Arts & Life

Illustrator Peter Emmerich says he drew on both research and his own personal memories to draw people like Stephen Sondheim. "I put him in the book wearing what he was wearing when I met him," says Emmerich. "Because, like, I will never forget him in that

Books
Arts

Theater stars spring to life on the pages of 'B is for Broadway'

5:20pm January 29, 2022

by Jeff Lunden

A few years ago, a children's book called A is for Audra celebrated musical theater divas. Its creators have written a new book, B is for Broadway, celebrating theater from auditions to Ziegfeld.

Jeremy O. Harris, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California.

Arts

'Wait Wait' for Jan. 29, 2022: With Not My Job guest Jeremy O. Harris

12:00pm January 29, 2022

Jeremy O. Harris is one of the world's most exciting playwrights, whose Slave Play netted a record-setting 12 Tony nominations. We invite him on to answer three questions on the worst plays in sports.

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Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy--A Polyamory Memoir, by Rachel Krantz

Books
Arts

'Open' explores polyamorous relationships through personal experience

7:01am January 29, 2022

by Ilana Masad

Bustle editor Rachel Krantz's memoir is a sincere and curious reckoning with the cultural messaging we all receive about gendered expectations and power dynamics in romantic and sexual relationships.

A scene from Midwives: A baby whose face is adorned with thanaka — a kind of sunscreen made from wood bark.

Sundance prize goes to 'Midwives' — about a Buddhist midwife and her Muslim apprentice

8:36pm January 28, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

The documentary follows a Buddhist and a Muslim — who don't always get along — as they provide health care to Muslim women and children despite growing political and religious tensions in Myanmar.

Turkey and the Wolf by Mason Hereford; Dinner in One by Melissa Clark

Books
Arts

A shipment of cookbooks is lost at sea. Authors hope the fish enjoy the recipes

5:53pm January 28, 2022

by Mandalit del Barco

Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin by Mason Hereford and Dinner in One by Melissa Clark call the mishap a very 2022 event as a storm sinks their publication dates.

Ronald Young Jr., Ed Helms and Randall Park on True Story With Ed & Randall.

Books
Arts

What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend reading, viewing and gaming

5:00pm January 28, 2022

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: True Story With Ed & Randall, a web-based game that isn't Wordle, and more.

Janet Jackson speaks in her new docuseries, Janet Jackson.

Lifetime and A&E's Janet Jackson docuseries promises more than it delivers

4:50pm January 28, 2022

by Eric Deggans

The famously private music legend has the opportunity to open up in a two-part docuseries. But the show leaves many stories left untold.

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In her new show, Bridget Everett imagines someone like her returning to her hometown

2:59pm January 28, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Bridget Everett about her new HBO show, Somebody Somewhere. It's about what may happen if someone like her went back to live in her small Kansas hometown.

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Arts

W. Kamau Bell asks all the right questions in 'We Need to Talk About Cosby'

1:28pm January 28, 2022

by David Bianculli

Nothing is sensationalized or trivialized in Bell's four-part documentary, which reckons with Bill Cosby's legacy both as a barrier-breaking Black star and as a sexual predator.

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Books
Arts

Strap in for highs and lows with the pandemic novel 'How High We Go in the Dark'

5:01am January 28, 2022

by Natalie Zutter

One character is an aimless young man works at a euthanasia theme park for terminally ill kids, placing them on the roller coaster that will kill them before the plague does. It is a book about death.