Arts & Life

Afghanistan Show Aims To Fix City Problems

9:02am March 12, 2016

"Cleaning Your City" is a radio show in Afghanistan where the hosts field complaints from citizens, and call people in power to fix the problems. NPR's Melissa Block talks to co-host Massood Sanjer.

Books
Arts

Bravery Among The Ruins In 'Noonday'

7:00am March 12, 2016

by Jean Zimmerman

Pat Barker's latest novel completes the trilogy she began with Life Class. Her first foray into the World War II era is rich with evocative language, though it occasionally verges on soap opera.

A sandstone statue of Rishabhanata, from Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, India, in the 10th century A.D., flanked by a pair of attendants. It is valued at approximately $150,000.

Feds Recover Stolen Indian Antiquities From Major New York Auction House

11:34pm March 11, 2016

by Laura Wagner

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations seized two ancient sandstone statues just days before they were scheduled to go to auction.

Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Isaac Newton, Gandhi, Pythagoras, Balzac, Marie Curie — scanning history's greatest minds, we find many were inspired by certain food or drink, repulsed by others, or had some very peculiar dining habits.

Books
Arts

Gastronomy Of Genius: History's Great Minds And The Foods That Fueled Them

8:14pm March 11, 2016

by Eric Weiner

From Pythagoras to Balzac, Darwin to Marie Curie, many a genius was inspired by certain edibles, repulsed by others — or had some very peculiar dining habits.

Catherine Frot plays an opera-loving socialite in Marguerite. (Also pictured: Denis Mpunga)

Arts

Meet 'Marguerite,' A Tone-Deaf Opera Singer Who's Determined To Perform

7:00pm March 11, 2016

by Bob Mondello

Socialite Marguerite has no idea how bad she is — servants, friends and even other opera singers are too polite to tell her. Critic Bob Mondello says her story is both hilarious and heartbreaking.

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Bartender Sunny Balzano (left) transformed a longshoremen's bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn into a local institution. He's pictured above with Tim Sultan, who recounts Balzano's story in Sunny's Nights.

Books
Arts

Longtime Brooklyn Bartender Who Inspired 'Sunny's Nights' Has Died

5:39pm March 11, 2016

by Joel Rose

Sunny Balzano was the genial and eccentric proprietor of a beloved bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn. He died Thursday at 81, just weeks after the publication of a new book about his life and times.

Labradoodle or fried chicken? The bark heard around the world.

Arts

Canine Or Cuisine? This Photo Meme Is Fetching

5:29pm March 11, 2016

by NPR Staff

Chihuahua or muffin? Labradoodle or fried chicken? These are the gnawing questions raised by the latest food images dogging the Internet. So we bit.

Helen Mirren says that in addition to being "an incredible nail biter," her new film Eye in the Sky raises fundamental moral questions without taking sides.

Arts

Do You Sacrifice One For Many? Mirren's Latest Film Has No Easy Answers

1:42pm March 11, 2016

by NPR Staff

In her new film Eye in the Sky, Helen Mirren plays a colonel overseeing a secret drone operation in Kenya. Mirren and director Gavin Hood say the audience is the jury in this courtroom drama of sorts.

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Books
Arts

Remembering 'Great Santini' Author Pat Conroy

1:28pm March 11, 2016

Conroy, who died last week, was the author of several books, two of which — The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides — were made into feature films. He spoke to Terry Gross in 1987, 1995 and 2002.

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Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical Hamilton.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Hamilton,' Kanye And 'Gilmore Girls'

9:49am March 11, 2016

by Linda Holmes

With the panel on pause this week, we bring you three great conversations about theater, music and TV.

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