Arts & Life

Books
Arts

War Writ Small: Of Pushcarts And Peashooters

7:55pm January 31, 2013

by Adam Mansbach

Jean Merrill's classic children's book The Pushcart War explores war, peace and pushcarts on the streets of New York. Author Adam Mansbach writes that the story still resonates. Do you have a favorite children's book that deals with heavy themes? Tell us in the comments.

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Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, based in Washington, D.C.

Coming Home — And Out — In The South

5:17pm January 31, 2013

There's no way to really generalize what it's like to be gay in the South. But to get an idea, we spent a day with Chad Griffin — the newest president of a Washington-based gay rights group — as he spent his first day on the job in his hometown of Arkadelphia, Ark.

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Kevin Spacey is the star and a producer of the new Netflix series House of Cards, on which David Fincher is a co-producer.

Arts

Spacey And Fincher Make A 'House Of Cards'

12:18pm January 31, 2013

Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey and Oscar-winning director David Fincher team up for a new Netflix original series that premieres Friday. House of Cards follows a Machiavellian politician as he schemes to take down the president of the United States.

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Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright star in the new Netflix original series House of Cards, which premieres Feb. 1.

Arts

'House Of Cards' Is Built To Last

9:06am January 31, 2013

by David Bianculli

Two new dramas fueled by intrigue premiere this week: The Americans on FX and House of Cards on Netflix. While The Americans has its moments, House of Cards is the show that's going to make television history.

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In Shameless, William H. Macy is the dysfunctional father of six.

Arts

William H. Macy Is 'Shameless' On Showtime

2:05pm January 30, 2013

As the alcoholic paterfamilias Frank Gallagher on the Showtime series Shameless, the actor enjoys portraying a man with a dark side. But he says it's Frank's better qualities that make him sustainable as a character.

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Gen. David Petraeus is the subject of The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War, a new book by Fred Kaplan.

Books
Arts

'The Insurgents': Petraeus And A New Kind Of War

3:05pm January 29, 2013

In a new book about Gen. David Petraeus, author and journalist Fred Kaplan looks at how theories of counterinsurgency have shaped U.S. military policy in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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According to the American Staffing Association, the U.S. temp industry has added more jobs than any other over the past three years.

A 'Permatemp' Economy: The Idea Of The Expendable Employee

2:00pm January 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

Nearly 13 million people head to work as temporary and contract employees each year, according to the American Staffing Association. In an opinion piece for The New York Times, sociologist Erin Hatton argues that it's time to get rid of the "anti-worker ideology that has come to accompany it."

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The silken tassel on this skull cap, woven in Aleppo around 1800, recalls a more prosperous and tranquil time in that now-beleaguered Syrian hub.

Arts

From Aleppo, An Artifact Of A Calmer Age

11:57am January 29, 2013

by Susan Stamberg

The ongoing violence and tumult in Syria's largest city belie a richer, more prosperous past. One small object — a finely woven hat — offers evidence of life in a thriving cultural hub.

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Books
Arts

Jane Austen's 'Pride And Prejudice' At 200

6:38pm January 28, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

As the classic novel celebrates its bicentennial, Paula Byrne's The Real Jane Austen examines some of the key objects in Austen's life and how they reveal a much more cosmopolitan awareness of the world than is commonly credited to her.

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Data gleaned from e-readers gives writers a new kind of feedback to take into consideration — or ignore.

Books
Arts

E-Readers Track How We Read, But Is The Data Useful To Authors?

6:23pm January 28, 2013

by Lynn Neary

Data is being collected about your reading habits — what kind of books you read, whether or not you finish them. Publishers say the information could improve how books are written, but some novelists are skeptical.

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