Arts & Life

From Russia with Blood: The Kremlin's Ruthless Assassination Program and Vladimir Putin's Secret War on the West, by Heidi Blake

'From Russia With Blood' Doesn't Capture The Messy Nature Of Russian Politics

11:10am November 19, 2019

by Leonid Ragozin

Buzzfeed's Heidi Blake fails to support a dubious argument, but the book is worth reading for its recap of more than a dozen murder and suspicious death stories during a two-decade period.

Senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller watches President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office. Emails leaked to the Southern Poverty Law Center appear to reveal Miller's familiarity with white nationalist texts and thinkers.

Stephen Miller And 'The Camp Of The Saints,' A White Nationalist Reference

6:23am November 19, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

The White House adviser has read the racist 1973 book, according to leaked emails. For far-right activists, the work of fiction has helped to shape real ideology and anti-immigration stances.

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Jenny Slate's new Netflix comedy special is Stage Fright.

Books
Arts

'Sorrow Is Not The Same As Pessimism': Comedian Jenny Slate

7:17pm November 18, 2019

by Audie Cornish

Now that she's released her first Netflix stand-up special (Stage Fright) and her first book (Little Weirds), Slate says she's finally finding her comedic voice in smallness.

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In the late 2000s, Robert Pattinson began playing vampire Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight novels. "It was so sudden, it didn't feel real to me at all," he says of the fame.

Arts

Robert Pattinson Does Not Want To Play An English Prince, Thank You Very Much

2:21pm November 18, 2019

by Terry Gross

Even since he was a kid, Pattinson has been drawn to antihero characters. In his new film, he and costar Willem Dafoe play lighthouse keepers who get stranded by a bad storm in 1890s New England.

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The Bromance Book Club, by Lyssa Kay Adams

Books
Arts

For November, Men Reading Romance — And More

7:00am November 18, 2019

by Maya Rodale

This month, cozy up to a bunch of pro ballplayers who end up solving their relationship hassles by reading romance, a gender-flipped classic rom-com and an intrepid Victorian lady ghostbuster.

Christmas in Austin, by Benjamin Markovits

Books
Arts

In 'Christmas In Austin,' Family Struggles Are A Gift To Readers

10:00am November 17, 2019

by Michael Schaub

In Benjamin Markovits' new novel, a far-flung family reunites in their home town of Austin for Christmas, bringing all their baggage. And while it's an emotional book, it never descends into pathos.

Inspired by E.M. Forster's Howards End, Matthew Lopez wrote The Inheritance, which explores different generations of gay men, and the legacy they pass on to one another. Pictured above are Samuel H. Levine, left, Kyle Soller and Andrew Burnap.

Arts

Ghosts Haunt 'The Inheritance,' From E.M. Forster, To The Generation Lost To AIDS

7:52am November 17, 2019

by Jeff Lunden

The next big thing on Broadway might live up to the hype. The Inheritance takes E.M. Forster's Howards End into modern day Manhattan — the seven-hour play has been compared to Angels In America.

The Pursuit of William Abbey, by Claire North

Books
Arts

'The Pursuit Of William Abbey' Travels A Twisty Path

7:00am November 17, 2019

by Jason Sheehan

Claire North's new book starts with a doctor witnessing an atrocity in Africa in 1884, but becomes a spy thriller, a horror story, a supernatural mystery and an indictment of capitalism and empire.

The Yale Babylonian Collection houses four unique tablets that contain various recipes for stews, soups and pies. Three of these tablets date back to the Old Babylonian period, no later than 1730 B.C.

Science
Arts

Eat Like The Ancient Babylonians: Researchers Cook Up Nearly 4,000-Year-Old Recipes

8:05pm November 16, 2019

Written on four tablets, three of which date back no later than 1730 B.C., the recipes are considered to be the oldest known. And they taste pretty good, says a scholar who re-created them.

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Books
Arts

'This Isn't Speech:' Attorney Carrie Goldberg On Revenge Porn

5:23pm November 16, 2019

by Michel Martin

Attorney and author Carrie Goldberg was the target of revenge porn from an ex-boyfriend, and now she's built a practice helping people in similar situations. Her new book is Nobody's Victim.