Arts & Life

Arts

Patricia Clarkson On 'Learning To Drive,' Fighting For Starring Roles

6:24am October 20, 2015

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to actress Patricia Clarkson about her role as a jilted wife without a driver's license in Learning to Drive. Ben Kingsley plays her instructor, who is a Sikh man.

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Evan Fritz, head brewer at Manayunk Brewing Co., draws off some samples of Papal Pleasure, a beer concocted to mark Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia. It's brewed with water blessed by a local priest.

Philly Preps Blessed Beer And Other Edible Swag To Greet Pope Francis

6:16am October 20, 2015

Enterprising businesses will mark the pope's visit to Philadelphia next month with irreverent tchotchkes — including beers brewed with holy water and toasters that etch the pontiff's face on bread.

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Emily Blunt stars as Kate Macer in Sicario. She says the film raises questions about the definition of strength: "Is it somebody who has a gun and does bad things? Or is strength actually strength of character and strength of maintaining your ideals?"

Arts

Emily Blunt Says 'The Tides Are Turning' For Women In Action Films

6:14am October 20, 2015

by NPR Staff

Blunt says Hollywood creates films with teenage boys in mind and wants that to change. She's now starring in Sicario as an FBI agent investigating a drug cartel along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Neil Patrick Harris Reimagines Variety Show Format In 'Best Time Ever'

6:10am October 20, 2015

by Eric Deggans

Song and dance man Neil Patrick Harris premiered his new show, Best Time Ever, Tuesday night on NBC. It's an attempt to bring back the variety show format.

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Manzano, shown above with Rosita — a bilingual Muppet from Mexico — recently announced that she will be retiring from Sesame Street after 44 years.

Books
Arts

In New Memoir, Maria Tells Us How She Got, How She Got To 'Sesame Street'

7:47pm October 19, 2015

by NPR Staff

Sonia Manzano has spent 44 years as one of the lucky residents of Sesame Street. In her memoir she describes how she sought comfort in TV during her own difficult childhood in the South Bronx.

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Books
Arts

'Kids Love To Be Scared': Louis Sachar On Balancing Fun And Fear

7:45pm October 19, 2015

by NPR Staff

The award-winning author of Holes has just published a new novel for young readers, called Fuzzy Mud. It mixes middle-school social puzzles with a more sinister mystery: a rogue biotech threat.

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Kelly Carlin (center) says her parents, Brenda and George Carlin, could never be accused of hovering over their only child — she says her dad was "the ultimate laissez faire parent."

Books
Arts

The Dark Side Of Funny: Growing Up In George Carlin's Shadow

7:43pm October 19, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

In A Carlin Home Companion, Kelly Carlin reflects on life with her famous comedian (and drug addicted) father. "This book has always felt like unfinished business," she says.

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A survey from the Authors Guild reveals a 30 percent decline in author income since 2009.

Books
Arts

When It Comes To Book Sales, What Counts As Success Might Surprise You

7:43pm October 19, 2015

by Lynn Neary

A survey from the Authors Guild reveals a 30 percent decline in author income since 2009. "You used to be able to make an absolutely living wage as a writer," says Guild President Roxana Robinson.

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Arts

Eddie Murphy Accepts Mark Twain Prize With Unexpected Bill Cosby Jokes

6:34pm October 19, 2015

NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Geoff Edgers, national arts reporter for the Washington Post, who attended the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony Sunday night at the Kennedy Center.

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Andre Holland (left) and Clive Owen get serious in Episode 3 of the second season of The Knick.

Arts

'The Knick' Returns To The Bloody Pursuit Of Knowledge

5:11pm October 19, 2015

by Michele Norris

The TV show, set in a New York City hospital in the early 1900s, depicts turn-of-the-century medicine in grisly detail. Stars Clive Owen and Andre Holland say there's no nostalgia involved.

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