Arts
Watch This: The Akils On Black Film And TV You Can't Miss
The husband and wife team of Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil have created some of the most iconic African-American characters on television. This is their list of must-see shows and movies.
Black Slugs And 'Black Holes,' An Artful Portrait Of Depression
Jasmine Warga's debut young adult novel My Heart and Other Black Holes follows two teens who make a suicide pact, in a carefully layered character study that sometimes stumbles on the details.
Philip Levine Reads 'What Work Is'
Former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Levine died on Saturday at the age of 87. In Levine's memory, we air his reading of the poem "What Work Is."
Book Review: 'The Evening Chorus'
Alan Cheuse reviews The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphries.
One Playwright's 'Obligation' To Confront Race And Identity In The U.S.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has written a trilogy of provocative and fantastical explorations of race. His latest, based on a 1859 melodrama, pokes fun at conventions while raising difficult questions.
Fake Food George Washington Could've Sunk His Fake Teeth Into
Herring with mustard sauce, ham hocks, hog jowls: Sandy Levins re-creates the Founding Father's meals for America's historic houses. Just don't try to eat them; they're sculpted replicas.
Ten Hearts For The Country — And Language — Of 'Ice Cream Star'
Reviewer Jason Sheehan says Sandra Newman's debut novel may start some arguments — but readers would be better off just sitting down, opening the book and letting the beauty of her language sink in.
Philip Levine, Who Found Poetry On Detroit's Assembly Lines, Dies At 87
In his six-decade career, Levine found grace and beauty in the lives of working people, especially the people and places of his youth. He was a United States poet laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner.