Arts & Life

Arts

'Scandal' Abortion Storyline Marks Bold Move For Network Television

5:41pm November 20, 2015

by Eric Deggans

The winter season finale for the hit ABC TV show, Scandal, featured the lead character seemingly getting an abortion. That's highly unusual for network television and an invitation to controversy.

Krysten Ritter plays the believably damaged ex-superhero in Netflix's latest Marvel series, Jessica Jones.

Arts

'Jessica Jones' Struggles In Life — But Triumphs On Screen

5:12pm November 20, 2015

by Eric Deggans

Netflix's latest venture into the Marvel universe follows Jessica Jones, an unlikely ex-superhero who tries to keep her powers hidden while she works to defeat the telepathic villain who abused her.

French chef Auguste Escoffier, seen here at a cafe in 1921, helped to found the Ritz Hotel, where Ernest Hemingway was a longtime regular.

'Paris Is A Party': Responding To Tragedy, France Turns To Hemingway

3:32pm November 20, 2015

by Bill Chappell

Ernest Hemingway's memoir A Moveable Feast is being celebrated for what it, in turn, celebrates: Paris as an exciting place of ideas, a nexus of people who love life and the arts.

Science
Arts

How Can You See Without Seeing?

2:10pm November 20, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Daniel Kish has been blind since he was 13 months old, but has learned to "see" using a form of echolocation.

Queue Listen Now

Rich Benjamin talks about his time in "Whitopia" at TEDWomen in 2015.

Arts

What Is A 'Whitopia' — And What Might It Mean To Live There?

2:10pm November 20, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

As America becomes more multicultural, Rich Benjamin noticed a phenomenon: some communities are actually becoming less diverse. So he got out a map, found the whitest towns in the USA and moved in.

Queue Listen Now

"Wide Hips" in India. Janet Echelman's first sculpture.

Arts

How Did A Mishap Lead To An Artist's Best Work?

2:10pm November 20, 2015

by NPR/TED Staff

Sculptor Janet Echelman found her voice as an artist when her paints went missing — which forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material.

Queue Listen Now

One of the main attractions in "The Edible Monument" exhibition at the Getty Center in Los Angeles is a nine-foot long sugar palace showing the Greek sorceress Circe meeting Odysseus' men.

Arts

Let them Eat Sugar Sculpture! The Getty Celebrates Edible Table Art

1:58pm November 20, 2015

by Abbie Fentress Swanson

The party animals of Europe made festive, elaborate centerpieces from food from medieval times through the 18th century. Among the most notable of their table art traditions is the sugar monument.

Arts

For Expats In Afghanistan, A Cranberry Dish To Relish Far From Home

10:54am November 20, 2015

by Susan Stamberg

In 2011, about 100 Americans living and working in Kabul gathered for a Thanksgiving feast a long way from family. But a dish familiar to many NPR listeners helped bring them a taste of home.

Queue Listen Now

A Christian holds a crucifix made in the Dogon style in Bugudunjuru, Mali in 1996.

Photographer Abbas Chronicles 'What People Do In The Name Of God'

10:15pm November 19, 2015

Abbas became interested in religion while covering the Iranian Revolution. "I could see that the waves of passion [that were] raised by the Revolution were not going to stop at the borders," he says.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Laurie Anderson Reflects On Life And Loss In 'Heart Of A Dog'

10:15pm November 19, 2015

Multimedia artist Laurie Anderson talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about her late dog, Lolabelle, her mother's death and the accident that nearly killed her. Anderson's new film is Heart of a Dog.

Queue Listen Now