Arts

Yuval Noah Harari expects we'll soon engineer our bodies in the same way we design products. "I think in general medicine ... will switch from healing the sick to upgrading the healthy," he says.

Pam Jenoff's new novel follows two women who sign on with a German traveling circus — and the Jewish baby they're both determined to protect as the darkness of World War II falls across Europe.

Author Glenn Frankel says the 1952 film High Noon was inspired by the toxic political climate of the time. "People ... felt they want to get their country back," Frankel says.

"I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming," the former teen idol, 66, says of his condition.

Choreographer Mandy Moore was lying underneath a car on the LA freeway, counting and calling out steps, throughout the 47 takes it took to shoot La La Land's fun-filled opening scene.

The American Conservative Union disinvited the far-right provocateur citing comments it said condoned "pedophilia." Hours later, Simon & Schuster said it was canceling the publication of his book.

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks to Cass Sunstein about his new book, #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media. He says democracy needs people to come across a variety of viewpoints, and much of social media limits that exposure.

Nicholas Britell, the composer for the Oscar-nominated score for Moonlight, describes the story behind his music.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island about his new book, Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy.

The protagonist of Sebastian Barry's new novel is conscripted right off the boat as the price of American citizenship. Eventually he finds love and companionship with one of his fellow soldiers.

Author Mary Graham discusses the confidences that presidents keep. When it comes to President Trump, she says: "I think we're seeing that it's not possible to keep policies secret in the digital age."

Jamal Joseph heads the film program at Columbia University. Now, he's making his full-length feature debut with Chapter & Verse. Joseph himself spent six years in prison as a Black Panthers member.