Arts

WATCH: Marbles Fight To The Bitter End For Victory

2:28pm April 13, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Take a break from the news for a totally compelling, entirely gravity-driven race that captured hearts and minds on the Internet this week. Plus: literary parodies, because this is NPR.

'Door To Door' Reveals The Magnificent — And Maddening — Story of Traffic

2:25pm April 13, 2016

Edward Humes describes his new book as a "transportation detective story" that chronicles the hidden characters, locations and machinery driving our same-day-delivery, traffic-packed world.

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Books
Arts

'A Fierce And Subtle Poison' Ventures Into A Strange And Troubled Garden

1:37pm April 13, 2016

by Caitlyn Paxson

Samantha Mabry's novel riffs on authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Isabel Allende to create a story that's both an atmospheric glimpse at a Caribbean island and a self-aware critique of colonialism.

The renowned Bangkok Market, located in Los Angeles, is a longtime supermarket for retail and wholesale Thai produce, spices, chili pastes and household products.

The Family-Run Thai Market That Feeds LA's Eclectic Food Scene

10:34am April 13, 2016

by Mandalit del Barco

The Tilakamonkul family opened Bangkok Market in 1972. It became a magnet for Asian immigrants and chefs looking for rare ingredients. Their own son, Jet Tila, is now a celebrity chef.

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In 1997, Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers (Version O) — shown here at Christie's in Hong Kong — was part of a groundbreaking art auction that sent prices soaring.

Arts

Panama Papers Provide Rare Glimpse Inside Famously Opaque Art Market

6:34pm April 12, 2016

by Elizabeth Blair

The leaked documents tell the backstory of a groundbreaking Christie's auction, and the purchase of a painting one man claims was seized from his grandfather during World War II.

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Nadia Manzoor and Radhika Vaz star in the Web sketch-comedy show Shugs & Fats. Season 3 of the show will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 14 and will be available online on April 15.

Arts

A Web Comedy Series Is 'Walking The Line Between Hipsters And Hijabis'

5:17pm April 12, 2016

Comics Nadia Manzoor and Radhika Vaz play Muslim immigrants dealing with speed dating, catcalls and other aspects of life in secular New York in their sketch-comedy series Shugs & Fats.

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Robert McCloskey was still a young artist when he brought a crate of ducks back to his studio apartment to do some sketches. Since then, the plucky Mallard family (Jack, Lack, Mack, et al.) has charmed its way into our hearts.

Books
Arts

Make Way For Celebration: These Ducklings Are Turning 75

4:00pm April 12, 2016

by Lynn Neary

Robert McCloskey was a young artist when he brought a crate of ducks back to his studio apartment. Since then, the plucky Mallard family (Jack, Lack, Mack, et al.) has charmed its way into our hearts.

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Books
Arts

#NationalPoetryMonth: Verses That Celebrate Life On The Farm

3:02pm April 12, 2016

by Maria Godoy

Poet Tess Taylor's new book, Work & Days, is a lyrical meditation on food and farming and our "fragile and ultimately, necessary relationship we have with the earth." Download her illustrated poems.

Edna O'Brien's first novel, The Country Girls, was published in 1961.

Books
Arts

A Clash Of Manners And Monsters In Edna O'Brien's 'Little Red Chairs'

2:25pm April 12, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

A charismatic stranger in a remote Irish village turns out to be a war criminal in O'Brien's new novel. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls the book "one of [O'Brien's] best and most ambitious novels yet."

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Books
Arts

The 'Regional Office' Doesn't Quite Deliver

1:26pm April 12, 2016

by Jason Heller

Manuel Gonzales' ambitious debut novel has a great hook — a top secret organization battling aliens, zombies and evil masterminds — but dry humor and spirited dialogue get lost in a convoluted plot.