Arts & Life

Mel Brooks (shown here in 1984) calls comedy his "delicious refuge" from the world: "I hide in humor and comedy. I love it."

Books
Arts

Mel Brooks says his only regret as a comedian is the jokes he didn't tell

9:02pm December 07, 2021

by Terry Gross

Brooks wrote countless edgy jokes over the years, but he doesn't regret any of them. He calls comedy his "delicious refuge" from the world. "I hide in humor," he says. His new memoir is All About Me!

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Greg Tate, a powerful chronicler and critic of Black life and culture, has died at 64

5:18pm December 07, 2021

by Andrew Limbong

Tate was a longtime staff writer at The Village Voice, where he documented Black art and culture. He eventually became a leading figure in cultural criticism.

Three of the student authors of Who Is Florence Price? (left to right: Sebastián Núñez, Hazel Peebles and Sophia Shao), joined by their English teacher, Shannon Potts.

These NYC kids have written the history of an overlooked Black female composer

4:18pm December 07, 2021

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

A group of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students realized there was no children's book about the composer Florence Price. So they wrote, illustrated and published their own.

Avoiding trial, a former hedge fund manager turns over $70 million in stolen antiques

3:44pm December 07, 2021

by Joe Hernandez

Michael Steinhardt has denied he committed any crimes in acquiring the antiques and said many of the dealers who sold him items claimed that they were the objects' lawful owners.

Misaki (Tôko Miura) is the personal driver to a grieving actor (Hidetoshi Nishijima) in Drive My Car.

Arts

'Drive My Car' may be the most absorbing ride you take all year

2:27pm December 07, 2021

by Justin Chang

After his wife's death, a middle-aged stage actor forms an unlikely bond with the 20-something woman sent to be his chauffeur. Drive My Car is an intricately structured drama about love and loss.

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Three fall 2021 YA graphic novels that are worth s look.

Books
Arts

3 YA graphic novels that highlight the timelessness of teenage themes this autumn

5:07am December 07, 2021

by Etelka Lehoczky

Among the flood of titles aimed at the high-school set this fall, a few stand apart for their unorthodox stories, deft artwork and potent themes.

Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Tanzanian-born novelist and academic who lives in the U.K., poses with his 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature medal after being presented it at the Swedish ambassador's residence in London.

Books
Arts

No black-tie dinner with the Swedish king for this year's Nobel Prize winners

6:23pm December 06, 2021

by Mia Estrada

Instead, most of the laureates are receiving their awards in their home countries because the pandemic has disrupted the ceremonies yet again.

A small lineage of artisans is reviving the ancient art of pigeon whistles in Beijing

4:52pm December 06, 2021

by Emily Feng

For centuries, owners tied lightweight whistles to their pet pigeons in China. The art of making pigeon whistles almost faded away in Beijing, but a small group of artisans is bringing it back.

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The 2021 Kennedy Center honorees: (left to right) opera star Justino Díaz, Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, entertainer Bette Midler and Motown founder Berry Gordy.

Kennedy Center honors creative excellence in the arts at annual gala

3:46pm December 06, 2021

by Elizabeth Blair

Motown founder Berry Gordy, opera star Justino Díaz, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, entertainer Bette Midler and television impresario Lorne Michaels were among those celebrated this weekend.

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Kieran Culkin says the cursing on Succession has affected his speech: "The F-word just slides out of me."

Arts

Kieran Culkin is having fun with 'Succession' — and he hopes you are too

1:42pm December 06, 2021

by Terry Gross

Culkin plays one of three siblings vying for control of a media empire: "This guy grew up never having to suffer consequences, and so he doesn't really know what that means to suffer consequences."

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