Arts & Life

Fall sports season is kicking off — and we've got some good reads to go with it.

Books
Arts

Off The Campaign Trail, Onto The Gridiron: 5 Sports Books For Fall

7:00am September 18, 2016

by Juan Vidal

If you're tired of political competition, there's always athletic competition. And if your team stinks, we can offer sympathy and a selection of the year's best books about sports to ease the sting.

Donald Glover plays Earnest Marks in the new FX show Atlanta.

Arts

Donald Glover Explores A Surreal Feel In 'Atlanta'

5:12pm September 17, 2016

by NPR Staff

Donald Glover is the creator and star of the new FX show Atlanta. He says he wanted to "give people a feeling that they can't really siphon or make into something else."

Arts

Not My Job: Nickel Creek Frontman Chris Thile Gets Quizzed On Nickelback

11:10am September 17, 2016

The new host of A Prairie Home Companion has fronted the popular bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek — so naturally, we asked him about the much derided Canadian band Nickelback.

Queue Listen Now

'Shoeless Joe' Author William Patrick Kinsella Dies At 81

10:58am September 17, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The award-winning book was adapted into the beloved film Field of Dreams. The Canadian author is best known for his works about magic — and baseball.

Emma Donoghue's New Novel Follows "The Wonder" Of Starvation

9:13am September 17, 2016

The main character in Emma Donoghue's new novel "The Wonder" is a little Irish girl who refuses to eat. She says she's been kept alive by "manna from heaven." NPR's Scott Simon speaks to the author.

Missouri Theater Embraces Ferguson Echoes In 'Antigone' Production

8:57am September 17, 2016

by Willis Ryder Arnold

Some TV stars will perform Sophocles' Antigone on stage in Ferguson, Mo., tonight. The ancient Greek drama is expected to resonate with its theme of an individual's struggle against the state.

Books
Arts

Laia Jufresa Weaves Together Richness Through Common Grief In Debut Novel 'Umami'

8:53am September 17, 2016

Laia Jufresa's new novel Umami traces a group of neighbors, each getting over a private grief. Scott Simon asks Jufresa about the book and the woman who translated it from Spanish to English.

Books
Arts

'Commonwealth' Doesn't Need Big Drama To Draw Us In

7:00am September 17, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Ordinary family life provides all the tension and attraction in Ann Patchett's new book. The story of two families and a fateful party that upends both, it draws on Patchett's own life experiences.

Train journeys in India were once defined by food, brought by passengers from their homes and purchased from vendors like this one. Passengers shared food with each other, exchanging stories and family histories, and sometimes striking new friendships th

In India, A Rich Food Culture Vanishes From The Train Tracks

7:00am September 17, 2016

by Charukesi Ramadurai

Once upon a time, most of the millions of people who travel on India's vast train network brought their own food or bought it from vendors at stations. Sharing meals could turn strangers into friends.

Albee, shown here in 1995, won Pulitzer Prizes for A Delicate Balance, Seascape and Three Tall Women and Tony awards for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

Arts

Playwright Edward Albee, Who Changed And Challenged Audiences, Dies At 88

8:38pm September 16, 2016

by Jeff Lunden

"All art should be useful," Albee said. "If it's merely decorative, it's a waste of time." The Pulitzer-winning playwright of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? died Friday following a short illness.