Arts & Life

Nora McInerny is the host of the Terrible, Thanks for Asking podcast. She's also the author of the book It's Okay to Laugh: (Crying Is Cool Too).

Arts

How Are You? On This Podcast, The Answer Is: 'Terrible, Thanks For Asking'

6:34pm March 02, 2017

by NPR Staff

Host Nora McInerny isn't interested in small talk. When someone asks "How are you?" is the answer really "I'm fine"? Her show explores death, loss and trauma — and yet somehow is still full of laughs.

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Even adamantium rusts: Hugh Jackman stars in Logan.

Arts

'Logan' Is The Best At What It Does — And What It Does Is Gritty

5:00pm March 02, 2017

by Chris Klimek

Critic Chris Klimek says this small-scale, sun-blasted tale of an aging Wolverine's efforts to protect a young mutant "plays like the King Lear of the X-saga."

They ordered the chicken: (L-R) Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, June Squibb, Stephen Merchant, Anna Kendrick and Tony Revolori in Table 19.

Arts

'Table 19': At This Wedding, The Laughs Never Register

5:00pm March 02, 2017

by Scott Tobias

Anna Kendrick stars as a wedding guest stuck among the misfits in this labored, low-energy film from director Jeffrey Blitz.

Ok it'd be awesome if that car behind them exploded right now (spoiler: it won't). L to R: Amanda Seyfried, Shirley MacLaine, AnnJewel Lee Dixon in The Last Word.

Arts

Shirley MacLaine Gets 'The Last Word' — And You'll Want It To Be

5:00pm March 02, 2017

by Andrew Lapin

A bitter retiree hopes a few good deeds will salvage her reputation in this insipid dramedy. MacLaine is Hollywood royalty, but this film is strictly peasant fare.

Anthony (Taylor John Smith) and mother Jenny (Carla Gugino) share a reflective moment in Wolves.

Arts

A Self-Destructive Dad Gambles With His Son's Future In The Drama 'Wolves'

5:00pm March 02, 2017

by Ella Taylor

Critic Ella Taylor admires the performances, but says director Bart Freundlich's latest is a "modestly pleasing, unsurprising indie about a family undone by anger issues."

Abraham Poincheval waves Wednesday as he exits the two halves of the rock in which he was entombed in Paris for a week.

'I'm A Little Dazed, Which ... Is Totally Normal After One Week Living In A Rock'

4:38pm March 02, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Those are the words uttered by French performance artist Abraham Poincheval upon leaving the boulder in which he'd entombed himself for seven days. It was Poincheval's latest artwork of endurance.

Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar served three tours in Afghanistan. She now lives in Austin, Texas, and works as an executive coach and consultant.

A Purple Heart Warrior Takes Aim At Military Inequality In 'Shoot Like A Girl'

2:57pm March 02, 2017

Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar is part of a lawsuit that argues excluding women from combat is unconstitutional. She says the lawsuit isn't about women's rights – it's about military effectiveness.

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Tyler Cowen argues, in his new book The Complacent Class, that Americans are in a period of stagnation because we are doing less and less of what made us successful in the past: embracing change, moving to different parts of the country and associating wi

America's 'Complacent Class': How Self-Segregation Is Leading To Stagnation

1:15pm March 02, 2017

by Heidi Glenn

Economist and author Tyler Cowen worries that Americans' desire to keep changing has gone away. "The forward march of progress," he says, "is not the main story today."

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Fanesca is made with grains and vegetables, and includes toppings such as peanuts, fried plantains, hard-boiled eggs and mini empanadas.

Ecuador's Fanesca Is A Lenten Soup Flavored With Centuries Of Tradition

12:35pm March 02, 2017

by Amy E. Robertson

This thick, creamy stew features 12 "grains" to represent the Twelve Apostles and cod to denote Jesus. It takes days and many hands to prepare, a meal befitting Ecuador's elaborate Lenten traditions.

Books
Arts

'High Noon' Takes Aim At The Hollywood Blacklist

12:00pm March 02, 2017

by Genevieve Valentine

Glenn Frankel's new book about the making of the classic Western sets its tumultuous production against the backdrop of the Hollywood "Red Scare," drawing parallels between celluloid and reality.