culture

How to STAY COOL without an air conditioner: Tips from Indian heat wave researcher Gulrez Shah Azhar. Get a swamp cooler. Nap during the hottest parts of the day. Hang damp curtains to cool the air. Hydrate with water and juice. Wear a wet scarf around yo

11 more tips on how to stay cool without an A/C, recommended by NPR's readers

3:13pm August 09, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

NPR readers share their favorite tips on how to cope with heat without an air conditioner. Among the tips: take a shower with a sheet on, then wear it to bed.

Issey Miyake is shown at the National Art Center in Tokyo on March 15, 2016.

Arts

Famed Japanese designer Issey Miyake dies at 84

6:55am August 09, 2022

by The Associated Press

Miyake defined an era in Japan's modern history, reaching stardom in the 1970s with his origami-like pleats that transformed usually crass polyester into chic.

Books
Arts

'The Last White Man' spins a deft, if narrow, fantasy about identity

5:28am August 09, 2022

by Maureen Corrigan

Mohsin Hamid's surreal new novel centers on a white man who awakens one morning to find that his skin has turned brown. The Last White Man only seriously strains credulity at its very end.

Books
Arts

Two sisters fight for Vietnam's independence

6:57pm August 08, 2022

by Thuy Dinh

The novel Bronze Drum explores the legend of the sisters' rebellion against Chinese rule and the idea of collective memory as resistance.

For many Black Kentuckians and Tennesseans, August 8 is a day to mark freedom

5:24pm August 08, 2022

by Derek Operle

Black communities in Kentucky and Tennessee have celebrated the eighth of August for more than 150 years. It's a day for barbecue, loved ones and marking freedom from slavery.

Historian David McCullough, shown here in 2013, has died at 89. He wrote extensively and compellingly about American history and won two Pulitzer Prizes.

Arts

Pulitzer Prize winning historian David McCullough has died

2:40pm August 08, 2022

by Neda Ulaby

He wrote acclaimed books about Harry Truman and John Adams, along with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal. He also was the authoritative voice narrating TV films such as The Civil War in 1990.

Beyoncé, photographed on Sat. April 28, 2018 in Oakland, Calif.

Lizzo, Beyonce, and the ways and reasons musicians update offensive art

11:47am August 08, 2022

by Aisha Harris

After releasing her album Renaissance, Beyoncé received backlash for the song, "Heated." She used a word that some consider a slur towards people with disabilities — and has since changed the lyrics.

Queue Listen Now

Melanie Lynskey has been nominated for an Emmy for her role as Shauna in the Showtime series Yellowjackets.

Arts

'Lord of the Flies' with teen girls? 'Yellowjackets' actor leans into the role

5:15am August 08, 2022

by Ann Marie Baldonado

Melanie Lynskey is up for an Emmy for her leading role in the Showtime series about a girls' soccer team who go down in a plane crash in 1996, and have to survive in the wilderness for over a year.

Lauv longs for the happiness of childhood on 'All 4 Nothing'

5:07am August 08, 2022

One of pop music's main advocates of normalizing mental health issues, Lauv released a new album on Friday; it's called All 4 Nothing.

Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Devery Jacobs play four friends living on an Indian reservation in the series Reservation Dogs.

Arts

'Reservation Dogs,' now in Season 2, remains one of the most original shows on TV

5:00am August 08, 2022

by John Powers

Set in Oklahoma's Native American territory, the show blends satire, pathos and tribal lore — not to mention American Indians' tragic history — into a series that is fresh, funny and heartfelt.