Arts

Books
Arts

'Crooked' Nixon Knew: There Are Worse Things Than Nukes

7:03am July 28, 2015

by Jason Heller

Austin Grossman's new novel is half Lovecraftian horror, half thoughtful character study of a President Nixon who's in charge of an alternate America built not on democracy, but on dark magic.

'I Am Cait' Premieres As Reality Series With A Cause

7:24pm July 27, 2015

by Eric Deggans

NPR reviews the premiere of I Am Cait, E! network's new reality series in which Caitlyn Jenner introduces her female identity to her family and explores transgender issues.

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Books
Arts

'Jane Eyre' Retelling Swaps English Countryside For Bustling City Streets

6:12pm July 27, 2015

Patricia Park's novel, Re Jane, is a retelling of Charlotte Bronte's classic Jane Eyre set in modern-day New York and South Korea. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with author Jean Kwok about Park's novel.

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Arts

'I Am Cait' Review: Brave, Tasteful — And Kind Of Boring

5:55pm July 27, 2015

I Am Cait, the E! Entertainment reality show about Caitlyn Jenner, premieres Sunday night. NPR's Arun Rath speaks with Slate TV critic Willa Paskin about the show.

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Donald Trump On A Circus Peanut, And More Food Art With A Political Bite

4:48pm July 27, 2015

by Maria Godoy

Artist Lauren Garfinkel creates indelible images on edible canvases. Some are silly (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a nacho supreme), others haunting. All offer food for thought on current events.

Costume designer Walter Plunkett made an intricate watercolor design for Scarlett O'Hara's famous curtain dress in Gone with the Wind.

Arts

Discover A Trove Of Hollywood Treasures At The Motion Picture Academy Library

3:21pm July 27, 2015

by Susan Stamberg

Here, you can find the Cowardly Lion's mane, the designs for Scarlett O'Hara's drapery dress, and many other artifacts that reveal the history of the movie biz.

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National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry, shown in Kuwait in 1991, says his big break came at a refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, after he heard the sound of children laughing.

Arts

How One Photographer Captured A Piercing Gaze That Shook The World

2:16pm July 27, 2015

by Daniel Hajek

In 1984, Steve McCurry was in Pakistan covering a refugee crisis for National Geographic. Captivated by a young girl's eyes, he clicked the shutter — and took one of the magazine's most iconic photos.

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Arts

'Call Me Lucky': A Documentary Of Friendship, Childhood Abuse And Survival

2:05pm July 27, 2015

Barry Crimmins mentored Bobcat Goldthwait when they were up-and-coming comics in the '80s. A film directed by Goldthwait details their relationship — and the sexual abuse Crimmins suffered as a child.

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Books
Arts

'Sandman Slim' Is Urban Fantasy With Brains, Guts And A Blackened Heart

1:24pm July 27, 2015

by Jason Heller

This trip in the NPR Books Time Machine, we're rewinding Richard Kadrey's hard-boiled supernatural noir series about a half-angel, half-human man who fights crime and occasionally saves the world.

Books
Arts

A Tale Of Tarot And Boy Wizards Takes A Disturbing Turn In 'Child Eater'

12:34pm July 27, 2015

by Jason Heller

Rachel Pollack's The Child Eater is a winning mix of contemporary horror and medieval high fantasy, stringing together the stories of two boys from two vastly different worlds.