Arts

As summer starts, Taylor Swift, Post Malone and Morgan Wallen maintain chart reigns

6:16pm May 29, 2024

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

For the fifth week in a row, Swift's The Tortured Poets Department was the best-selling album in the country. Post Malone and Wallen's "I Had Some Help" repeated as the top song.

Three U.S. dollar bills are folded into the shape of collared shirts. They are photographed against an orange and pink backdrop. One of the shirts is in the foreground in the front, while the two other shirts are out of focus in the background, representing setting boundaries when lending money.

Economy
Arts

Should you lend money to your loved ones? NPR listeners weigh in

2:32pm May 29, 2024

by Malaka Gharib

Our audience shares their perspective on the tricky etiquette of loaning money to friends and family.

Yo-Yo Ma Performs On SiriusXM's Symphony Hall At The SiriusXM Washington D.C. Studios

Yo-Yo Ma on ‘touching infinity’ through his nearly 300-year-old cello, Petunia

12:52pm May 29, 2024

by Terry Gross

About 25 years ago, the acclaimed cellist asked a high school student to help him name his instrument. He brings his cello — aka "Petunia" — to the Fresh Air studio for music and conversation.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

From Pop-Tarts to Happy Meals, a food writer recreates American classics with an Asian flavor

12:38pm May 29, 2024

by Juliana Kim

While the restaurant world diversifies, Taiwanese American food creator Frankie Gaw saw American grocery stores still stocked with the same ingredients and flavors from decades ago. So, he came up with his own versions of Cheerios and Pop-Tarts.

Sarah Kameela Impey as Saira in We Are Lady Parts.

Arts

'We Are Lady Parts' rocks with bracing honesty and nuance

11:03am May 29, 2024

The Peacock series We Are Lady Parts is a bold and very funny comedy about an up-and-coming London punk band called Lady Parts. The members of Lady Parts, and its manager, are all young Muslim women, from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Over the course of its first season, each member experiences triumphs and setbacks – including its lead guitarist, who strives to overcome stage fright. The show is about to return for a new season, so today, we are revisiting our conversation about it.

Queue Listen Now

Triptych of Taylor Swift, Mona Lisa and Beyoncé

Arts
Books

What's the recipe for fame? For one, you need more than talent

7:17am May 29, 2024

Why is the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world? Why are The Beatles, well, The Beatles? Behavioral economist Cass Sunstein explores the alchemy of fame.

RZA, Ghostface Killah, Sacha Jenkins, U-God, Cappadonna, Masta Killa

Wu-Tang Clan's unreleased 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' is now at an Australian museum

3:23am May 29, 2024

by Ayana Archie

The album, which features 31 songs, was previously owned by Martin Shkreli, who served seven years in prison for securities fraud, and had to forfeit it to the U.S. government.

Arts

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon answers a Wild Card question

10:10pm May 28, 2024

by Rachel Martin

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon, who just edited a new collection of poetry about the natural world called “You Are Here,” answers a question on NPR's Wild Card with Rachel Martin.

Queue Listen Now

See the newly verified Caravaggio painting going on display in Spain

2:07pm May 28, 2024

by Joe Hernandez

The painting, entitled Ecce Homo, was attributed to a different artist when it went to auction in 2021, but the Prado museum says it has now been verified as a lost work of the Italian master.

Kiefer Sutherland in Designated Survivor.

Arts

Terrible but bingeable TV shows

5:40am May 28, 2024

What is it about a show that turns you into a bitter-ender, that keeps you dutifully watching every last episode, long after the train has jumped the tracks? Even when you know it's not good, but, for you anyway, it's just good enough to muddle through, all the way to the finale? Today, we're talking about terrible but bingeable TV shows.

Queue Listen Now