Arts

The scent of fresh pencils is in the air, and homework assignments are around the corner. In honor of back-to-school season, author Alexander Aciman recommends The Lost Estate by Henri Alain-Fournier.

The 71-year-old German filmmaker made daring movies in the 1970s that pushed viewers into unsettling mental spaces. The tremendous boxed set Herzog: The Collection highlights his authentic style.

Did you know that the largest annual book festival in the entire state of North Carolina is free, open to the public…and in downtown Winston-Salem? Yep, Bookmarks is gearing up for its 10th annual Festival of Books and Authors with a veritable Who's Who list of best-selling authors in every category and for all ages. Bookmarks executive Director Ginger Hendricks will fill us in on all things books. And did you know that for years now Cirque du Soleil has turned to the Triad for the lion's share of its design and production talent? Oh, it's true. The University of NC School of the Arts and Cirque are like this. Why, they've even got a little tag team thing going on next month that you can see for yourself, live in the comfortable confines of DeMile Theatre on the UNCSA campus. It's called Cirkus Theatre Project and wait'll you hear what these all-student run productions have in store this year. Outta the Bag is an hour of free lunchtime entertainment in Winston Square Park every Tuesday at noon. Program Director Lynn Byrd'll set the scene for us. And for a sample of what's to come at Bookmarks 2014, author Meg Medina and our own Bethany Chafin tackle the subject of teen bullying in Meg's award-winning novel. 

In his first graphic novel, Jules Feiffer, 85, has returned to the seedy comic strips, hard boiled novels and B movies of his youth. Maureen Corrigan says it's "a mulligan stew of murder and desire."

Starting Thursday, FXX will air all 552 episodes of The Simpsons in the longest single-series marathon in TV history. Fresh Air listens backs to interviews with the show's creator, writers and actors.

Daniel Kehlmann's F, about three brothers abandoned by their father, examines the detail of lives lived without integrity. It is brilliantly translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway.

In his new memoir, Doctored, Sandeep Jauhar describes a growing discontent among doctors and how it's affecting patients. He says rushed doctors are often practicing "defensive medicine."