Arts & Life

Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury, by Sigrid Nunez

Books
Arts

'Mitz' The Marmoset Was Definitely Not Afraid Of Virginia Woolf

10:00am August 11, 2019

by Heller McAlpin

The success of Sigrid Nunez' The Friend sparked the reissue of this early work, also about a beloved pet — but Mitz the marmoset was real, and she belonged to Leonard and Virginia Woolf in the 1930s.

When author Andrea Davis Pinkney decided to write a book about a sit in, her husband Brian Pinkney asked, "How am I going to illustrate this, Andrea? They're just sitting." She told him: "Well, honey ... I'm sure you'll think of something." And he did. Th

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Arts

The Pinkneys Are A Picture Book Perfect, Author-Illustrator Couple

9:19am August 11, 2019

Author Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrator Brian Pinkney have been together for 30 years and collaborated on nearly 20 books. "It's fun to work with the one you love," Andrea says.

Author Téa Obreht's new Inland was inspired by myths of the American West.

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Arts

Téa Obreht's Latest Is Steeped In The Supernatural — Also, There Are Camels

8:04am August 11, 2019

by Lynn Neary

Téa Obreht's new novel, Inland, was inspired by the myths of the American West, and by a little-known episode in U.S. history: the military's unsuccessful attempt to use camels as pack animals.

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Arts

In 'A Pure Heart,' Family And Religion Both Bond And Break

7:00am August 11, 2019

by Michael Schaub

Rajia Hassib's novel wrestles with heavy themes — survivor's guilt, religion, family and revolution — but it's never didactic. It's an honest, engrossing portrait of two very different sisters.

Henry Winkler attends the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles.

Arts

Not My Job: We Quiz Actor Henry Winkler On Twinklers

2:02pm August 10, 2019

We've invited Winkler — who played Fonzie on Happy Days, and more recently Gene Cousineau on HBO's Barry — to play a game called "Oooh, look at the twinklers!" Three questions about stars.

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Chicago Inmates Compete In Online Chess

11:56am August 10, 2019

Inmates from the Cook County jail in Chicago just competed in the first international online chess tournament of its kind. NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with their coach, Mikhail Korenman.

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Books
Arts

We're All Haunted In 'The Turn Of The Key'

10:00am August 10, 2019

by Annalisa Quinn

Ruth Ware's new novel is a clever update on Henry James' classic of paranoia, but instead of ghosts, Ware's characters are haunted by unknowable, unpredictable smart homes and surveillance technology.

In After the Wedding, Michelle Williams plays Isabel, who runs an orphanage in India. Vir Pachisia plays Jai, the boy beside her.

Arts

Michelle Williams On Economic Inequality In Her New Movie — And Her Career

8:34am August 10, 2019

by Sacha Pfeiffer

In After the Wedding, she plays the head of an orphanage who is clearly uncomfortable around wealth. In her own life, she's dealt with a controversy where she was paid much less than a male co-star.

Books
Arts

Humans Are Gone In 'Hollow Kingdom,' So It's Up To The Crows

7:00am August 10, 2019

by Ilana Masad

Kira Jane Buxton's novel imagines a viral apocalypse from the perspective of the animals left behind. Specifically, a crow named S.T., who sets out to save the world with his canine companion.

Arts

The Racial Roots Behind The Term 'Nappy'

7:14pm August 09, 2019

by Michael Paulino

Where does the term "nappy" come from and why does it have such negative connotations? Is it possible to reclaim a word that has been used as a slur for so long?