Arts & Life

Bill Glucroft, an American Jew living in Berlin, chats with visitors from his box in the most controversial portion of the Berlin Jewish Museum's exhibition "The Whole Truth."

Jewishness On Display: 'Truth' By Way Of Discomfort

9:16pm April 05, 2013

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

A new exhibit in Berlin's Jewish Museum is intentionally provocative. The point, one curator says, is to "get people talking about how they perceive Jews, particularly in Germany today." At the center of the controversy is a display in which a Jewish person sits inside a glass showcase and answers questions from visitors.

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The iconic Chicago photographer Art Shay took portraits of presidents, prizefighters, prose poets — and in the person of Roger Ebert, at least one Pulitzer-winning critic.

Arts

Roger Ebert In Review: A 'Fresh Air' Survey

1:10pm April 05, 2013

Fresh Air remembers film critic Roger Ebert, who died Thursday, with a roundup of interviews from our archive — one with Ebert alone, one with him and his late partner Gene Siskel, and two in which Ebert interviews iconic directors. Plus, critic-at-large John Powers discusses Ebert's 2011 memoir Life Itself.

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'A Lovely Feeling': Celebrating Older Women With Fabulous Style

8:50am April 05, 2013

by Ina Jaffe

The fashion industry is sometimes criticized for unrealistic portrayals of young women. But if you're a woman older than 60, there are almost no portrayals, realistic or otherwise. Now a fashion blog called Advanced Style has made stars of some of these older fashionistas, including a 93-year-old who says the spotlight makes her feel like she's "part of the world."

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Bosom Pals, an iconic sculpture by Vasily Konovalenko, was created between 1981 and 1984. It shows three revelers out for a night of drinking and song. Konovalenko loved this scene so much that he repeated it in other works — including enamels and bronz

Emigre Artist Sculpted Exquisite Gems Of Russian Folk Life

8:20pm April 04, 2013

by Corey Flintoff

Semiprecious stones were the medium of choice for Vasily Konovalenko, a Soviet ballet set designer turned sculptor. His masterful workmanship captured Russian characters, from Cossacks and drunks to country folk and czarist henchmen. He fell afoul of the authorities and left Russia for the U.S. in the 1980s.

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Books
Arts

Former Mormon Missionary Describes The Experience Of 'Elders'

4:47pm April 04, 2013

As a Mormon missionary, Ryan McIlvain spent two years ringing strangers' doorbells, even as he experienced doubts about his own faith. He left the church in his mid-20s. McIlvain's debut novel, Elders, tells the story of two young Mormons carrying out their missions.

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Tamil Tigers, Paris, 1990 (painted contact 2006)

Arts

You Can't Put A Headline On William Klein

8:50pm April 03, 2013

by Margot Adler

Try to put him in a box and he'll find his way out. Still working at nearly 85 years old, William Klein has gone rogue in at least four different fields.

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The Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complex is seen from Waterside Plaza in 2006, the same year it was sold in a record-breaking real estate deal.

Books
Arts

The Botched NY Real Estate Deal That Lost 'Other People' Billions

8:50pm April 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

In 2006, two Manhattan housing projects were at the center of a real estate fiasco that would come to epitomize the housing crisis. Charles Bagli's Other People's Money explains how the government of Singapore was among those who paid for the mistakes of New York's real estate giants.

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Books
Arts

'Burgess Boys' Family Saga Explores The Authenticity Of Imperfection

1:16pm April 03, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

Elizabeth Strout is best known for her short story collection Olive Kitteridge, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009. Her new book is a novel, and critic Maureen Corrigan says it's a different type of winner.

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Books
Arts

A Father Tells The Story Of His Son's Struggle To Stay 'Clean'

1:09pm April 03, 2013

"The view that drug use is a moral choice is pervasive, pernicious and wrong," writes David Sheff in Clean, a critical look at the nation's approach to drug treatment. Sheff argues that we should not wait for "rock bottom" — that addiction should be treated promptly, just like any other disease.

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We won't give away any of the details about his personal life, but we can say that the two-hour season premiere of Mad Men shows Don Draper (Jon Hamm, right, with John Slattery's Roger Sterling) as his silver tongue fails him.

Arts

This Spring, Rejoice At Rebirth Of 'Mad Men'

1:04pm April 03, 2013

by David Bianculli

It used to be that TV's biggest annual event was the arrival of the fall season, but these days excellent shows premiere year-round. This spring, the return of AMC's stylish drama is the best reason to celebrate the season: The two-hour premiere delivers on the show's highest ambitions.

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