Arts & Life

In Gone Girl, Ben Affleck stars as a husband under scrutiny following his wife's disappearance.

Arts

Affleck: 'Gone Girl' Was Freeing, And 'Batman' Will Be No 'Daredevil'

9:16pm October 04, 2014

by NPR Staff

Ben Affleck says playing a character shrouded in suspicion was liberating, because "likability was sort of thrown out of the window." He also looks back on where his career began: Voyage of the Mimi.

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Books
Arts

One Military Family, Two Lost Sons: One To Combat, One To Suicide

8:51pm October 04, 2014

by NPR Staff

In The Invisible Front, journalist Yochi Dreazen tells the story of the Grahams, a close-knit family that lost two sons in the span of a year and then took up the fight against military suicide.

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Books
Arts

Horror Of Horrors: Is H.P. Lovecraft's Legacy Tainted?

6:42pm October 04, 2014

by NPR Staff

Lovecraft, the author who famously invented Cthulhu, was also known for his highly racist opinions. This has created some controversy around the World Fantasy Award statue that bears his likeness.

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Arts

Does Television Spanglish Need A Rewrite?

5:50pm October 04, 2014

by Jasmine Garsd

More Hollywood writers are having Latino characters speak a mix of English and Spanish. But if Latinos themselves are divided over Spanglish, how can the entertainment industry get it right?

Arts

Art Project Opens Long-Closed Ellis Island Hospital

1:50pm October 04, 2014

The dilapidated hospital on Ellis Island has been shuttered since 1954. But now it's opening to the public. The occasion? An art exhibition. NPR's Scott Simon talks to the head of Save Ellis Island.

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Arts

Star-Studded Broadway Show Opens, But 'It's Only A Play'

1:50pm October 04, 2014

It's Only a Play is a comedy about a theater crew and critic joking together while awaiting reviews. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with co-stars F. Murray Abraham and Megan Mullally about the production.

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Dr. Ernest Moniz, shown here in April 2013, is the U.S. Secretary of Energy.

Arts

Not My Job: Secretary Of Energy Ernest Moniz Gets Quizzed On Bert

1:04pm October 04, 2014

We asked the nuclear physicist — who either goes by the nickname Ernie, or ought to — how much he knows about the Sesame Street character Bert.

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Behind The Sunglasses: The Lives Of Secret Service Agents

8:11pm October 03, 2014

by Ben Dolnick

This week, following a series of security lapses, the Secret Service director resigned. For a look at the agency beyond the scandal, author Ben Dolnick recommends the novel Big If by Mark Costello.

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Ben Affleck plays Nick, a self-styled "corn-fed, salt-of-the-earth Missouri boy." But is he a reliable narrator?

Arts

Who's Worth Your Trust In Fincher's Moody, Atmospheric 'Gone Girl'?

6:17pm October 03, 2014

by Bob Mondello

NPR's Bob Mondello says David Fincher's screen adaptation of the marriage-in-trouble thriller Gone Girl offers all the twists and jolts of the original novel, but gets a little pulpy toward the end.

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Sonia Vasquez with her daughter, Tina, during a recent visit with StoryCorps in New York City.

Arts

Growing Up Broke Strengthened Daughter's Bond With Working Mom

5:03pm October 03, 2014

by NPR Staff

A mother talks to her daughter about how hard it was to make ends meet raising a child alone in the '90s, through the good times and the bad.

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