Cretton took a job at a short-term care facility for at-risk teenagers. His time there became the basis for Short Term 12, a film that took two awards at this year's South by Southwest Festival. (Recommended)

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Arts

Things Wondrous and Humble, Big Shoes To Fill, and New River Blues Festival

1:52pm August 30, 2013

by David Ford

Today, we begin with things wondrous and humble in one of America's finest art museums. Then we'll open up a can of dreams, and scale a treacherous mountain in shoes several sizes too large. And we wrap things up with a good case of the blues on the banks of a New River. Still life that'll really knock your socks off at Reynolda House, Big Shoes by Open Dream Ensemble, and the 2013 New River Blues Festival are all coming your way.

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Just about every culture has a dumpling. For many immigrants and first-generation Americans, dumplings serve as a delicious taste of home and heritage. Pierogis are the Polish take on the form.

Arts

Dumplings Taste Better When Filled With Memories

9:56am August 30, 2013

by Renita Jablonski

Just about every culture has dumplings. For the Polish, it's pierogi, and as Morning Edition editor Renita Jablonski writes, this little dumpling plays a big role for many Polish-Americans in preserving and celebrating their heritage.

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