Ad For Nice Living: Discover Trees, Now With Chlorophyll
We hear one of the five selected listener suggestions for our updated Commercials for Nicer Living project: trees.
Arts & Life
Jim Jarmusch On Iggy Pop, Hip-Hop And Finding Poetry In Mundane Things
Jarmusch's new movie, which was inspired by William Carlos Williams' epic poem Paterson, is about a bus driver who writes poetry. Jarmusch also made a documentary about Iggy and the Stooges.
'Breaking News' Artists Use Mass Media As Their Medium
An exhibition in Los Angeles features some 200 works of news-inspired art, dating back to the 1960s. Many of the images are disturbing; "Art is more than a pretty picture," says curator Arpad Kovacs.
Fact Or Fiction? Even When It Comes To Food, It's Hard To Tell With Rasputin
Worshipful female followers fought for the Mad Monk's leftover bread crusts. His infamous sweet tooth led to his death. Or did it? A century later, rumors about Russia's czarina whisperer still swirl.
'Six Wakes' Is A Nerve-Tingling Interstellar Murder Mystery
In Mur Lafferty's latest, six crewmembers wake up to horror on a malfunctioning spaceship — the artificial gravity is gone, and blood floats in the air. It's up to them to find out what happened.
Attention Must Be Paid To What 'The Salesman' Is Selling
A review of The Salesman, an Iranian film about a couple whose home life becomes unsettled while they're starring together in a production of Death of a Salesman.
'Perfect Little World' Imagines Family Drama Inside A Utopian Compound
Kevin Wilson's new novel is set on a state-of-the-art commune where children don't know who their biological parents are. Critic Maureen Corrigan says the book lives up to its title.
Doctor Considers The Pitfalls Of Extending Life And Prolonging Death
In Modern Death, Dr. Haider Warraich says a slow dying process, during which patients move in and out of hospitals or nursing homes, is a "very recent development in our history as a species."
'This Is How It Always Is' Was Inspired By Its Author's Transgender Child
Still, Laurie Frankel says, her book is fiction. "The nice thing about my life is that it's pretty boring, which is really how you want your life to be — but not how you want your novel to be."
Lost In Whimsy, 'Perfect Little World' Spins Off Course
Kevin Wilson's new novel follows a pregnant teen who joins an experimental commune — but the characters in Perfect Little World never come alive, and the book suffers from an overdose of whimsy.