Arts

The Automobile Club of Egypt by Alaa Al Aswany

Books
Arts

'The Automobile Club' Tours Egypt's Troubled History

7:03am August 20, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Alaa Al Aswany's new book sets the dynamics of a fallen family and an elitist car club against the tensions of post-World War II Egypt, but a clunky translation and too many plots keep the brakes on.

Waitress tells the story of Jenna (Jessie Mueller), a diner waitress who is stuck in a stifling, abusive marriage and yearns for a better life.

Arts

'Waitress' Serves Dark, Funny Fare With A Musical Twist (And A Side Of Pie)

8:55pm August 19, 2015

by Andrea Shea

The musical was adapted from a 2007 indie film starring Keri Russell. It follows a diner waitress who pours her churning emotions about her abusive marriage into creatively named pies.

Queue Listen Now

House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, is one of the many (many) shows now available on your TV — and in other places, too.

Arts

Television 2015: Too Much In Too Many Ways

7:02pm August 19, 2015

by Linda Holmes

There's an awful lot of TV and an awful lot of ways to watch it. In fact, there may be too much entirely.

Queue Listen Now

'Rosenwald' Celebrates 'The Greatest Philanthropist You've Never Heard Of'

6:54pm August 19, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Aviva Kempner about her latest documentary on Julius Rosenwald, the successful businessman who helped advance the cause of educating African-Americans in the South.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

As More Women, Minorities Win Hugos, 'Sad Puppies' Blast Sci-Fi Awards

6:39pm August 19, 2015

by Petra Mayer

The prestigious Hugo Awards, which honor science fiction and fantasy writing, will be held Saturday. Lately, they have been given to more and more women and writers of color as the world of sci-fi opens up — and that's prompted a backlash from a group of mostly white male writers who call themselves the "Sad Puppies."

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Six Friends, A Pile of Cash And A Game With Deadly Consequences

6:33pm August 19, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Black Chalk hinges on a plot twist that we won't give away. But we will say it's the summer thriller we've been waiting for: about a teenage game that turns dangerous as its players become adults.

Queue Listen Now

Robert Taylor stars in Longmire, which is moving from A&E to Netflix.

Arts

Television 2015: Netflix Is A Video Store That Saved A Western

6:02pm August 19, 2015

by Linda Holmes

People in television talk a lot about brands, but sometimes the way a content provider brands itself can actually affect what shows it can save.

A Cherokee purple tomato grown in Alaska in 2011.

Cherokee Purple: The Story Behind One Of Our Favorite Tomatoes

5:55pm August 19, 2015

by Eliza Barclay

Consumers have seed savers and amateur breeders to thank for discovering and sharing heirloom varieties of some vegetables and tomatoes like the Cherokee Purple.

This Panama hat woven by Simon Espinal may be the finest one ever made.

You Asked, We Deliver: A Portrait Of The World's Finest Panama Hat

5:02pm August 19, 2015

by Roff Smith

So here it is — only it turns out that it won't be 100 percent finished until someone buys this high point of haberdashery.

Books
Arts

'Zer0es' Takes The Cyber-Thriller To An Electrifying Extreme

10:14am August 19, 2015

by Jason Heller

Chuck Wendig's brisk new thriller deals in cutting-edge tech, but it's traditional at heart, pitting a rag-tag band of hackers against a big, sinister cyber-entity and the threat of global disaster.