Arts & Life

Arts

Remembering Annette Funicello, America's Mouseketeer

2:05pm April 09, 2013

Handpicked by Walt Disney to be one of the original Mouseketeers, Annette Funicello was America's girl next door. She spoke to Fresh Air in 1994 about Mickey Mouse ears and why she went public with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. She died Monday at age 70 from complications of the disease.

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Arts

As Audiences Shift To Cable, TV Programming Changes, Too

1:20pm April 09, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

Broadcast TV used to have bigger stars, bigger audiences and bigger budgets. Cable shows were edgier, with more sex and violence than the broadcasters dared show. In the last few seasons, though, cable ratings have improved and broadcast shows have taken more risks. What's going on on TV?

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The American actress and singer Annette Funicello, photographed here circa 1960, died April 8, more than two decades after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Arts

A Tip Of The Mouse Ears To Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

9:59pm April 08, 2013

by Mandalit del Barco

The Mouseketeer and bikini-musicals actress became a pop star and made a generation of boomer boys swoon. Later she faced multiple sclerosis with equanimity — and raised awareness and money in the process.

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The 'Alchemists' Who Control The Purse Strings Of The Economy

3:03pm April 08, 2013

In a new book, Washington Post economics writer Neil Irwin looks at an elite group of policymakers from around the world who manage the money supply, and explains how money can come from — and disappear into — thin air based on the decisions of these influential men and women.

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Best friends Rosa (Alice Englert, left) and Ginger (Elle Fanning) are nearly torn apart by the political and social changes of the 1960s.

Arts

'Ginger And Rosa': A Study Of Women's Relationships

5:42pm April 07, 2013

by Pat Dowell

British filmmaker Sally Potter gained worldwide attention with her 1992 film Orlando. Like all of her movies, it was unconventional in its story and structure. Her new film, Ginger & Rosa, is more realistic and direct.

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Richard Madden plays Robb Stark in HBO's Game of Thrones.

Arts

Pirates Steal 'Game Of Thrones': Why HBO Doesn't Mind

5:42pm April 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

More than 1 million fans illegally downloaded the first episode of Season 3 of the popular HBO series this week — within 24 hours of its premiere. The illicit popularity of the show, based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling fantasy books, has wider implications for the future of TV.

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Chadwick Boseman plays baseball's trailblazing Jackie Robinson in the upcoming biopic 42.

Arts

In '42,' A Young Star Suits Up For A Hero's Role

11:08am April 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

Jackie Robinson, the first African-American baseball player in the major leagues, is the subject of an upcoming biopic. Chadwick Boseman plays the groundbreaking athlete in 42; he joins NPR's Scott Simon to talk about what it felt like to take on a cultural hero.

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Willemjin Verkaik is the latest leading lady to play Elphaba, the misunderstood green girl who grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West in Broadway's long-running Wicked. She has also played the role in Dutch and German in Europe.

On Broadway, Old Shows And New Tricks

11:08am April 07, 2013

by Jeff Lunden

These days, a hit show can run not just for years but for decades. So how do you keep it fresh for new audiences? Reporter Jeff Lunden talks to people who work on three of Broadway's biggest hits to find out.

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Tracy K. Smith was NPR's first NewsPoet.

Books
Arts

Does Poetry Still Matter? Yes Indeed, Says NPR NewsPoet

11:08am April 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

April is famously the cruelest month — according to the poem — but it's also the month we celebrate poetry. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith says we all need poetry, and even those of us who don't write poems can still learn how to see and hear the world through poetry.

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The Extraordinary Lives Of Ordinary North Koreans

4:55pm April 06, 2013

Amid a cascade of headline news from North Korea, often forgotten are the 24 million average citizens living under the most authoritarian regime in the world. Host Jacki Lyden speaks with Barbara Demick of the Los Angeles Times on the lives of ordinary North Koreans.

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