Arts & Life

The Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is reopening to the public on Friday. "We haven't seen the cats get superexcited about seeing people, but that's honestly to be expected," says curator Craig Saffoe. "Cats, whether they're your cats at h

As Zoos Cautiously Reopen, Humans Are Excited, Big Cats Seem Ambivalent

5:23am July 24, 2020

by Elizabeth Blair

"We haven't seen the cats get superexcited about seeing people, but that's honestly to be expected," says Craig Saffoe, curator of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, which reopens Friday.

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Arts

Comedian Ziwe Fumudoh Brings The Laughs In Her Frank Conversations About Race

5:23am July 24, 2020

by Sam Sanders

How many Black friends do you have? The comedian Ziwe Fumudoh is drawing praise, laughs and discomfort for the direct questions she asks her white guests on her Instagram Live show.

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Rutledge Wood hosts the Netflix game show Floor Is Lava, which is shot in an old IKEA warehouse in Burbank, Calif.

Arts

Saucy, Slimy, Super-Secret: Behind The Scenes With 'Floor Is Lava' Star ... Lava

5:31pm July 23, 2020

by Matt Kwong

The premise of the Netflix game show may be simple, but the gurgling goop is not. The magma is the result of months of work by Hollywood's top slime manufacturers. Fun fact: It smells like bubble gum.

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Donald Trump and father Fred Trump attend the opening of Wollman skating rink in New York City's Central Park in 1987.

Trump's Niece Describes A Toxic Family Dynamic Where Kindness Was Weakness

1:08pm July 23, 2020

by Terry Gross

Mary Trump was devastated when her uncle was elected president. Her book, Too Much and Never Enough, describes Donald Trump as a "belligerent" youth who hasn't changed since he was a teen.

Alfredo Ramos Martínez was regarded as a Father of Mexican Modernism, but his name is not widely known in the U.S. Above is Flores Mexicanas, a painting he worked on for 15 years.

Arts

A Wedding Gift For Charles Lindbergh Goes Up On The Wall, At Last

10:51am July 23, 2020

by Susan Stamberg

In 1929, the President of Mexico gave the aviator a painting by Mexican artist Alfredo Ramos Martínez. Flores Mexicanas sat in storage at the Missouri Historical Society until 2014.

Trouble the Saints, by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Books
Arts

Think Fantasy Is Kid Stuff? Try 'Trouble The Saints'

10:00am July 23, 2020

by Danny Lore

Alaya Dawn Johnson's new novel is set in New York on the eve of World War II, in a world where a few lucky (well, not that lucky) people are gifted with "saints' hands," that give them strange skills.

Arts

New York Hospital Finds Hidden Trove Of Artwork In Storeroom

5:51am July 23, 2020

Stony Brook Southampton Hospital needed more space to store ventilators during the pandemic. While clearing space, staff found artwork that could be worth thousands of dollars.

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One Direction didn't win The X Factor in 2010, but filled stadiums, broke records and our hearts.

One Direction's Big Bang

5:00am July 23, 2020

by Maria Sherman

Ten years ago today, July 23, One Direction created the universe. Read an excerpt from Maria Sherman's new book on boy bands, Larger Than Life, about 1D's formation and meteoric rise.

Arts

San Diego Comic-Con Moves Online Due To The Pandemic

6:09pm July 22, 2020

by Petra Mayer

Comic-Con began Wednesday. It's virtual this year due to the pandemic. Instead of waiting in endless lines in San Diego, fans will be able to watch panel discussions online.

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The Annenberg Space for Photography closed permanently in June. In a survey of museum directors, 33% said there was either a "significant risk" of closing permanently or that they didn't know if their institutions would survive.

One-Third Of U.S. Museums May Not Survive The Year, Survey Finds

4:30pm July 22, 2020

by Neda Ulaby

In a survey of more than 750 museum directors, 33% of them said there was either a "significant risk" of closing permanently by next fall or that they didn't know if their institutions would survive.