Arts & Life

The stars of Fox's new drama Empire (clockwise from left): Bryshere Gray, Trai Byers, Jussie Smollett, Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.

Arts

Fox's 'Empire' Sets 'Dynasty'-Style Soap Opera To A Hip-Hop Beat

3:02pm January 08, 2015

by Eric Deggans

The drama Empire features Terrence Howard as a ruthless music mogul building a worldwide company. But NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says the show works best when focused on the black family at its core.

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Aurora Leveroni, 91, is also known as "Nonna Marijuana."

Arts

Way Beyond Brownies: Vice Launches A Marijuana Cooking Show

10:37am January 08, 2015

by Eliza Barclay

"Nonna Marijuana's Italian Feast" is the first episode of a Web series exploring pot cuisine. It features a charming 91-year-old grandmother who cooks cannabis Italian food infused with love.

"I really thought I'd make a living at [playwriting]. Which was psychotic!" - Lewis Black

Arts

Lewis Black: Give My Regards To Broadway

10:33am January 08, 2015

The veteran comic finally gets some real use out of his playwriting degree by leading a Pyramid-style guessing game about American theater.

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Arts

Just Kidding

10:33am January 08, 2015

Some people think they can say mean things, as long as it's followed by "Just kidding!" In this game, we say some sarcastic things about celebrities and historical figures who have the initials J.K.

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Arts

Your Game Show Of Shows

10:33am January 08, 2015

Mash up the names of famous TV shows with the names of TV game shows to make them more fun. Because if someone isn't answering trivia questions for lots of money, we're not interested.

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Books
Arts

Humans On Display In 'Hall Of Small Mammals'

10:12am January 08, 2015

Author Thomas Pierce has a new book of animal-centered short stories, Hall of Small Mammals. He talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about his book, which toes a line between the bizarre and the mundane.

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Books
Arts

Sound And Fury (And Then A Little More Fury) In 'Against The Country'

10:03am January 08, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Reviewer Jason Sheehan calls Ben Metcalf's Against the Country meandering, challenging and "almost the definition" of a screed against the idea that virtue is found in rural places. Also, he loved it.

Books
Arts

Try On 'Black Suit' For A Beautifully Real Approach To Grief

7:36am January 08, 2015

by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Jason Reynolds' new young adult novel, The Boy in the Black Suit, begins on familiar ground. But this tale of a boy dealing with his mother's death is tragic, funny, hopeful and almost too realistic.

Books
Arts

Remembering 'Generation Mex' Writer And Proud Outsider Michele Serros

6:17pm January 07, 2015

by Mandalit del Barco

Serros wrote about being a bicultural Chicana who was influenced by both her working-class, Mexican-American heritage and Southern California pop culture. She died Sunday at the age of 48.

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Arts

Sandwich Monday: The Pretzel Dog

5:28pm January 07, 2015

by Ian Chillag

For this week's Sandwich Monday, we try the Pretzel Dog from Auntie Anne's. It's a hot dog, wrapped in soft pretzel and meditations on life and death.