Arts & Life

Books
Arts

Poet Hanif Abdurraqib On The Intersection Of Black Excellence, Joy And Pain

1:58pm April 06, 2021

by Arun Venugopal

What do Soul Train and Whitney Houston tell us about race in America? In his book, A Little Devil in America, the culture critic traces the history of Black performance through moments in pop culture.

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Haruki Murakami's new story collection is First Person Singular.

Books
Arts

Haruki Murakami: 'I've Had All Sorts Of Strange Experiences In My Life'

9:28am April 06, 2021

by Petra Mayer

Murakami's new story collection, First Person Singular, touches some of his favorite subjects — jazz, baseball, classical music — but also highlights some of the unexplained oddities of life.

Sonora Jha, author of How to Raise a Feminist Son.

Books
Arts

Memoir Offers Advice On 'How To Raise A Feminist Son'

5:15am April 06, 2021

by Rachel Martin

A feminist son, says author Sonora Jha, means "a boy who believes in the full humanity of women and girls around him." It also means recognizing that as they grow older, they can be led by women.

"Queer people love country music," singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile says. "... We just don't think that it's going to open its doors to us. And when it does, it's wildly satisfying."

Singer Brandi Carlile Talks Ambition, Avoidance And Finally Finding Her Place

4:08pm April 05, 2021

by Terry Gross

The six-time Grammy winner got her start as a kid, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Her new memoir, Broken Horses, is about her early life and the family she's built.

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Hunter Biden, at the time serving as board chairman of World Food Program USA, with then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016. Hunter Biden says his addictions worsened after his brother Beau's death in 2015.

Through Decades Of Addiction, Hunter Biden Says His Family Never Gave Up On Him

9:58am April 05, 2021

Hunter Biden's new memoir is a story of his years of alcohol and drug addiction. He tells NPR that the one constant was the love of his family: "Their light was never not seeking me out."

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Arts

#NPRPoetry: Franny Choi Reads Listener Submitted Poems

5:18pm April 04, 2021

Poet Franny Choi tells NPR's Michel Martin about some of her favorite listener submitted poems for National Poetry Month.

Jon Batiste On His New Album, 'We Are'

11:18am April 04, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Jon Batiste. The prolific artist, who has composed music for Disney and whose band plays for Stephen Colbert, is releasing a solo album.

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Arts

Go Back In Time To The Last Appearance Of The Brood X Cicadas

8:56am April 04, 2021

by Peter Breslow

Back in 2004, the last time that the Brood X cicadas emerged in Washington D.C., NPR's Peter Breslow recorded his four-year-old twin daughters amidst the din in his backyard.

From I Sang You Down from the Stars, by Tasha Spillett-Sumner and Michaela Goade.

Books
Arts

Old Ways Cradle A New Life In 'I Sang You Down From The Stars'

7:58am April 04, 2021

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Caldecott Medal-winning artist Michaela Goade's Tlingit heritage her illustrations for I Sang You Down From the Stars, about a woman following Indigenous customs as she prepares for motherhood.

Smile, You're Vaccinated! The Rise Of The COVID-19 Vaccine Selfie

7:58am April 04, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with New York Times fashion director Vanessa Friedman about the selfie photographs that people post on social media after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine.