Arts & Life

Ahmed Hassan is the leader of the group of young Egyptian revolutionaries at the center of The Square.

'The Square' Tightens Lens On Egypt's Revolution

10:56pm October 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

Jehane Noujaim's documentary follows a group of young revolutionaries in Egypt through the political upheaval of the past two-and-a-half years. NPR's Robert Siegel spoke with the director about the film, the activists it follows and their country's future.

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Barkhad Abdi (middle) plays Muse, the leader of a band of Somali pirates who take over a freighter in Captain Phillips.

Arts

A Pirate Saga More Sobering Than Swashbuckling

1:52pm October 11, 2013

by David Edelstein

Tom Hanks stars as the title character in the gripping Captain Phillips, opposite the compelling Somali-born actor Barkhad Abdi as the leader of a pirate band that attacks his freighter in the Gulf of Aden. (Recommended)

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Cosmo Wenman generated this 3-D model of the Ares Borghese, based on hundreds of photos, from the Basel Sculpture Hall. Wenman publishes the scans online, so that anyone can use them to 3-D print a replica of the masterpiece.

Arts

3-D Printing A Masterwork For Your Living Room

12:22pm October 11, 2013

by Laura Sydell

It's now possible to create an impressive copy of Michelangelo's David or Rodin's The Thinker with a 3-D printer. Rather than object, some museum curators see this high-tech replication as a way to bring near-real versions of classic works to the masses.

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Daniel Radcliffe tells Fresh Air that his parents were initially hesitant about letting him play Harry Potter.

Arts

From Child Actor To Artist: Radcliffe Reflects On Post-Potter Life

12:11pm October 11, 2013

Since wrapping up the last Harry Potter film, Daniel Radcliffe has taken on roles you may not have expected from the former boy wizard. He tells Fresh Air that starting his acting career so young gave him a sense of purpose he wasn't finding in the British school system, and he hasn't looked back since.

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Books
Arts

Meet Ben's Sister Jane, History's Forgotten Franklin

2:32pm October 10, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

For centuries, the memory of Jane Franklin has languished in brother Benjamin's shadow. While Ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, Jane's life of curiosity and hardship has been forgotten. In Book of Ages, historian Jill Lepore draws a portrait of one of the American Revolution's "little women."

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Arts

Tina Brown's Must-Reads: On Heroism

7:39am October 10, 2013

by NPR Staff

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast for Morning Edition's series Word of Mouth. For this installment, Brown talks about three must-reads that are all about the mettle and mindset of those we end up calling heroes.

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A zoo in central China's Henan province swapped a dog — a Tibetan mastiff like the one shown here — for a lion, in another story that recently swept Chinese cyberspace.

Too Weird To Be True? In China, You Never Can Tell

5:47pm October 09, 2013

by Frank Langfitt

Foreign news coverage of China is often deadly serious: corruption, pollution and the like. Then there's the funny and bizarre that often goes viral — like the zoo that swapped a dog for a lion. A number of websites are making these offbeat and satirical tales increasingly available in English.

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Books
Arts

Elizabeth Smart Says Kidnapper Was A 'Master At Manipulation'

4:08pm October 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

Smart, who was held captive for nine months at age 14, describes the 2002 ordeal in a new memoir called My Story. She's now an advocate for children's safety education and says "the best punishment" she can give her abusers is to move on with her life and be happy.

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George R.R. Martin prepares to introduce author Neil Gaiman and performer Amanda Palmer at charity benefit at his newly renovated Jean Cocteau cinema in Santa Fe, N.M., on Sept. 29. Reopening the old movie house has been a passion project for the Game of

Arts

George R.R. Martin, Author And ... Movie-Theater Guy?

2:21pm October 08, 2013

by Caty Enders

The author of the wildly successful Game of Thrones books has been spending his days working on reopening an old movie theater in Santa Fe — much to the displeasure of fans who think he should be writing the next book.

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At the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia, each item is accompanied by a story from the donor on how a romance fell apart.

A History Of Love Gone Wrong, All In One Croatian Museum

9:50am October 08, 2013

by Sean Carberry

From furry handcuffs to a toy bunny that a couple once shared, the Museum of Broken Relationships is filled with artifacts of romances that didn't quite work out.

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