Arts & Life

Books
Arts

'Philosopher Kings' Leaves Plato's Republic Far Behind

5:00pm June 30, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

The second volume of Jo Walton's trilogy about the creation of a real-world Republic picks up 30 years after events of the first book. Reviewer Amal El-Mohtar says it's an expectation-shattering read.

Books
Arts

How A Stolen Backpack In Casablanca Inspired A Novel About Shifting Identity

3:29pm June 30, 2015

The main character in Vendela Vida's new novel is alone in Morocco when her bag with her passport and credit cards is stolen. Vida says The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty was inspired by her own travels.

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Drawn And Quarterly: Twenty-five Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels

Books
Arts

After 25 Years, A Comics Publisher Pauses To Collect And Reflect

2:56pm June 30, 2015

by Glen Weldon

A massive new anthology collects the impressive and varied work of the Montreal-based publisher Drawn And Quarterly, whose comics and graphic novels represent a deeply human kind of storytelling.

How 4 Gay Black Women Fought Back Against Sexual Harassment — And Landed In Jail

1:53pm June 30, 2015

by Nicole Pasulka

They're called the New Jersey 4, a group of young women who were catcalled and allegedly attacked in New York. Why did they — and not their harasser — end up in jail? A new documentary digs in.

Books
Arts

A Lyrical Coming Of Age Tale In 'Bird Hill'

10:03am June 30, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Naomi Jackson's first novel follows a pair of Brooklyn sisters sent to live in their mother's small Barbados hometown. Critic Michael Schaub says "it's not a perfect book, but it's a lovely one."

Art of the people: Fill a glass with hope, a butter sculpture crafted by Jim Victor and Marie Pelton. "People don't understand how [the sculpting] is done -- it's like magic and just appears," Victor says. "But people understand butter."

A Toast To Butter Sculpture, The Art That Melts The Hearts Of The Masses

5:51pm June 29, 2015

by Tove Danovich

Once the province of nobles, food sculptures became the art of the people in America. Nowhere is this truer than the butter sculpture, a form that is at once familiar and impressive.

A drawing of two clinking martini glasses.

Books
Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour, Small Batch Edition: Audiobooks

2:37pm June 29, 2015

by Linda Holmes

We have a conversation with one of our favorite regular-book enthusiasts about the special matter of the audiobook.

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Marvel has put half-African-American, half-Latino teen Miles Morales in the Spider-Man suit.

Books
Arts

Marvel's Half-Black, Half-Latino Spider-Man Is Going Mainstream

2:34pm June 29, 2015

by NPR Staff

"It won't be [that] Miles is Spider-Man with an asterisk or some kind of adjective or adverb attached to it," says writer Brian Michael Bendis. "He is going to be Spider-Man — just Spider-Man."

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A Philadelphia mural titled You Go Girl by Jetsonorama and Ursula Rucker. This is just one of many murals that the city's Mural Arts Program helped create.

What Right Do Muralists Have To The Buildings They Paint On?

1:52pm June 29, 2015

by Paige Pfleger

Musicians have their instruments, painters have their canvases, and muralists have ... walls. But when the building a mural is on is changing, the muralist has to choose to fight — or say goodbye.

Books
Arts

Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White

1:31pm June 29, 2015

As a biracial child growing up in Philadelphia, writer Mat Johnson identified as black – but looked white. His new novel is about a man who returns to his hometown after inheriting a run-down mansion.

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