Arts & Life

In Daniel Clowes' Patience, a man turns to time travel after his true love is murdered.

Books
Arts

Cartoonist Daniel Clowes On Time Travel And Giving Readers Their Money's Worth

2:32pm May 12, 2016

At 55, Clowes is one of the most influential artists in the independent comics world. His latest book, Patience, uses time travel to look at the ways random events can set a life on a new path.

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Louise Erdrich is the author of 15 novels, including The Plague of Doves and The Round House. She is the owner of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, Minn.

Books
Arts

After Tragedy, 2 Families Find Their Own Justice In Louise Erdrich's 'LaRose'

6:04pm May 11, 2016

by NPR Staff

When an Ojibwe hunter accidentally kills his friend's child, he sends his own son to live with the grieving family. Erdrich says tribal family ties are "extremely close" and "much more fluid."

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A typical CARE package: Among its comestible treasures are canned beef and liver loaf, powdered eggs and milk, coffee, sugar, flour, dried apricots, raisins — and chocolate.

Care Packages: How The U.S. Won Hearts Through Stomachs After WWII

4:42pm May 11, 2016

by Maanvi Singh

Before they were boxes of comforting essentials sent to college students, soldiers and others far from home, care packages were a vital lifeline for thousands of displaced families in postwar Europe.

Comedian George Carlin appears at Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colo., in 2007 during HBO's 13th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

George Carlin's 'Stuff' Gets A New Home At National Comedy Center

3:59pm May 11, 2016

by Elizabeth Blair

His daughter, Kelly Carlin, has announced that she's donating her late father's archives to the museum, which is set to open next year in Jamestown, N.Y.

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Cookies for sale at the Tensuke Market "authentic Japanese grocery" in Columbus, Ohio.

For Great Japanese Cuisine And Grocers, Head To Central Ohio (Really)

2:52pm May 11, 2016

by Tony Ganzer

Why Ohio? Thanks to a nearby Honda plant, Columbus is full of bakeries, highly-regarded restaurants, markets and other retailers specializing in Japanese food, ingredients and wares.

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Books
Arts

Shadows Under Water In 'Everything Is Teeth'

7:00am May 11, 2016

by Jean Zimmerman

Novelist Evie Wyld departs from straight-ahead fiction in her new graphic novel about a young girl describing childhood summers in Australia — and her dark fascination with the sharks in the water.

The maker of Kind bars — which contain almonds and other nuts — pushed back against an FDA complaint about its use of the phrase "healthy and tasty." The FDA is now reviewing its definition of "healthy" as used on food labels.

Why The FDA Is Re-Evaluating The Nutty Definition Of 'Healthy' Food

7:10pm May 10, 2016

by Allison Aubrey

Under current rules, foods containing more than 3 grams of fat per serving can't call themselves "healthy" on labels. But that excludes many foods, like Kind bars, that contain healthful nuts.

Cover detail of Heat & Light, by Jennifer Haigh.

Books
Arts

A Dying Coal Town Falls Into 'Fracking Frenzy' In 'Heat & Light'

6:55pm May 10, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

Jennifer Haigh's new novel explores the fallout of the natural gas boom in a small Pennsylvania town. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Heat & Light an "exquisitely designed, semi-satirical social novel."

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Kate Tempest has written music, plays, poetry and novels.

'There Was More I Wanted To Say': Kate Tempest Turns Hit Album Into A Novel

6:05pm May 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

The rapper's debut album, Everybody Down, followed Becky and Harry, two Londoners struggling with love, work and drugs. Now her new book, The Bricks That Built The Houses, takes a look at their pasts.

Books
Arts

Science, Fiction And Philosophy Collide In Astonishing 'Lightning'

5:51pm May 10, 2016

by Jason Heller

Ada Palmer's dizzying debut novel is dense and complex, packed with philosophy and visions of what life might be like in the year 2424: Radically different, yet based on Enlightenment ideals.