Burt Bacharach: 'Never Be Afraid Of Something That You Can Whistle'
The award-winning songwriter speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the value of melody, and writing a song about rain for a movie scene that had none.
Arts & Life
Riz Ahmed: Shifting Across Identities And Roles
Both as the lead character in the film The Reluctant Fundamentalist and in his life outside the cinema, British actor Riz Ahmed navigates many identities.
'Shocked': Patricia Volk's Memoir About Beauty And Its Beholders
Even as a child, Patricia Volk knew she would never measure up to her strikingly beautiful mother. But after reading the memoir of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, Volk found a new understanding of beauty that had more to do with personality than a pretty face.
Scorsese Talks 'The Language Of Cinema'
In a talk he titled "Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema," the famed director spoke passionately about the history of cinema and the films that stoked his love for the medium.
Through Art And Industry, Chicago Shaped America
Blues, jazz and gospel; a civil rights movement that began with the Emmett Till case; modern glass and steel buildings that dared the sky. In Third Coast, Thomas Dyja writes that "the most profound aspects of American Modernity grew up out of the flat, prairie land next to Lake Michigan."
From A Debut Writer, A Polished, Passionate, Must-Read Book
Anthony Marra's debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, takes place in war-torn Chechnya — a world of perpetual violence, fear and exploding land mines. But reviewer Meg Wolitzer says the characters are so vivid and the language so brilliant you want to stay there.
Chicago's Famed Field Museum Struggles To Dig Out Of A Hole
The museum, already hard-hit by the economic crash, didn't meet projected fundraising and attendance numbers, and now must make up a $5 million budget deficit. The shortfall forced it to sell some items in its renowned collection.
A Search For Faith In 'Godless' Washington
When he first moved to Washington, D.C., White House faith adviser Jonathan DuBois had heard people in the nation's capital weren't serious about their religious beliefs. Instead, he found how those in the public eye keep a private faith.
Vibrant 'Club' Links Two Countries In Award-Winning Book
Benjamin Alire Saenz won this year's PEN/Faulkner award for his latest collection of short stories, Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club. The real-life Kentucky Club is just south of the U.S.-Mexico border, and Saenz joined a reporter there to talk about life in two countries.
'Wonderful Words' In Willa Cather's No-Longer-Secret Letters
Willa Cather's will forbade the publication of her private letters, but that will has now expired. The Selected Letters of Willa Cather contains more than 500 missives — including one that details the real-life story behind Cather's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, One of Ours.