Arts & Life

There are dozens of varieties of borscht — but at its most basic, it's a beet soup with potatoes, tomatoes and often beef or pork.

Borscht Make Your Heart Beet? They're Serving 70,000 Gallons In Sochi

8:57am January 14, 2014

by Serri Graslie

Organizers of the Winter Games are preparing to serve up quite a bit of the hearty, deep-red Russian soup. Which is kind of ironic, says Russian food writer Anya von Bremzen, since borscht carries with it complicated political implications. And not all borschts are created equal, she warns.

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Spencer Trappist Ale, made by the first official Trappist brewery outside Europe, will go on sale next week in Massachusetts.

American Beer Fans, Praise The Heavens: A Trappist Brewery In U.S.

4:27pm January 13, 2014

by Katherine Perry, WATD

Trappist monks are known for producing some of the world's finest beers. But until recently, all of them were brewed in Europe. Next week, Spencer Trappist Ale, made by the monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Massachusetts, hits retail shelves.

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From left, Meryl Streep, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis star in August: Osage County.

Arts

'Osage' Hits Close To Home For Writer Tracy Letts

12:53pm January 11, 2014

by NPR Staff

Playwright Tracy Letts won the Pulitzer Prize for August: Osage County, a story of secrets and family dysfunction. Now it's been released as a film, for which Letts wrote the screenplay. The story and its characters came from his own experiences, Letts says.

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Books
Arts

As Zamata Joins 'SNL,' A Look At — And Beyond — The Prism Of Race

7:19pm January 10, 2014

by Danielle Evans

Saturday Night Live recently announced that they were hiring Sasheer Zamata, the first black woman to join the cast in six years. For our series This Week's Must Read, author Danielle Evans recommends a book that can give readers an idea of how Zamata might feel: Get Down, a short story collection by Asali Solomon.

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Yellow leaves color a path as a person walks into the distance.

Books
Arts

Empty Nester In 'The Woods': A Modern Dantean Journey

2:27pm January 10, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

When writer Lynn Darling found herself at a turning point in her life, she sought solitude and enlightenment in the woods of Vermont. Her new memoir, Out of the Woods, describes that midlife experience. Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan calls it "a compelling story of internal exploration, as well as outward-bound adventure."

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Amiri Baraka's Legacy Both Controversial And Achingly Beautiful

10:31am January 10, 2014

by Neda Ulaby

The former New Jersey poet laureate, born LeRoi Jones, died Thursday at age 79. Much of his work — including well-regarded poetry and plays — reflected his commitment to Black Nationalist ideals. He co-founded the Black Arts movement, and wrote poems that were as controversial as they were influential.

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In Saving Mr. Banks, Emma Thompson plays Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, who, Thompson says, hated the whole idea of having her book made into a film.

Arts

Not-So-Cheery Disposition: Emma Thompson On Poppins' Cranky Creator

6:13pm January 09, 2014

When it came to turning her children's book into a movie, Thompson says, P.L. Travers was patronizing, demeaning, rude, and "reminded me of Margaret Thatcher." Thompson plays the acerbic author in Saving Mr. Banks.

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John Rippo in July 2012 in a coffeehouse called Espresso Mio, in San Diego's Mission Hills neighborhood.

Newspaper Takes The Pulse Of San Diego Coffee Culture

3:51pm January 09, 2014

by Eliza Barclay

The Espresso, a San Diego newspaper for "cafe society," documents the local coffee shop scene with juicy vignettes in a gossip column. Publisher John Rippo says he's inspired by European periodicals written for the cafe intelligentsia.

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An overseer sits in the shade while workers collect coffee beans on a Brazilian plantation, circa 1750.

Books
Arts

How Coffee Influenced The Course Of History

3:49pm January 09, 2014

by Lydia Zuraw

Once people figured out how to roast the seeds of the Coffea plant in the 1400s, coffee took over the world. In doing so, it fueled creativity, revolutions, new business ventures, literature, music — and slavery.

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Books
Arts

In An Age Of Slavery, Two Women Fight For Their 'Wings'

10:29pm January 08, 2014

by Lynn Neary

Sue Monk Kidd, the author of the best-selling The Secret Life of Bees, takes on both slavery and feminism in her novel The Invention of Wings. It's a story told by two women: Hetty, a slave, seeks her freedom, while Sarah, her reluctant owner, rebels against her family to become an abolitionist.

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