Arts & Life

Lena Dunham's series Girls, which follows the lives of a group of young women in New York City, returns to HBO this month.

Arts

Season Two Brings Changes For 'Girls'

3:25pm January 11, 2013

by David Bianculli

The second season of the HBO series premieres this month, and Fresh Air critic David Bianculli says "these young women — these girls — really are changing and growing and adapting to tough life in the big city."

Queue Listen Now

Girls has been compared to Sex and the City. The characters, played by (from left) Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Lena Dunham and Zosia Mamet, navigate the ups and downs of life in New York City.

Arts

Lena Dunham Addresses Criticism Aimed At 'Girls'

3:25pm January 11, 2013

The creator and star of HBO's new series Girls addresses the backlash against the show, which follows four 20-somethings as they navigate the ups and downs of life in New York City. The second season premieres January 13.

Queue Listen Now

Wide angle shot of an hourglass with laptop computer in the background.

Arts

In Video-Streaming Rat Race, Fast Is Never Fast Enough

1:55pm January 11, 2013

by Sami Yenigun

As more and more Web users turn to streaming video services like YouTube, a new study shows how impatient those users are. The first of its kind, the UMass study suggests load times of more than 10 seconds can drive away more than 50 percent of viewers.

Queue Listen Now

Living Single (1993-1998) featured four young, black, professional women in New York — including Queen Latifah as the ambitious head of a small magazine.

Arts

'Living' In Color, Long Before 'Girls'

1:14pm January 11, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

HBO's series Girls has been criticized for not being diverse enough. Long before Girls, two shows — Living Single and Girlfriends — featured professional African-American women. But the creator of Girlfriends says times have changed, and the shows she now produces have more multicultural casts to reflect changing demographics.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

In 'Sliver Of Sky,' Barry Lopez Confronts Childhood Sexual Abuse

9:03pm January 10, 2013

The nature writer has an essay in January's Harper's Magazine that details the four years of his childhood during which he says he was routinely raped and molested by a family friend.

Queue Listen Now

Mark Gagliardi and Autumn Reeser, as aviator Amelia Earhart, perform in The Thrilling Adventure Hour. Actors dress up and read scripts onstage in front of a live nightclub audience.

Arts

'Adventure Hour' Is A New Take On Old-Time Radio

6:26pm January 10, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

The Thrilling Adventure Hour is both an update and an homage to old radio dramas. Created eight years ago by college friends Ben Blacker and Ben Acker, the pseudo radio show features actors reading from scripts in front of a live nightclub audience.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Oscar Nominees Announced: 'Lincoln' Leads With 12

3:04pm January 10, 2013

Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles on Thursday. The movie Lincoln scored big with 12 nominations, including best picture.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'A Life In Friendships' Is A Life Well-Lived

6:31pm January 09, 2013

by Meg Wolitzer

Susanna Sonnenberg's life has been full of interesting women, and in a new memoir she tells their stories. Reviewer Meg Wolitzer says that She Matters: A Life in Friendships is a beautifully written book about the bonds, and the boundary issues, between women.

Queue Listen Now

Bobby Cannavale (right) stars in Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway. Cannavale has also starred in television shows such as HBO's Boardwalk Empire and in films such as The Station Agent.

Arts

Bobby Cannavale, At Home On Broadway

12:25pm January 09, 2013

The actor, who's currently starring in Glenngarry Glen Ross opposite Al Pacino, has been acting for the stage since he was a teenager in Union City, N.J. "It was the only thing I ever wanted to do, really," he says.

Queue Listen Now

The Fall of the House of Dixie is by Civil War historian Bruce Levine.

Books
Arts

'The Fall Of The House Of Dixie' Built A New U.S.

1:50pm January 08, 2013

In a new book, Civil War historian Bruce Levine says that from the destruction of the South emerged an entirely new country, making the Civil War equivalent to a second American Revolution. Integral to the Union's victory, he says, were the nearly 200,000 black soldiers who enlisted.

Queue Listen Now