Arts & Life

Arts

Iconic Literary Road Trips, Mapped In Time For Summer

10:55am July 25, 2015

The website Atlas Obscura has mapped out a dozen famous road trips in American literature, from Mark Twain's stagecoach journey to F. Scott Fitzgerald's drive from Connecticut to Montgomery, Ala.

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Books
Arts

An Unlikely Pair Form A Wily Duo In 'Crooked Heart'

10:55am July 25, 2015

An orphan boy becomes friends with the scheming woman who takes him in in Lissa Evans' new novel, Crooked Heart. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with her about her WWII-era novel.

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Arts

'A Gay Girl' Who Was Not What She Seemed

1:53am July 25, 2015

by Mark Jenkins

A new documentary looks at a blog ostensibly written by a Syrian woman that turned out to have an entirely different origin story.

Books
Arts

'Fresh Air' Remembers 'Billy Bathgate' Author E. L. Doctorow

9:12pm July 24, 2015

Doctorow, who died Tuesday at the age of 84, was the author of dozens of novels, many of which combined fictional characters and real people in a historical context. Originally broadcast in 1989.

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Retracing Ralph Waldo Emerson's Steps In A Now 'Unchanged Eden'

8:22pm July 24, 2015

by Brian Mann

A century and a half ago, the poet and philosopher headed to New York's Adirondack Mountains with some notable pals. Today, we follow his journey with a new crew, the help of a painting and a book.

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Arts

How An 11-Year-Old Boy Invented The Popsicle

4:35pm July 24, 2015

by Shelby Pope

The beloved ice pops were born of a young boy's tinkering with sugary soda powder and water on a cold night. But the end of this tale for Frank Epperson was not as sweet as his treat.

Arts

Find Unforgettable Art In A Most Unlikely Place: A Pittsburgh Mattress Factory

4:09pm July 24, 2015

by Bob Mondello

The unusual installations at The Mattress Factory include a gallery with a hole in the floor, a mirrored room full of mannequins and polka dots and an entire townhouse woven with miles of black yarn.

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Arts

Nearly 200 Comedians, All Playing The Same City

3:31pm July 24, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

Just For Laughs, the biggest and oldest comedy festival in the world, is underway in Montreal. We'll find out who's new, who's returned and learn about some surprise hits.

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Nat Wolff and Margo Cara Delevingne in Paper Towns.

Arts

Emotional Maps And 'Paper Towns'

2:37pm July 24, 2015

by Andrew Lapin

The film adaptation of YA superstar John Green's novel is an uneven but intermittently affecting story about a disappearing girl and the boy who looks for her.

Arts

A Holocaust Survivor Searches For Her Past In Christian Petzold's 'Phoenix'

1:21pm July 24, 2015

by David Edelstein

A concentration camp survivor seeks a reunion with the husband who may have betrayed her in a new film set in post-war Berlin. Critic David Edelstein calls Phoenix a "morbidly romantic drama."

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