A culture critic reflects on the limits of language -- and the magic of silence
Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker writer Hilton Als says we "don't actually have much silence left" in our world. His latest exhibition challenges the way we see art, identity and storytelling.
'A Strange Loop' writer and composer started out on Broadway as an usher
Michael R. Jackson's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is about a young Black gay musical theater writer named Usher, who works as an usher at a Broadway show — just like Jackson once did.
Ryan Gosling deserves better than the snarky action thriller 'The Gray Man'
Gosling plays an assassin being chased by other assassins. That sounds exciting, but it isn't; it's a pileup of self-admiring one-liners and insanely violent but weirdly inconsequential action scenes.
Singer-songwriter Geoff Muldaur performs jazz and blues from the '20s and '30s
Muldaur's new double CD, His Last Letter, traces the musical influences of his life, and is arranged for, and performed with, Dutch chamber musicians. Originally broadcast December 2009.
How the American right became aligned with Hungary and its authoritarian leader
New Yorker journalist Andrew Marantz says Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's administration has rewritten Hungary's constitution to consolidate his power. U.S. conservatives are taking note.
Singer/songwriter beabadoobee expands her sound dramatically on 'Beatopia'
Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Beatrice Kristi Laus takes her stage name from a former Instagram handle. The music on beabadoobee's new album is a blend of timelessness and immediacy.
'Legacy of Violence' documents the dark side of the British Empire
By by 1920, the British Empire covered 24% of the Earth's land mass. Historian Caroline Elkins says British rulers portrayed themselves as benevolent, but used systematic violence to maintain control.