Arts

Chief Justice John Roberts attends the 37th Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 7, 2014, in Washington, DC.

In 'The Chief,' An Enigmatic, Conservative John Roberts Walks A Political Tightrope

11:54am March 22, 2019

by Nina Totenberg

Reporter Joan Biskupic portrays the chief justice as a dedicated conservative who now "has the court he's always wanted" — and she says the law "will likely be what he says it is."

Books
Arts

'High Heel' Muses On Beauty, Power — And Stilettos

8:33pm March 21, 2019

by Mary Louise Kelly

When she worked at the U.N., Summer Brennan wore high heels almost every day — even when they made her fall. Her new book High Heel is an exploration of modern womanhood through the history of heels.

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Measure Twice ...: Lupita Nyong'o stars in Us, the latest horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele.

Arts

When You Meet The Enemy, And It Is 'Us'

5:00pm March 21, 2019

by Scott Tobias

Though less thematically precise than Get Out, Jordan Peele's latest film doubles down on horror — and excels at capturing the mundane, funny moments between the big scares.

Nazanin Boniadi, Dev Patel, and Armie Hammer star in Hotel Mumbai, a docudrama about the 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Arts

In 'Hotel Mumbai,' Grueling Violence, Depicted With Cruel Relish

5:00pm March 21, 2019

by Danny Hensel

The film's choice to foreground white characters over the deaths of many Indian victims makes for a cold, distasteful watch.

Sunset stars Juli Jakab as Irisz Leiter, a young woman in Budapest on the eve of WWI.

Arts

On The Eve Of World War I, 'Sunset' Is Gorgeous But Opaque

5:00pm March 21, 2019

by Ella Taylor

A beautiful, headstrong young woman (Juli Jakab) interrogates her past even as Budapest prepares to crumble; director Laszlo Nemes depicts "the soil in which fascism takes root" with cool dispassion.

Image of two hands on a blue background. One hand is passing a plant with red flowers to the other hand.

Trying To Do Good

5:00pm March 21, 2019

We know our actions affect those around us. But how do we know whether our impact is positive? This week on Hidden Brain, what it means to do good in the world.

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Patricia Clarkson stars in Out Of Blue, a genre-bending detective flick. The movie is based on the Marin Amis novel Night Train.

Arts

'Out Of Blue': Stardust And (Hollywood) Star-Power Fuel This Genre-Bending Whodunit

5:00pm March 21, 2019

by Andrew Lapin

This introspective (and occasionally downright lethargic) existential whodunit starring Patricia Clarkson and a cast of ringers is based on the Martin Amis novel Night Train.

In a 1936 letter to Henwar Rodakiewicz, Georgia O'Keeffe updated her friend on recent goings-on, including a new commission. The middle section reads: "I got an order for a big flower painting for Elizabeth Arden — got it myself ---"

Arts

Newly Uncovered Georgia O'Keeffe Letters Shed Light On Her Greatest Paintings

4:44pm March 21, 2019

by Elizabeth Blair

The correspondences between the artist and her friend, filmmaker Henwar Rodakiewicz — just acquired by the Library of Congress — capture her thoughts as her career takes off.

Books
Arts

'The True Queen' Casts A Pleasant Spell

10:00am March 21, 2019

by Genevieve Valentine

Zen Cho's followup to her Regency fantasy of manners Sorceror to the Crown builds solidly on the world she's invented, mixing historical froth with real substance.

Books
Arts

A Summer Of Second Chances In 'Small Town Hearts'

7:00am March 21, 2019

by Alethea Kontis

Lillie Vale's new young adult novel follows Babe Vogel, who's perfectly happy in her small town life, even though her friends have mostly moved on — until a "summer boy" arrives to complicate things.