Arts

The cast of DesiQuest, a Dungeons & Dragons actual-play show on YouTube.

Arts

What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, listening and reading

5:01pm March 01, 2024

Each week, Pop Culture Happy Hour guests and hosts share what's bringing them joy. This week: The Open Ears Project, R.F Kuang's The Poppy War trilogy and a Dungeons & Dragons show called DesiQuest.

No one seems to want Louisville's 200-year-old King Louis XVI statue

4:52pm March 01, 2024

by Roberto Roldan

Louisville is wrestling over what to do with a statue of its colonial namesake. It has been in storage since it was vandalized in 2020. Museums and the public are hesitant to put it back on display.

Prepositions are permissible, now — will English language be ok?

4:13pm March 01, 2024

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with John McWhorter, Columbia University linguist and New York Times columnist about the recent Merriam-Webster declaration that English sentences may end with prepositions.

Alyssa Milano says that celebrity activism is at its best "when we are able to hand over the microphone" to the "incredible heroes" doing activism work day to day. She's pictured above in July 2018 at a protest following President Trump's meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin. A longtime activist, Milano says it's impossible to avoid "the vitriol," especially when talking about the Middle East.

Arts

When celebrities show up to protest, the media follows — but so does the backlash

4:13pm March 01, 2024

by Elizabeth Blair

The Middle East crisis has sharply divided Hollywood. Celebrities who've spoken out have lost jobs and been harassed. But there's a long history of celebrities lending their voices to bigger causes.

A rehearsal of Émigré by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall on Wednesday.

A story of Jewish Shanghai, told through music

4:13pm March 01, 2024

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

A fictional tale of the real-life Jewish community in Shanghai during World War II — with a cross-cultural love story at its heart — is premiering at the New York Philharmonic on Thursday.

The American Library Association had its annual conference in Chicago last year. Several states have moved to disassociate with the ALA amid what some conservatives say has been politicization of the group. ALA officials deny having a political agenda.

In Georgia, a bill to cut all ties with the American Library Association is advancing

2:22pm March 01, 2024

by Tovia Smith

Several other states have made moves to disassociate from the nation's oldest library professional association. But Georgia's bill, the first of its kind in the nation, goes further than the others.

Arts

Paul Giamatti's own high school years came in handy in 'The Holdovers'

1:24pm March 01, 2024

by Sam Briger

Giamatti is nominated for an Oscar for his role as a pompous boarding school teacher who's assigned to supervise a student who has nowhere to go over winter break. Originally broadcast Jan. 10, 2024.

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Arts

Remembering Richard Lewis, a veteran stand-up comedian with a caustic wit

1:24pm March 01, 2024

by Terry Gross

The Brooklyn-born comic made his standup debut in 1971. His routines were full of biting takes on love, life, and physical and mental health. Lewis died Feb. 27. Originally broadcast in '88 and 2000.

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A Muslim man prays at Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab Mosque on April 02, 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Arts

What are you praying for this Ramadan? NPR wants to know.

1:00pm March 01, 2024

Ramadan, the holiest month on the Islamic calendar, begins around March 10. NPR wants to hear from our Muslim listeners and readers about what your hopes and prayers are for this month?

Does climate change exist? And does a character know it? The Oscar-nominated films Nyad, left, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and Barbie met the criteria for a new challenge inspired by the famous Bechdel Test.

Arts

There's a new 'Climate Reality Check' test — these 3 Oscar-nominated features passed

12:00pm March 01, 2024

by Chloe Veltman

Does climate change exist? And does a character know it? Barbie, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and Nyad met the criteria for a new challenge inspired by the famous Bechdel Test.