culture

Arts

2 podcasts look back at the messy decades of the American counter-culture

1:32pm August 03, 2022

by Nick Quah

Mother Country Radicals explores the history of the militant left-wing group the Weather Underground. I Was Never There tells the story of a regional hippie folk hero who disappeared in the late '80s.

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A group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn is reviving the golden age of cantorial music

5:11am August 03, 2022

by Jon Kalish

Musician Jeremiah Lockwood hopes to introduce the world to a new music scene bubbling in Brooklyn.

Books
Arts

Julia Whelan on narrating her romance novel about a narrator who hates romance novels

4:58pm August 02, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with writer and audiobook narrator Julia Whelan about what it was like bringing her own profession to the pages of her new novel Thank You For Listening.

Music industry titan Mo Ostin who worked with Sinatra, Hendrix and Prince dies at 95

4:56pm August 02, 2022

by Elizabeth Blair

Ostin signed deals with major pop and rock talent over the decades, including Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac and R.E.M. He said the industry didn't have to prioritize sales over artistic freedom.

A bag of assorted pills and prescription drugs is dropped off for disposal during the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 24, 2021 in Los Angeles.

New book chronicles how America's opioid industry operated like a drug cartel

12:37pm August 02, 2022

by Terry Gross

Two Washington Post journalists say pharmaceutical companies collaborated with each other — and with lawyers and lobbyists — to create laws to protect the industry. Their new book is American Cartel.

Beyoncé performs during the Oscars on March 27 in Los Angeles.

Beyoncé will change a lyric in her latest album after accusations of ableism

7:45am August 02, 2022

by Amina Kilpatrick

Beyoncé's publicist confirmed that the artist will replace an offensive lyric from a song in her latest album, Renaissance.

A photo illustration of items left behind in books at the Oakland Public Library in Oakland, Calif.

A librarian collects all the things left in books — from love letters to old photos

6:05am August 02, 2022

by Nell Clark

The Oakland Public Library has spent years collecting items its patrons have left in library books, from old photographs to love notes. The archive is available publicly on their website.

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Music Midtown pulls the plug over Georgia's gun laws, highlighting a legal gray area

6:39pm August 01, 2022

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Music Midtown canceled the annual festival at Piedmont Park because of legal concerns over the organizers' ability to ban guns during the two-day event.

Blackbird Collective, located in Culver City, Calif., was created with the intention to empower women of color and allies in the entrepreneurship and creative fields to create positive change for each other and the world. Here, a portion of the workspace

This Black-owned coworking space wants to advance and support businesswomen of color

5:57pm August 01, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

By channeling its focus on women of color in the workplace, the primary goal for Blackbird Collective is simply to provide its members with a safe space to work and connect.

Books
Arts

Encore: Artist Ai Weiwei on his father's exile and hopes for his own son

4:58pm August 01, 2022

In this encore presentation, NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks to artist Ai Weiwei about his memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows.