Television

The survival drama 'Squid Game' is a big hit for Netflix

5:42am October 14, 2021

Squid Game is officially the streaming service's biggest original series launch. Some say the show is too violent. A filmmaker says one of the beautiful parts is how jarring it is.

Comedian Dahlia Belle challenges the problematic takes in Dave Chappelle's special

5:00pm October 12, 2021

NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with comedian Mx Dahlia Belle, a Black trans woman, who wrote an open letter to Dave Chappelle after he drew criticism again for jokes about trans people.

Beth Macy's 'Dopesick' gets the TV streaming treatment

4:56pm October 10, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with journalist Beth Macy about the Hulu TV series Dopesick, based on Macy's critically acclaimed book on the origins and course of the country's opioid epidemic.

Arts

'Ted Lasso' Season 2 finale recap: A big game, a big decision and a heel turn

12:28pm October 08, 2021

by Linda Holmes

It's a wrap on Season 2, as Ted leads his team through one last game, Roy and Keeley feel their way through some challenges, and Sam makes a decision.

Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) has a lot on her mind.

Arts

'The Morning Show' recap, Season 2, Episode 4: Why drag Neil Diamond into this?

6:00am October 08, 2021

by Linda Holmes

Bradley and Laura are sitting in a tree, T-A-L-K-I-N-G. Alex doesn't want to moderate the debate, and even though Bradley and Daniel both desperately want to moderate it, Cory only wants her.

Arts

'Top Chef Junior' competitor Fuller Goldsmith has died at age 17

6:36pm October 07, 2021

by Elizabeth Blair

The Alabama native has died after battling leukemia. Goldsmith won the top prize on Chopped Junior when he was 14, before moving on to Top Chef Junior.

Najibullah Quraishi has won numerous awards for his reporting, including three Emmy awards, a Peabody award, an Overseas Press Club award and a DuPont award. He's currently in Kabul, where he's waiting to hear when he can get a flight out of Afghanistan.

World News

A more moderate Taliban? An Afghan journalist says nothing has changed

2:10pm October 07, 2021

by Terry Gross

Reporting from Kabul, Najibullah Quraishi says the Taliban's vice and virtue squads have reinstituted harsh punishments, including whipping, chopping off hands and even hanging people from cranes.

The latest season of 'The United States of Al' was shaped by the Taliban's rise

4:33pm October 06, 2021

by Renee Montagne

The sitcom The United States of Al returns for its second season Thursday. The show follows an Afghan interpreter and his Marine Corp buddy, and is very much influenced by the Taliban's recent rise.

Dave Chappelle performing during his new special, "The Closer.

Arts

For Dave Chappelle, punchlines are dares. His new special, 'The Closer,' goes too far

10:18pm October 05, 2021

by Eric Deggans

In his new Netflix special, Dave Chappelle tries — and often fails — to justify button-pushing jokes about gay people, transgender people and feminists.

Books
Arts

For Stanley Tucci, food is like religion — and cancer almost took it away

6:38pm October 05, 2021

by Dave Davies

Tucci's entire world, since childhood, has revolved around food. He was devastated when treatment for cancer put him on a feeding tube for six months. Now cancer-free, he has a new memoir, Taste.

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