Arts & Life

Helen Mirren (in blue) plays Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience, a play that imagines the private conversations between the queen and her prime ministers.

Arts

Helen Mirren Extends Her Elizabethan Reign In 'The Audience'

1:08pm March 08, 2015

by Jeff Lunden

Playwright Peter Morgan eavesdrops on more than 60 years of private conversations between Queen Elizabeth II, played by Mirren, and her prime ministers in The Audience.

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Arts

City And Stating The Obvious

1:08pm March 08, 2015

by Will Shortz

Letters that start the name of a city are combined with letters that start the name of its state to spell a word. What are the city and state? For the word "latex," the answer would be Laredo, Texas.

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The Seratones Rock The Tiny Desk With A Jungle Beat

1:08pm March 08, 2015

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks to AJ Haynes and Adam Davis of the Louisiana rock band Seratones. The group had a entry to the recent NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest, though they didn't win the final prize.

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Seniors Speed-Date In 'Age Of Love'

1:08pm March 08, 2015

by Ina Jaffe

In his new documentary, The Age of Love, filmmaker Steven Loring profiled several people between 70 and 90 at a speed dating event in Rochester, N.Y.

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Books
Arts

Broken Family Needs To Have A 'Man At The Helm'

1:08pm March 08, 2015

In Nina Stibbe's new novel, Man at the Helm, Lizzie, 9, wants to find a man for her newly divorced mother. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Stibbe about the freedom of writing in a child's voice.

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Books
Arts

30 Seconds That Echo Through History In 'Epitaph'

1:58pm March 07, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Forget whatever you thought you knew about the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Mary Doria Russell's new novel is an epic investigation into all the things that made the bloodshed inevitable.

Dame Edna Everage — a character created by Australian comedian Barry Humphries — models a hat based on the Sydney Opera House. She is currently performing Dame Edna's Glorious Goodbye: The Farewell Tour.

Arts

After 60 Years Of Fabulousness, Dame Edna Embarks On Her Farewell Tour

10:29am March 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

The housewife and superstar — a creation of Australian comedian Barry Humphries — says it's not entirely clear what her retirement will look like. "I'm a restless spirit," she says.

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A German U-boat sank the luxury ocean liner Lusitania, seen here in 1907, on May 7, 1915.

Books
Arts

The Lusitania Mystery: Why British Codebreakers Didn't Try To Save It

10:29am March 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

The ocean liner's sinking by a German U-boat led to the U.S. entering World War I. Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake, says British intelligence knew the ship was in danger and didn't tell anyone.

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Books
Arts

'Bowling Alone' Author Tackles The American Dream

10:29am March 07, 2015

American political scientist Robert Putnam says we've lost sight of America as the land of opportunity. NPR's Scott Simon talks with him about his new book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.

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A "ballet" of Brussels sprouts dazzles at the Food Porn Index, a site that tracks which foods are trending in social media part of an effort to heighten the appeal of healthy eating.

Voluptuous Veg: Can Food Porn Seed Lust For Healthy Eating?

5:01pm March 06, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Tempting-looking spoonfuls of chocolate are plentiful online. Beautiful Brussels sprouts? Not so much. A campaign aims to boost the number of these images and whet our appetites for healthy foods.