Arts & Life

A conference attendee tries Google Glass during the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco in May.

Arts

Bracing For Google Glass: An In-Your-Face Technology

2:22pm August 05, 2013

by Geoff Nunberg

The new eyeglass frames allow you to take pictures and browse the Internet while you wear them. Early adopters focused on the tiny screens have already been dubbed "glassholes." Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg reminds us that in Shakespeare's time "distraction" was another word for madness.

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Books
Arts

Charles Manson: Master Manipulator, Even As A Child

6:38pm August 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

More than four decades after the cult leader planned nine vicious murders, he is still part of American culture. Jeff Guinn's new biography digs through details of Manson's troubled childhood, with access to family members and photos never reported on before.

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Arts

In His Own Words: Remembering Poet Robert Hayden

6:38pm August 04, 2013

Robert Hayden was born in Detroit 100 years ago Sunday. He became the first African-American to receive the honor now known as "poet laureate." Among his most famous works is the collection of short poems called Elegies for Paradise Valley. We hear an excerpt from the collection, as read by the author in 1976.

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Richard Dighton (1795-1880) was Robert Dighton's son. His 1823 Mirror of Fashion is a panoramic depiction of 53 "dandies of the day."

Arts

Bespoke Suits And Perfect Cravats At 'Dandy' Exhibit

10:43am August 04, 2013

by Jacki Lyden

Dandies are much more than just Yankee Doodle, and an exhibit this summer at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum celebrates these men at the cutting edge of fashion and design — from Beau Brummell to Mark Twain and beyond.

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British rockers Led Zeppelin pose in front of their private plane, dubbed "The Starship," in 1973.

On The Road To Rock Excess: Why The '60s Really Ended In 1973

9:58am August 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the new book What You Want Is in the Limo, author Michael Walker argues that a peak year in the careers of Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and The Who also marked a cultural shift — from the peace, love and understanding of 1960-era music to '70s rock decadence.

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'Looking For Palestine': A Once-Split Identity Becomes Whole

8:46am August 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

Najla Said's father, Edward Said, was an outspoken professor and prominent voice for Palestinian independence. Yet Najla's life felt less grounded. Growing up as a Palestinian-Lebanese-American in New York City, she balanced competing cultures and multiple lives, searching for a place to fit in.

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Arts

Robert Klein And The Golden Age Of Comedy

6:29pm August 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

Host Jacki Lyden talks to comedian Robert Klein, the narrator of the documentary When Comedy Went to School, which opened this week in New York City.

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Mike Odette, chef and co-owner of Sycamore Restaurant, finds beets and turnips that will make tasty refrigerator pickles at the Columbia, Mo., farmers market.

Arts

Pickling Up Your Next Summer Picnic

5:55pm August 03, 2013

by Abbie Fentress Swanson

Heat is no friend to mayonnaise. The perfect way to preserve produce for hot summer picnics is by pickling — not just cucumbers, but cherries, green tomatoes, okra, kohlrabi — all kinds of seasonal produce.

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Shailene Woodley, who played George Clooney's rebellious daughter in The Descendants, turns in a splendidly calibrated performance as a soft-spoken good girl who falls hard for a high school party animal (Miles Teller) in The Spectacular Now.

Arts

A Good Girl And A Lost Boy, Looking For A Way Forward

1:34pm August 02, 2013

by David Edelstein

From the writers of 500 Days of Summer, The Spectacular Now examines the not-so-spectacular markers of teenhood: the awkwardness and anxiety that everyone must endure. Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller are the two lovers at the forefront of this story based on a novel by Tim Tharp.

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Zwetschgendatschi is the Bavarian word for plum cake. The dessert uses Damson plums, which are only in season for a few weeks each year.

Arts

Zwetschgendatschi, A Mouthful That Captures The Perfect Plum

5:48pm August 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

Bavarian plum cake reminds Gesine Bullock-Prado of her mother and childhood split between Germany and the U.S. The dessert uses Damson plums, which are only in season for a short time each summer.

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