Arts

Books
Arts

Richard III: Not Such A Bad Guy After All?

11:20pm November 09, 2014

by NPR Staff

Archaeologist Mike Pitts' new book, Digging for Richard III, recounts the search for the king's skeleton — and sheds new light on a ruler who's often seen as one of history's great villains.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Remembering Hedy Lamarr: Actress, Weapons Systems Developer

6:21pm November 09, 2014

Renaissance woman Hedy Lamarr was born on this day 100 years ago. Not only was she a major screen actress, she was also an inventor. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates speaks with Lamarr biographer Richard Rhodes.

Queue Listen Now

'Occupy The Farm': In Berkeley, The Revolution Will Be Irrigated

4:25pm November 09, 2014

by Allison Aubrey

A new documentary film follows protesters who occupied a research farm owned by the University of California. The film has become a symbol of the subversive possibilities of urban farming.

Books
Arts

Imagining Lives That Might Have Happened In 'End Of Days'

12:13pm November 09, 2014

by NPR Staff

German author Jenny Erpenbeck's new novel grapples with the classic question: What if? What if one choice, one event goes differently, and the whole course of your life changes?

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Will Self's 'Shark' Swims In A Chaotic Sea

5:41am November 09, 2014

by J.P. O'Malley

Featuring the same time frame and some of the same characters as his last novel, Umbrella, Shark continues Self's modernist exploration of the human psyche and the violence done by modern society.

A black hole might be the key to humankind's future in Interstellar.

Arts

Tripping Into A Black Hole In This Week's Movies

8:43pm November 08, 2014

by Bob Mondello

NPR film critic Bob Mondello gets blinded by science this week at the movies, what with The Theory of Everything, Interstellar, Big Hero 6 and some really cool black holes.

Queue Listen Now

Over a span of six decades, Doris Payne has stolen some $2 million in jewels. She is the subject of a new documentary called The Life & Crimes of Doris Payne: A Tale of Carats, Cons and Creating Your Own American Dream.

Arts

Inside The 'Life And Crimes' Of A Career Jewel Thief

6:33pm November 08, 2014

by NPR Staff

International jewel thief Doris Payne, now 84, has a criminal history that dates back to the 1950s. A new documentary tells her story and goes inside one of her more recent trials.

Queue Listen Now

Many artisan cheese producers never pasteurize their milk – it's raw. The milk's natural microbial community is still in there. This microbial festival gives cheese variety and intrigues scientists.

Science
Arts

The Ancient Art Of Cheese-Making Attracts Scientific Gawkers

12:33pm November 08, 2014

by Kerri Smith

In England, cheese-making is an art stretching back hundreds of years. But recently, scientists have become interested in the microbes that make the country's artisan cheeses so tasty.

Queue Listen Now

Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking in director James Marsh's The Theory of Everything.

Arts

New Stephen Hawking Biopic Explores Love, Not Science

12:33pm November 08, 2014

by NPR Staff

The Theory of Everything, starring Eddie Redmayne, focuses on the theoretical physicist's relationship with his wife more than his professional accomplishments.

Queue Listen Now

The Morbid Anatomy Museum's "Art of Mourning" exhibition includes post-mortem photography, spirit photography and death masks.

Arts

New York Exhibitions Dance With Death Through Victorian Mourning Culture

12:33pm November 08, 2014

by Karen Michel

Bereavement fashion, post-mortem photography and floral hair wreaths are just some of what you'll find at the Met's "Death Becomes Her" and the Morbid Anatomy Museum's "Art of Mourning."

Queue Listen Now