Arts & Life

"There are these great patterns to life — and we all go through them." — Joshua Prager

What Can Great Writers Teach Us About Growing Up and Getting Old?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

We all stumble across similar ideas as we age, and some of these revelations have passed into the books we love. Journalist Joshua Prager explores the stages of life through quotes from great writers.

Queue Listen Now

"I think that kids are often kind of like icebergs in the sense that ... we start asking them questions about bigger issues, we can find so much that is under the water." — Adora Svitak

What Wisdom Can Adults Learn From Kids?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

When Adora Svitak was 12, she gave a TED Talk on what grownups can learn from children. Now at age 18, and a sophomore at UC Berkeley, Svitak reflects on the message she shared.

Queue Listen Now

"In nature everything is so uniquely itself ... and there is a pace to the natural world and a genius to the natural world that arises out of that state of being." — Boyd Varty

What Wisdom Can We Gain From Nature?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

South African writer and conservationist Boyd Varty has spent his entire life among wild animals. He describes how he discovers "new old ways" by observing the natural world.

Queue Listen Now

"We don't end conversations with any of my children without 'I love you, I care about you, I miss you, I need you, I have to see you.'" — Tony Porter

What Can One Generation Teach The Next About Manhood?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

Advocate Tony Porter's wisdom focuses on masculinity and ending violence against women. He explains how he draws on his own upbringing to help the next generation of men redefine manhood.

Queue Listen Now

"We get carried away from the really important things, but we can remind each other what really matters. That's wisdom." — Robert Waldinger

Can A 75-Year-Old Study Deliver Wisdom For All Of Us?

10:00am June 10, 2016

by NPR/TED STAFF

Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger is the director of a 75-year-old study on happiness and satisfaction. He shares what he has learned, as well as his wisdom on how to find fulfillment.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

'O.J. Simpson: Made In America' Dives Deep Into Life Of Fallen Football Hero

6:12pm June 09, 2016

Ezra Edelman's seven-and-a-half hour documentary for ESPN, O.J. Simpson: Made in America, is really several documentaries in one. It's the story of Simpson's rise as a football icon and black celebrity, and his downfall as a murder suspect in the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend. But it's also the story of race in America, and what happens when celebrity culture meets the justice system.

Queue Listen Now

Director Brian De Palma and John Travolta on the set of Blow Out.

Arts

'De Palma': An Underrated Director Opens Up About His Work, And His Obsessions

5:00pm June 09, 2016

by Chris Klimek

In a new documentary Brian De Palma, director of both blockbusters (The Untouchables) and kinkily voyeuristic films (Dressed to Kill) looks back on a career of cinematic carnage with great candor.

Max Perkins (Colin Firth) and Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law) in the new film Genius.

Arts

A Volatile Literary Partnership Is Ill-Served By The Dry, Stagey 'Genius'

5:00pm June 09, 2016

by Ella Taylor

Michael Grandage's strangely staid film about novelist Thomas Wolfe and his editor Maxwell Perkins struggles to capture the passions that drove their famously explosive professional relationship.

Célestine (Léa Seydoux) in Diary of a Chambermaid.

Arts

'Diary of a Chambermaid' Follows A Headstrong Servant Through A Decadent Era

5:00pm June 09, 2016

by Mark Jenkins

In the latest adaptation of a 1900 French novel, a beautiful servant offers a gimlet-eyed view of high society. Director Benoit Jacquot's film loses energy as it slips into conventional romance.

Judy Warren (Sterling Jerins) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring 2.

Arts

'The Conjuring 2': Bigger, Longer, and Unholy

5:00pm June 09, 2016

by Scott Tobias

The second installment of director James Wan's horror series about demonic possession ups the ante — and the running time — but justifies both with legitimate scares.