Arts

How one Mexican immigrant works to honor traditions across borders

3:30pm July 16, 2024

As hundreds of thousands of migrants reach the United States' southern border every month, many hold onto traditions like coming-of-age ceremonies to give them a sense of home.

This absorbing debut novel about writing takes its cue from 'Mrs. Dalloway'

2:50pm July 16, 2024

by Maureen Corrigan

Rosalind Brown's debut novel, Practice, centers on an undergraduate student trying to write an essay on Shakespeare. Along the way, we are treated to the fleeting insights of the the brain at work.

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Arts

'Janet Planet' star Julianne Nicholson is proud to be a character actor

12:35pm July 16, 2024

by Dave Davies

Nicholson says when strangers recognize her on the street, they're never quite sure how they know her: "They might think I sold them kittens, or I work in the ice cream shop."

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Arts

The best games of 2024 so far, picked by the NPR staff

5:02am July 16, 2024

by James Perkins Mastromarino

NPR staff and contributors share their favorite video games of 2024 so far.

Tom Ellis as Godcat and Ally Maki as Greta in Netflix's Exploding Kittens.

Arts

'Exploding Kittens' turns a simple card game into a wild cartoon

3:00am July 16, 2024

The best-selling card game Exploding Kittens has been adapted into a new Netflix animated series. It does plenty of its own world-building: God (Tom Ellis) and the devil (Sasheer Zamata) are sent to earth, where they take the form of talking cats — and meddle in the lives of a struggling family.

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California bans school rules requiring parents notification of child's pronoun change

2:06am July 16, 2024

by The Associated Press

The law, which is the first in the nation, bans school rules requiring school staff to disclose a student's gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child's permission.

A woman reads a book in a park on a sunny day.

Books
Arts

Simmering over summer books

9:20pm July 15, 2024

We're at the peak of summer, which means sunny days on the grass with a good book! Best-selling authors Tia Williams and Jean Chen Ho join host Brittany Luse to give their recommendations for great summer reads. They also offer some armchair theories on why we love a gossipy summer novel.

Books mentioned in this episode:

The Guest by Emma Klein
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong
Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove with Ben Greenman
Devil is Fine by John Vercher
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.

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Arts

By giving him some gum, a grandmother opened a young boy's mind

6:24pm July 15, 2024

On this week's "My Unsung Hero" from the team at Hidden Brain: When Shalom Auslander was seven years old, his grandmother offered him something small that made him rethink his entire religion.

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Milwaukee Prepares For The Republican National Convention

Arts

Artists on the schedule for Monday night at the RNC

5:34pm July 15, 2024

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Ever since his 2016 campaign, former President Trump has struggled to attract support from high-profile musicians and entertainers. Here is who is playing tonight at the RNC.

50 years later, Stevie Wonder's 'First Finale' remains ripe for rediscovery

1:32pm July 15, 2024

by Ken Tucker

Fulfillingness’ First Finale won the Grammy for Best Album in 1975, yet today it feels underrated — perhaps because its overall tone was more meditative than the albums immediately preceding it.

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