Arts

Arts

Meg Wolitzer: Catnip For 'A Certain Kind Of Reader'

10:56am September 17, 2015

The New York Times bestselling author of The Interestings and Belzhar explains writing for teens and her failed attempt at journaling, plus emerges from an anagram challenge delightfully unscathed.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Killing Kind' Is Pure Thriller With A Smart, Vicious Twist

7:03am September 17, 2015

by Jason Heller

Chris Holm's new novel is about an hit man who only targets other hit men. Critic Jason Heller says the book's somewhat outlandish setup results in lean action and breakneck execution.

Comedian's Sept. 11 Lie Revealed

8:14pm September 16, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

Steve Rannazzisi admits he lied for years about being in the World Trade Center when terrorists attacked it in 2001. A fellow comic, whose firefighter father died that day, accepts the apology.

Books
Arts

Is 007 Losing His Cool? 'Trigger Mortis' Helps Bring Bond Into 21st Century

6:44pm September 16, 2015

by NPR Staff

From Bond's smoking habit to the Pussy Galore storyline, there's a lot about the franchise that doesn't fly anymore. In a new Bond novel, writer Anthony Horowitz gives the spy story a modern edge.

Queue Listen Now

Ken Chen is the executive director of the Asian American Writers' Workshop in New York.

Why A White Poet Posed As Asian To Get Published, And What's Wrong With That

6:44pm September 16, 2015

by Ken Chen

A white man called Michael Derrick Hudson used the name Yi-Fen Chou as a strategy to get published. Ken Chen of the Asian American Writers' Workshop in New York says the writer wanted to be "special."

Queue Listen Now

Real-life best friends Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells star in HBO's Doll & Em, in which fictional versions of themselves try to write an off-Broadway play together.

Arts

Like A 'Hall Of Mirrors,' TV Duo Dance With Selves On Other Side Of Screen

6:43pm September 16, 2015

by NPR Staff

Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells are best friends and British actresses — who also happen to play best friends and British actresses on TV. In Doll & Em, the meta experiment gets a bit out of hand.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Monty Python's John Cleese, Eric Idle Reunite In 'Together Again At Last'

6:43pm September 16, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to comedians John Cleese and Eric Idle of Monty Python about their new show, Together Again At Last...For The Very First Time, which begins its U.S. tour in October.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Superpowers Meet The Supernatural In 'Wayward'

3:07pm September 16, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer will get a kick out of a graphic novel series that takes the magical-teens-battling-evil-monsters trope and transplants it to a lovingly rendered Tokyo.

Arts

'Destiny: The Taken King' Combines 3 Different Video Game Genres

3:07pm September 16, 2015

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Forbes gaming columnist Paul Tassi about Tuesday's release of The Taken King, a new installment of the hugely popular Destiny video game.

Queue Listen Now

Carson Daly jokes with host Neal Patrick Harris during last night's premiere episode of NBC's Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris.

Arts

Neil Patrick Harris' 'Best Time Ever': A Variety Show In Need Of More Variety

3:00pm September 16, 2015

by David Bianculli

NBC's new live weekly show mixes mini-quiz shows, game shows, production numbers, stunt competitions and pranks. Despite all this, critic David Bianculli says it hasn't yet reached its full potential.

Queue Listen Now