Arts & Life

Bob Dylan, photographed in his Rolling Thunder Revue face paint.

To Capture Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, Martin Scorsese Had To Get Weird

10:00pm June 10, 2019

by Ann Powers

In trying to unpack one of the a stranger periods of Bob Dylan's strange life, Scorsese had to meet the bard on his home turf of half-truths and obfuscation.

Sesame Street plays a Tiny Desk concert on May 10, 2019 (Claire Harbage/NPR).

Sesame Street: Tiny Desk Concert

5:41pm June 10, 2019

by Bob Boilen

Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, Grover, Rosita, Count von Count, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster and other surprise guests gather at NPR's headquarters to celebrate 50 years of love, learning and joy.

Arts

Devastating New Miniseries Examines The Horrors Faced By The Central Park 5

1:35pm June 10, 2019

by Soraya Nadia McDonald

In telling the story of five teens wrongly convicted of rape, Ava DuVernay's When They See Us reminds viewers what happens when adults responsible for upholding justice instead chose to subvert it.

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Books
Arts

Sympathy For Several Devils In 'Among The Lost'

7:00am June 10, 2019

by Lily Meyer

Emiliano Monge's prose is brilliant, but that often obscures the moral questions around his protagonists, both human traffickers who transport their cargo while worrying about their relationship.

The cast of Hadestown performed at the Tony Awards on Sunday night, as the show won eight awards.

Arts

'Hadestown' Finds Bliss At The Tony Awards

12:26am June 10, 2019

by Linda Holmes

Anaïs Mitchell's long-developing musical won eight awards, including best musical, while The Ferryman won best play.

The Spies of Shilling Lane, by Jennifer Ryan

Books
Arts

A Blitz Of Mother Love In 'Spies Of Shilling Lane'

10:00am June 09, 2019

by Vikki Valentine

How far would you go to get away from your overbearing mother? In Jennifer Ryan's novel, a young woman braves the London Blitz to avoid her mom — who promptly hops a train and comes looking for her.

Brian Drye plays trombone with Tony-nominated actress Amber Grey onstage in Hadestown.

Into The Spotlight: Recognizing Broadway Musicians This Tony Awards Season

8:44am June 09, 2019

by Jeff Lunden

Musicals get Tony Awards. Scores get Tony Awards. Orchestrators get Tony Awards. But this year, a number of Broadway musicians are stepping out of the pit and onto the stage.

Ali Wong and Randall Park say that Always Be My Maybe has long been in the works as their original spin on When Harry Met Sally.

Arts

Ali Wong And Randall Park On Rapping, Rom-Com Tropes And (Keanu) Reeves

8:44am June 09, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

The stars and creators of Always Be My Maybe, a romantic comedy with a mostly Asian American cast, brought elements of their own California childhoods into their new film.

Arts

'The Handmaid's Tale' And Coming Out As Transgender

8:44am June 09, 2019

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Vox culture critic Emily VanDerWerff, who came out publicly as a trans woman in her recent review of the new season of The Handmaid's Tale.

Books
Arts

In 'Ayesha At Last,' A Take On Austen That's Sparky And Sensitive

7:00am June 09, 2019

by Kamrun Nesa

There have been an awful lot of South Asian adaptations of Pride and Prejudice recently, but Uzma Jalaluddin's tale of two Toronto Muslims — one conservative, one liberal — stands out beautifully.