Arts & Life

In her latest book about Henry Molaison, Corkin tells the story of the amnesic man she studied for a half-century, whose brain helped teach neuroscientists about the distinctions between memory and intellect.

The Patient Who Let Us Peek Inside A Brain In 'Present Tense'

5:03pm June 06, 2013

For nearly 50 years, neuroscientist Suzanne Corkin worked with Henry Molaison, who lost most of his memory in 1953 after experimental surgery for severe seizures. Their work together taught us much of what we know today about memory, and she writes about Molaison and their work in her new book.

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Jason Isbell's latest album, Southeastern, is personal and intimate.

Jason Isbell: Literary, But Keeping An Edge On 'Southeastern'

3:18pm June 06, 2013

by Ken Tucker

Isbell is a singer-songwriter who came to prominence as a member of the Southern rock group Drive-By Truckers. He left that band in 2007, in part because of the substance-abuse problems he describes on his new solo album, Southeastern.

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Arts

Inside The Cel: Behind The Scenes With Animators

2:51pm June 06, 2013

The highly anticipated animated films Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 and Turbo hit theaters this summer. From cel technology to full-length, computer-animated, celebrity-studded movies, animation has come a long way.

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Jeffrey Tambor and Jessica Walter reprise their roles as George and Lucille Bluth in Netflix's new fourth season of Mitch Hurwitz's Arrested Development.

Arts

New 'Arrested Development' Gags Are Best Served In One Sitting

4:45pm June 04, 2013

by David Bianculli

Show creator Mitch Hurwitz advises against binge-watching the new season, but TV critic David Bianculli begs to differ. He says hidden identities and perplexing mysteries unfold slowly, and watching everything in one sitting helps make those connections even clearer.

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Books
Arts

'Fairyland': A Girl Grows Up In San Francisco's Gay Community

9:58am June 04, 2013

In her new memoir, Fairyland, Alysia Abbott describes her childhood as the daughter of an openly gay father in San Francisco while the gay liberation movement was gaining strength. Her book is based largely on her father's journals, which she found after his death in 1992.

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Book Explores Downfall Of An Indian-American Business Icon

8:10am June 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

Rajat Gupta was one of the wealthiest and most successful men in America. Why would he throw that away on an insider-trading scheme? A new book from financial journalist Anita Raghavan tries to uncover the motivations of a man who lost everything in the Galleon Group scandal.

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Arthur Geisert's Thunderstorm follows a tempest in the rural Midwest.

Books
Arts

Arthur Geisert's 'Thunderstorm' Celebrates Life On The Prairie

11:39am June 03, 2013

by Rebecca Hersher

The award-winning children's book author has written more than two dozen books set in the American heartland. He's most famous for his intricate illustrations of the Midwest — sprawling prairie, family farms and his signature mischievous pigs.

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In Oqa, Afghanistan, Boston weaves a saddlebag for her husband's donkey. The weavers of Oqa also weave large carpets, earning less than $1 a day for their work.

Books
Arts

Mapping 'The World' Of A Remote Afghan Village

8:18pm June 02, 2013

by NPR Staff

Journalist Anna Badkhen chronicles life in a small Afghan village in her new book, The World Is A Carpet. A village of 240 people, Oqa survives on an old-time tradition of carpet weaving. Residents earn about 40 cents a day for carpets that eventually sell for $5,000 to $20,000 abroad.

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Books
Arts

Three-Minute Fiction Readings: 'Litter' And 'The Shirt'

8:18pm June 02, 2013

NPR's Bob Mondello and Susan Stamberg read excerpts of two of the best submissions for Round 11 of our short story contest. They read Litter by Kalad Hovatter of Orange, Calif., and The Shirt by Jennifer Anderson of Shorewood, Wis.

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Books
Arts

'Nine Years' In A Baltimore Funeral Home

6:11pm June 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

A summer job in a Baltimore funeral home turned into a nine-year career and lifelong passion for Sheri Booker. Her coming-of-age memoir recalls tears and trade secrets of the mortuary business.

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