Arts & Life

The Original Folk & Fairy Tales Of The Brothers Grimm

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Arts

Today's Fairy Tales Started Out (Even More) Dark And Harrowing

1:22pm November 17, 2014

by NPR Staff

Evil figures prominently in favorite bedtime stories. But a new translation of the first edition of the Brothers Grimm's tales reveals exactly how unsanitized and murderous these stories once were.

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'Operation Sea Lion' Is A Flawed But Fascinating Look At WWII

1:18pm November 17, 2014

by J.P. O'Malley

Historian Leo McKinstry sheds new light on the British homefront and the failure of Nazi invasion plans, but reviewer J.P. O'Malley says the book is marred by a jingoistic nostalgia for the Empire.

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Arts

Soldiers, Spies, Cyberwarriors: '@War' In The Internet Age

12:02pm November 17, 2014

by NPR Staff

"One if by land, two if by sea" wouldn't work these days — not when your adversary can knock out your power grid with an team of cyberforces. Today's armies have a new front to monitor.

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John Darnielle's first novel was about a teenage boy in a psychiatric institution who is obsessed with heavy metal.

As A Lyricist And Novelist, The Mountain Goats' Lead Man Writes About Pain

10:50am November 17, 2014

John Darnielle's novel, Wolf in White Van, is about a man who survives a trauma. The songwriter tells Fresh Air about his difficult childhood and finding shelter in music and the Incredible Hulk.

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Daum has written several other books, including Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House, and is also a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

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Arts

For One Essayist, 'The Unspeakable' Isn't Off-Limits

10:20pm November 16, 2014

by NPR Staff

Meghan Daum's new collection looks at life in that awkward stage of adulthood that comes before you'd call yourself middle-aged. "Are we in the twilight of youth?" she asks. "That sounds not good."

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During a 1938 vacation to his hometown, Glenn Kurtz's grandfather filmed the townspeople of Nasielsk, a Jewish community in Poland, just before World War II.

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Family Film Offers Glimpse Of 'Three Minutes In Poland' Before Holocaust

12:25pm November 16, 2014

by NPR Staff

In 1938, Glenn Kurtz's grandfather went on vacation and filmed a few minutes of footage of his Polish hometown. Seventy years later, his grandson set out to find the people who appeared in that film.

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Arts

Jacobson And Glazer Take 'Broad City' On The Road

12:25pm November 16, 2014

Real-life friends and comedians Abbi Jacobsen and Ilana Glazer star in Broad City, about two flawed women navigating New York City in their 20s. NPR's Rachel Martin caught up with them on tour.

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The King Of Housewives Dishes Pop Culture's Delightful Dirt

12:25pm November 16, 2014

Pop culture juggernaut Andy Cohen has written a new memoir, The Andy Cohen Diaries. He speaks to NPR's Rachel Martin about why celebrity fascinates him and how he went from journalism to reality TV.

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Arts

Back To The Future — The Grim, Grimy, Chrome-Coated Future

7:03am November 16, 2014

by Jason Sheehan

Richard Kadrey's first novel, the cyberpunk cult classic Metrophage, has been reissued. Critic Jason Sheehan calls this tale of dystopian L.A. "a time capsule from the chrome-and-neon literary past."

Arts

Cosbys Start A 'Conversation' With African-American Art

11:20am November 15, 2014

Bill and Camille Cosby have loaned more than 60 pieces of art to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with the Cosbys about their collection.

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