Arts & Life

Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov poses for a portrait at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City in July. The center, a multidisciplinary practice and performance space, opened in 2005.

No Vanity Project: At Art Center, Baryshnikov Tells Artists, 'You're The Boss'

12:23pm September 28, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

You'd think the sign in front of dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov's arts center would have his name in lights — but actually, you can barely see it. He says what happens inside is way more important.

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Books
Arts

'Baru Cormorant' Will Catch You Unawares

10:56am September 28, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

Seth Dickinson's fantasy debut lays out pages of loans, taxes and commodity trading for his imagined empires — which turns out to be a riveting backdrop for a brutal tale of loyalty and rebellion.

Actor and illustionist Geoff Sobelle calls his one-man show The Object Lesson a "meditation on our relationship to things, and to objects and stuff."

Arts

Out Of 'The Object Lesson,' An Education In The Power Of Kept Things

7:00pm September 27, 2015

by Arun Rath

Geoff Sobelle calls his new one-man play "a meditation on our relationship to things." On a visit to the show, NPR's Arun Rath gathers a lesson in the meaning of stuff -- and the memories it can bear.

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Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets stranded on Mars in The Martian.

Books
Arts

Sandstorms, Explosions, Potatoes, Oh My: 'Martian' Takes Its Science Seriously

5:00pm September 27, 2015

by NPR Staff

Programmer Andy Weir had always longed to read science fiction with a greater focus on science. So, he wrote a novel of his own — which has since become a best-seller and, now, a blockbuster film.

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Arts

Devoted Fans Cross The Country For 'Gunsmoke' Reunion

9:13am September 27, 2015

by Abigail Wilson

It's been 40 years since Gunsmoke ran on television, but it remains a classic Western. Several actors, including Burt Reynolds, reunite in Dodge City, Kan.

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Arts

Confronting A Lifetime Of Bullying With 'A Brave Heart'

9:13am September 27, 2015

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Lizzie Velasquez, the subject of the new documentary, A Brave Heart. Velasquez suffers from a rare genetic condition and was the victim of terrible bullying.

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Books
Arts

After Escaping North Korea, Freedom Is 'Seriously, Deadly Hard'

9:13am September 27, 2015

by Rachel Martin

Yeonmi Park escaped from North Korea at age 13 only to find that freedom was more elusive than she'd imagined. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Park about her new book, In Order to Live.

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Singer-songwriter Jewel appears on The Josh Wolf Show in June 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Arts

Not My Job: Singer-Songwriter Jewel Gets Quizzed On Jewel Thieves

11:25am September 26, 2015

Before she hit it big with her first album, Pieces of You in 1995, Jewel was living out of her car. She tells her story in a new memoir, Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story.

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Lampooners Garry Goodrow, Alice Peyton, Christopher Guest, John Belushi, Peter Elbling, Chevy Chase and Tony Hendra in this undated photo from Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead.

Arts

Quest For Fun: Looking Back At 'National Lampoon'

7:43am September 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

Director Douglas Tirola's new film, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead, chronicles the rise and fall of National Lampoon. Tirola tells NPR the magazine's power came from its willingness to go after anyone.

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Italian dictator Benito Mussolini holds his son, Romano, on his shoulders in 1935. After his father died, Romano went on to become a jazz musician.

What's It Like To Be A Dictator's Kid? 'They're All Marked,' Author Says

7:43am September 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

In Children of Monsters, Jay Nordlinger looks at the lives of, among others, Romano Mussolini, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi and one man who claimed to be Hitler's son.

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