Arts & Life

Michael Bingle of Vancouver, Wash., rides through Grand Ronde, Ore., during a 400-kilometer randonnée in May.

Sports
Arts

Randonneurs Are In It For The Ride, Not The Race

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by Angela Evancie

A randonnée is a long-distance, self-supported bike ride. There are time limits — you can't go too slow or too fast — but it's not a race. It's about camaraderie and doing it yourself — and this approach to cycling is catching on in the U.S.

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Books
Arts

'Empire Falls' Author Richard Russo Gives E-Publishing A Try

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

The author admits he was once weary of e-book publishing, but when he found himself writing a novella — too short for a book, too long for a magazine — he decided to test it out. He says he's happy with the experience, both economically and artistically.

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For the sweetest, smoothest strawberry jam, author Kevin West suggests staying as far away as possible from what he calls "Pamela Anderson fruit": the big strawberries found in regular supermarkets. He prefers picking small, red berries from farm stands,

Books
Arts

Preserving The Season's Fruits With A Canning Evangelist

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by Jessica Naudziunas

Kevin West, author and blogger, takes NPR's Lynn Neary to a farmers market to choose the summer's best produce for canning. "You take this experience ... and you put it in the jar. And six months from now we will re-experience that moment," West says.

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'Heat' Stroke: The genius of this buddy-cop comedy is in its pairing of Sandra Bullock (left, as a by-the-book process nerd of an FBI suit) with Melissa McCarthy, who plays a sloppy Boston detective with no patience for procedure.

Arts

Bullock And McCarthy, Packing 'Heat' (And Laughs) In Boston

9:22pm June 28, 2013

by Bob Mondello

Director Paul Feig and writer Katie Dippold have found a perfect pair of leads for their cop comedy. Critic Bob Mondello says Oscar winner Sandra Bullock and Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy turn out to have enviable comic chemistry.

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Cierra Ramirez, Teri Polo, and Jake T. Austin star in ABC Family's The Fosters.

Arts

Foster Families Take Center Stage

1:42pm June 28, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

Neda Ulaby looks at a new summer drama about foster families, which — perhaps surprisingly — strikes real foster kids as getting a lot of things right.

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Legos and other interlocking toys are only one kind of blocks that remain popular with kids.

Arts

From Classic Toys To New Twists, Kids Go Back To Blocks

1:39pm June 28, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

NPR's Neda Ulaby investigates a trend in toys that sounds awfully familiar: Manufacturers are finding new ways to get kids interested in playing with blocks, both real and virtual.

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Arts

So Hard To Say Goodbye: Advice For Farewell Notes

4:37pm June 27, 2013

On the final day of Talk of the Nation, staff and colleagues have been faced with the dilemma of how to say goodbye. When your words fail, a greeting card can supply the right sentiment. Former Hallmark greeting card writer David Dickerson gives advice on saying goodbye.

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Books
Arts

'Americanah' Author Explains 'Learning' To Be Black In The U.S.

3:02pm June 27, 2013

When the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie moved from Nigeria to the United States for college, she was suddenly confronted with the idea of what it meant to be a person of color in America. Her new novel explores issues of race in contemporary America.

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Saoirse Ronan plays Eleanor, an ancient (and uncharacteristically ethical) vampire in Neil Jordan's Byzantium.

Arts

Two Master Moviemakers, Two Singularly Fine Films

3:01pm June 27, 2013

by David Edelstein

Pedro Almodovar's ensemble comedy I'm So Excited is set on an airplane with mechanical problems; Neil Jordan's Byzantium centers on a pair of itinerant English vampires. The two films couldn't be more different, but the two filmmakers are very much in command of their craft.

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A table (Le Dejeuner), an 1892 oil painting by Edouard Vuillard, appears to show a quiet domestic scene. But Isabelle Cahn, the curator of a new show at the Musee d'Orsay, says this painting actually depicts a scandal-ridden household.

A Paris Vacation For Nashville Millionaires' French Art

12:05pm June 27, 2013

by Susan Stamberg

The Hays Collection, born of two Tennessee millionaires' love for French art, has come back to its home country: The pieces are currently on display at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. NPR's Susan Stamberg speaks to the American lenders and the French borrowers about why these works inspire such passion.

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