Arts & Life

Books
Arts

'The Book of Jezebel': An Honest Look At 'Lady Things'

4:02pm October 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

Anna Holmes didn't see much reality in beauty magazines, so she started the website Jezebel — a women's mag "without the airbrushing." Now, she's the editor of an illustrated encyclopedia that takes a look at the world according to women.

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Arts

Melinda Gates Plays Not My Job

12:56am October 19, 2013

The co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plays a game called "But I meant well, your Majesty." Three questions about gifts given to Queen Elizabeth II.

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Books
Arts

Jack London Believed 'Function Of Man Is To Live, Not To Exist'

5:35pm October 18, 2013

by Tom Vitale

A new biography of the writer behind Call of the Wild and White Fang explores the life experiences that informed those works. London grew up in poverty, says biographer Earle Labor. "He was a dreamer, and a visionary. And his dreams and visions almost always outran his finances."

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Moms Petition Mars To Remove Artificial Dyes From M&M's

5:35pm October 18, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

The petition to candy-maker Mars is motivated by concerns that artificial colorings can make some kids hyperactive. In Europe, natural dyes have now outstripped their artificial counterparts.

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Robert Redford stars in All Is Lost as a solitary man struggling to make his yacht seaworthy again after it collides with a rogue shipping container adrift in the Indian Ocean.

Arts

At Home At Sea: Robert Redford, At His Best Alone

3:38pm October 18, 2013

by David Edelstein

The actor is a cast of one in All Is Lost, about a man adrift alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Fresh Air critic David Edelstein says Redford and director J.C. Chandor have pulled off the ultimate fusion of actor and character. (Recommended)

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Stephen Kinzer has served has The New York Times bureau chief in Turkey, Germany and Nicaragua. He teaches journalism and foreign policy at Boston University.

Books
Arts

Meet 'The Brothers' Who Shaped U.S. Policy, Inside And Out

2:18pm October 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles as secretary of state, and Allen Dulles as director of the CIA. In his new book, The Brothers, journalist Stephen Kinzer says the Dulles' actions "helped set off some of the world's most profound long-term crises."

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Alan Greenspan served as chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, the second-longest tenure as chairman in the Fed's history.

Greenspan: 'I Probably Could Have Caught' Economic Crises

12:23pm October 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

Alan Greenspan was often celebrated during his long chairmanship of the Federal Reserve. But Greenspan's policies have been blamed by some for the Great Recession. In an interview with NPR about his new book, The Map and the Territory: Risk, Human Nature, and the Future of Forecasting, Greenspan discusses difficulties in predicting economic calamity.

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Lupita Nyong'o and Chiwetel Ejiofor play Patsey and Solomon, two slaves on a Louisiana plantation, in 12 Years a Slave.

Arts

'12 Years A Slave': 160 Years Later, A Memoir Becomes A Movie

12:09pm October 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

Solomon Northup was born a free man and lived the life of a respected musician until 1841, when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. British director Steve McQueen's new film, starring British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, brings Northup's memoir to life in excruciating detail.

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Set in London in the early 1930s, Dancing on the Edge is a five-part miniseries about a black jazz band trying to crack the dance halls and radio playlists. Made for BBC-2, the episodes will air starting Saturday night on the Starz cable network.

Arts

'Dancing On The Edge' Is Fun For Both The Eyes And The Ears

4:52pm October 17, 2013

by David Bianculli

Set in London in the early 1930s, the five-part miniseries is about a black jazz band trying to crack the dance halls and radio playlists. Critic David Bianculli says this music-centered show features full, unpredictable characters and some exceptionally intriguing performances.

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Books
Arts

Billy Crystal Finds Fun In Growing Old (But Still Can't Find His Keys)

3:48pm October 17, 2013

Crystal isn't happy about turning 65, but at least he's finding a way to laugh about it. The actor and comedian's new memoir — Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? — is on the best-seller list and he'll be back on Broadway in November.

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