Books

Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras & Ella Morton

Books
Arts

'Atlas Obscura' Tour Of Manhattan Finds Hidden Wonders In A Well-Trodden Place

4:05pm September 21, 2016

by Ari Shapiro

Dylan Thuras, co-author of a new book, takes NPR to a piece of lost subway grandeur, a room of well-groomed dirt and a sonic secret in the middle of Times Square.

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Arts

Love Shifts The Self In 'The Lesser Bohemians'

1:14pm September 21, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Eimear McBride's latest follows a young drama student who goes to London and falls for an older man. Her live, wriggling language makes a beautiful account of the ways the self is built and rebuilt.

The hulking, shuttered Eastern State Penitentiary, a short walking distance from Philadelphia's downtown, was in many ways the first modern American prison. Almost from its opening in the early 19th century, there were people calling for it, and prisons l

Imagining A World Without Prisons For Communities Defined By Them

8:17pm September 20, 2016

by Gene Demby

The activist Marc Lamont Hill argues that America needs to end its prison system. With crime at all-time lows, he might sway people of color who've long called for harsher punishment for lawbreakers.

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Arts

In 'Reputations,' A Political Cartoonist Faces Crisis Of Conscience

6:53pm September 20, 2016

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vasquez about his novel, Reputations.

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The main floor at SPX is where independent artists have tables next to larger well-known publishers like Drawn & Quarterly or Fantagraphics Books.

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Arts

A Comics Convention For The Unconventional: The Small Press Expo

6:53pm September 20, 2016

by Glen Weldon

Every year the Small Press Expo (SPX) brings creators of independent comics together with passionate fans. Many of those fans make comics themselves and say they're inspired by SPX's "funkier" feel.

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'Sing For Your Life' Recounts A Journey From Juvenile Detention To The Opera House

2:40pm September 20, 2016

Ryan Speedo Green grew up in a trailer park and did time in juvenile detention before discovering he had a unique singing voice. He now performs at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

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Arts

'Arab Of The Future 2' Continues Risky Truth-Telling

1:14pm September 20, 2016

by Etelka Lehoczky

Cartoonist Riad Sattouf continues his scathing memoir of his childhood in Syria and Libya. Just as in the first volume, his disgust for the oddities and outrages around him is palpable on the page.

Books
Arts

Kirkus Prize Finalists Include Annie Proulx, Sherman Alexie, Jason Reynolds

9:01am September 20, 2016

by Colin Dwyer

But they're not the only ones. Eighteen books got the nod when Kirkus Reviews released shortlists for its literary prize on Tuesday.

Winston Churchill was so displeased with Graham Sutherland's portrait that his wife asked his secretary to destroy it. Pictured here is a preparatory sketch.

'The Face Of Britain' Tells A Nation's History Through Portraits

6:23pm September 19, 2016

by NPR Staff

Art historian Simon Schama shares the stories behind the artworks — from the portrait that made an 18th-century actor into a star, to the one Winston Churchill's secretary threw into a bonfire.

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First Woman Sworn In As Librarian Of Congress

5:21pm September 18, 2016

by Michel Martin

Dr. Carla Hayden is the country's 14th librarian of Congress and is the first woman and first African-American to hold the job. She spent much of her career at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.