Arts & Life

Salman Rushdie is the author of 12 novels, including Midnight's Children and The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was once the subject of death threats; now, when asked if he can move about freely Rushdie responds: "You have to stop asking me. ... It's been like 1

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Arts

Salman Rushdie: These Days, 'Everyone Is Upset All The Time'

11:38am September 05, 2015

by NPR Staff

"Everything I write upsets somebody," Rushdie tells NPR's Scott Simon. His latest book, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, sweeps the reader into a turbulent, magical, mythological world.

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Arts

'Harriet Chance' Explores Late-Life Reinvention

11:38am September 05, 2015

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Jonathan Evison about his new novel, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance, in which the title character finds herself on an Alaskan cruise with the ghost of her husband and a daughter she can't trust.

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Arts

'Dragon Heart' Is Epic Fantasy With A Gothic Air

7:03am September 05, 2015

by Jason Heller

Historical novelist Cecelia Holland ventures into fantasy with this tale of a mute princess and a dragon. Critic Jason Heller says the book has an intriguing and unexpected core of Gothic romance.

In Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, director Alex Gibney turns a critical lens on the Apple co-founder and his products.

Arts

New Film Asks: Were Steve Jobs' Flaws Uploaded To His Machines?

12:07am September 05, 2015

by Laura Sydell

Alex Gibney's documentary joins a growing list of Steve Jobs biopics and biographies. The director's thesis seems to be that Jobs' flawed character was infused into the machines he made.

Singer Aretha Franklin has won a temporary injunction to stop a documentary about her live album Amazing Grace from being released. The film was to premiere Friday.

Aretha Franklin Blocks Premiere Of Concert Film 'Amazing Grace'

8:33pm September 04, 2015

by Bill Chappell

A documentary about Franklin's famous 1972 live album Amazing Grace has suffered years of delays due to technical and legal challenges. It was to premiere Friday.

Arts

Open Your Eyes To The Infinite Possibility Of The Tomato

8:24pm September 04, 2015

by Eliza Barclay

How do you transform 100 pounds of 60 varieties of tomatoes into a seven-course meal? It may sound like a math problem, but it's more a creative journey into the infinite possibility of the tomato.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder.

'NeuroTribes' Examines The History — And Myths — Of The Autism Spectrum

4:35pm September 04, 2015

Steve Silberman talks about how Nazi extermination plans and a discredited scientific paper about childhood vaccines shaped our current understanding of autism.

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Author Jennifer Jordan at an apple farm in the Central coast of California circa 1976.

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Arts

Why Are We Drawn To Heirloom Fruits And Veggies? They're 'Edible Memory'

2:01pm September 04, 2015

by Eliza Barclay

Heirloom foods have grown in popularity, making their way into gardens, farms, farmers markets and restaurants. A sociologist says they offer a powerful emotional and physical connection to the past.

Arts

'Fresh Air' Remembers 'Nightmare' Director Wes Craven

1:45pm September 04, 2015

Craven, who died Sunday, revitalized and the horror genre with his Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream movie franchises. Includes excerpts from interviews originally broadcast in 1980, 1987 and 1998.

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Movie lovers in Nairobi gather for a nighttime screening at last year's Slum Film Festival.

He Had One Week To Make A Movie For The Slum Film Festival

1:08pm September 04, 2015

by Abigail Higgins

The filmmaker is 21. He had to direct and star in a movie — his first movie, in fact. He was really, really stressed. Would he make the deadline?