Arts

Books
Arts

A Tale Of Two Captains On A Tragic Journey In 'Dead Wake'

11:11am March 10, 2015

by Jean Zimmerman

Erik Larson's new book about the sinking of the liner Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 brings the past stingingly alive. Reviewer Jean Zimmerman calls Dead Wake "thrilling, dramatic and powerful."

Arts

Irish Poet Reflects On His Time In The North Carolina Foothills

9:03am March 10, 2015

by David Ford

2015 marks the 40^th anniversary of the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America: Wake Forest University Press.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Forget Big Sky And Cowboys: 'Crow Fair' Is Set In An Unidealized Montana

8:07pm March 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

"I think there's only one interesting story ... and that's struggle," says writer Thomas McGuane. Loners, outcasts and malcontents fill the pages of his new short story collection Crow Fair.

Queue Listen Now

Jonathan Banks' character Mike Ehrmantraut (left), a hit man and fixer, was a natural to bring back to Breaking Bad's prequel Better Call Saul. Co-creator Peter Gould says he was the right contrast with Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk (right).

Arts

'Better Call Saul' Breathes New Life Into 'Breaking Bad' Characters

7:58pm March 09, 2015

The new show's co-creator says it became a writers' room joke on Breaking Bad that if something didn't fit it would go on the Saul Goodman show, or what is now AMC's Better Call Saul.

Queue Listen Now

Happy Lovers (c. 1760-65) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, is one of about 800 objects that American art collector Norton Simon purchased from Joseph Duveen. Over the years, Simon sold most of the collection off, but about 130 objects remain at the Norton Simon

Arts

Meet Joseph Duveen, The Savvy Art Dealer Who Sold European Masterpieces

3:52pm March 09, 2015

by Susan Stamberg

Duveen once observed: "Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money." A new exhibit explores the relationship between Duveen and American mega-millionaire Norton Simon.

Queue Listen Now

Sidney Poitier smolders — and swelters — in In the Heat of the Night.

Arts

The Good, The Bad And The Hot: Movies To Warm Winter's Bite

3:18pm March 09, 2015

by Bob Mondello

As much of the country shivers in the grip of a nasty winter, NPR movie critic Bob Mondello ponders cinematic heat — the movies that smolder, swelter and sizzle no matter what the mercury says.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Author Explores The Ripple Effects Of A Kidnapping In Mexico

9:52am March 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

In his collection Barefoot Dogs, Antonio Ruiz-Camacho offers varying perspectives on the kidnapping of a Mexican patriarch. He asks: "How do you reach closure when someone you love has disappeared?"

Queue Listen Now

Vatican Says Ransom Sought For Missing Michelangelo Letters

9:31am March 09, 2015

by Sylvia Poggioli

In a development reminiscent of a Dan Brown thriller, the Vatican confirmed a report that it has received a ransom demand for the return of two stolen letters written by the renaissance master Michelangelo. It's the first time the theft has been revealed. A spokesman said the Vatican refused to pay.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Cave Wall Press Poet Meg Kearney to Read at Scuppernong

8:48am March 09, 2015

by Bethany Chafin

Rhett Iseman Trull and her husband Jeff Trull are the Editors of Cave Wall Press, a literary journal of poetry and art.

Queue Listen Now

Don't try this at home: Critic Juan Vidal experiments with reading on the roof.

Arts

Reading On The Roof? Now That's Punk Rock

10:46pm March 08, 2015

by Juan Vidal

In The Savage Detectives, Roberto Bolaño invented the "visceral realists," a group of wild writers who read anywhere and everywhere — causing critic Juan Vidal to ponder the weird places we read.