Arts

Everyone knows how to sing "Happy Birthday to You." But performing the song in movies or on TV requires payment of sometimes hefty licensing fees. Now the song is at the heart of a lawsuit.

'Happy Birthday' Hits Sour Notes When It Comes To Song's Free Use

2:53pm September 06, 2015

by NPR Staff

"Happy Birthday to You" is sung everywhere, but because it's copyrighted, it's rarely heard on TV or in movies. A filmmaker has filed a lawsuit seeking to make the song part of the public domain.

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Books
Arts

Why The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Are Good For You

10:12am September 06, 2015

by David C. Barnett

It was known as the black Pulitzer Prize. Edith Anisfield Wolf created the award in 1935 to honor books that explored issues of race and culture diversity. Thursday is its 80th anniversary.

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'Wingin' It' Takes Funky On The Road With 'Boz Scaggs

10:12am September 06, 2015

On this week's "Wingin' It," music historian Ashley Kahn shares his favorite road trip song, "Loan Me a Dime," by Boz Scaggs, featuring Duane Allman.

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Books
Arts

In A Shadow Tongue, 'The Wake' Tells Of Bloody Battles And Old Gods

7:03am September 06, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Paul Kingsnorth invented a whole new language for his novel about the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Critic Jason Sheehan says that hard work paid off.

Books
Arts

Lighter Than Air: An End-Of-Summer Comics Collection

7:03am September 06, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

Just in time for the long Labor Day weekend, we've got the perfect selection of comics to help you wring the last bits of sunlight out of summer: plenty of heroism and romance, but nothing too heavy.

Books
Arts

Jesse Eisenberg's New Book Gets Seriously Absurd (And A Little Serious)

6:36pm September 05, 2015

by NPR Staff

The actor and writer has a collection of funny short stories that also mine some emotional truths — from post-gender attempts at pick-ups to a lonely 9-year-old reviewing expensive restaurants.

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Arts

Not My Job: Chef Edward Lee Gets Quizzed On Dog Racing

1:25pm September 05, 2015

We recorded the show in Louisville, Ky., this week — the capital of horse racing. So we've invited Lee to play a game called "It's just like horse racing, if you pretend they're tiny horses."

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Salman Rushdie is the author of 12 novels, including Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was once the subject of death threats; now, when asked if he can move about freely Rushdie responds: "You have to stop asking me. ... It's been like 1

Books
Arts

Salman Rushdie: These Days, 'Everyone Is Upset All The Time'

11:38am September 05, 2015

by NPR Staff

"Everything I write upsets somebody," Rushdie tells NPR's Scott Simon. His latest book, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, sweeps the reader into a turbulent, magical, mythological world.

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Books
Arts

'Harriet Chance' Explores Late-Life Reinvention

11:38am September 05, 2015

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Jonathan Evison about his new novel, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance, in which the title character finds herself on an Alaskan cruise with the ghost of her husband and a daughter she can't trust.

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Books
Arts

'Dragon Heart' Is Epic Fantasy With A Gothic Air

7:03am September 05, 2015

by Jason Heller

Historical novelist Cecelia Holland ventures into fantasy with this tale of a mute princess and a dragon. Critic Jason Heller says the book has an intriguing and unexpected core of Gothic romance.