Arts

Sports
Arts

'Chang Can Dunk' is the coming-of-age sports film Jingyi Shao wished for as a kid

7:42pm March 16, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with filmmaker Jingyi Shao about Chang Can Dunk, a coming-of-age sports film about an Asian American teen's quest to reinvent himself — by learning to dunk.

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A spectator sleeps during IRONMAN Ireland on Aug. 14, 2022, in Cork, Ireland.

Arts

Wrapped in a blanket, this cozy community poem celebrates rest and relaxation

2:15pm March 16, 2023

NPR Poet in Residence Kwame Alexander asked listeners to write a poem about napping. We received 1,200 poems that talked about the importance of rest and relaxation.

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Bella DuBalle describes her drag persona as a combination of Miss Piggy, Dolly Parton and Mr. Rogers.

Drag queen (and ordained minister) Bella DuBalle won't be silenced by new Tenn. law

2:00pm March 16, 2023

by Terry Gross

DuBalle says the legislators behind a new law criminalizing public drag shows don't understand the art: "They think that every drag performer is doing something hypersexual or obscene."

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Books
Arts

2 novels to cure your winter blahs: Ephron's 'Heartburn' and 'Pineapple Street'

2:00pm March 16, 2023

by Maureen Corrigan

When it came out in 1983, Nora Ephron's comic novel became an instant bestseller. Now newly released, Heartburn pairs well with Jenny Jackson's smart comedy of manners, Pineapple Street.

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Main character Joel in The Last of Us Part I — Troy Baker, the actor that portrayed him in the game — and Pedro Pascal, who played the same character in the HBO show.

Arts

'The Last of Us' game actors and creator discuss the show's success

1:25pm March 16, 2023

by Bryant Denton

"Some of the greatest storytelling has been in video gaming," says The Last of Us actor Merle Dandridge. But it took decades for games to realize that potential and for Hollywood to do it justice.

Podcast tile art for Buried Truths, City of Tents: Veterans Row, The Modern West, Bear Brook, California Love and When Magic Happens.

Arts

New can't-miss podcasts from public media

8:04am March 16, 2023

by The NPR One Team

Spring is a time of renewal. The NPR One team has recommendations to give your podcast listening a refresh.

Books
Arts

'Heart Sutra' is a satire that skewers religious institutions without mocking faith

7:21am March 16, 2023

by Lily Meyer

Chinese novelist Yan Lianke treats the deities of China's major religions as quiet, omnipresent participants in the novel's events, which range from slapstick comedy to shocking violence.

Bobby Caldwell, singer of 'What You Won't Do for Love,' dies at 71

1:52am March 16, 2023

by The Associated Press

Bobby Caldwell's smooth soul jam "What You Won't Do for Love" went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became a long-term standard and career-defining hit for Caldwell, who also wrote the song.

A land acknowledgment is a statement before an event recognizing the indigenous communities that originally inhabited the event space. Above is a detail of a Tribal Nations Map by Aaron Carapella. Read more about Carapella's mapping project.

So you began your event with an indigenous land acknowledgement. Now what?

4:09pm March 15, 2023

by Chloe Veltman

Statements recognizing indigenous rights to territories seized by colonial powers may be well-meaning. But some indigenous leaders fear these acknowledgements may become routine and performative.

Books
Arts

'We Were Once a Family' exposes ills of U.S. child welfare system

3:41pm March 15, 2023

by Marcela Davison Avilés

Journalist Roxanna Asgarian's tenacious and vulnerable reporting reveals the foundation of the intensely disturbing Hart family story — a broken child welfare system in the U.S.