culture

Arts

'Wait Wait' for April 9, 2022: With Not My Job guest Matt Walsh

8:09am April 09, 2022

Improv legend Matt Walsh is a founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade, and an Emmy nominee for Veep. With baseball starting again, we ask him three questions about legendarily bad announcers.

Collage of two hands doing a pinky promise. Behind them are paper cutouts of people holding hands. They are surrounded by a collage of mail and letters.

Arts

Dear Life Kit: The authors of 'Big Friendship' answer your friendship conundrums

5:00am April 09, 2022

Making and keeping friends in adulthood is complicated. Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, authors of Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close, answer your anonymous questions on friendship.

Will Smith cannot attend any Academy events or programs after slapping Chris Rock.

The Academy bans Will Smith for 10 years for Chris Rock slap

8:30pm April 08, 2022

by Mandalit del Barco

In a statement, Academy president David Rubin said Will Smith's behavior was unacceptable and harmful.

Queue Listen Now

Philip Patrick and Kiki Orr on My Mom, Your Dad.

Arts

What's making us happy: A guide for your weekend watching, reading and listening

5:00pm April 08, 2022

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Joan Shelley's new song, and an HBO reality show that sets up single parents.

Betty White accepts the legend award at the TV Land Awards at the Saban Theatre April 11, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Arts

Betty White's TV scripts and other personal belongings will be auctioned off

12:38pm April 08, 2022

by Rina Torchinsky

The collection includes the late beloved actress's original director chair from The Golden Girls set and an autographed copy of the show's pilot script.

Arts

Sara Jones: What stories are missing from the the transracial adoption narrative?

8:37am April 08, 2022

What information is missing from our family narratives? For transracial adoptee Sara Jones, her Korean cultural roots were hidden until she sought answers on her own.

Queue Listen Now

Track star Moses Johnson (Tosin Cole) ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time in the AMC series 61st Street.

Arts

'61st Street' is a well-acted — but none too subtle — crime drama

5:00am April 08, 2022

by David Bianculli

AMC's new series takes a detailed look at the intersection of crime, policing and the courts. But while its story is compelling, 61st Street is ultimately marred by a script that seems too obvious.

Books
Arts

Emily St. John Mandel tackles the big questions in 'Sea of Tranquility'

2:37pm April 07, 2022

by Maureen Corrigan

Mandel's latest work is an ingeniously constructed, deeply absorbing novel that summons up three fully realized worlds in three distinct time periods — including the 25th century.

Queue Listen Now

Elizabeth Holmes, played by Amanda Seyfried, in the final episode of The Dropout.

Arts

'The Dropout' nails the ending – even though Elizabeth Holmes' story isn't over

10:19am April 07, 2022

by Linda Holmes

Confronted with the mess she's made at her startup Theranos, Holmes simply runs at the end of the Hulu show.

Books
Arts

There's no redemption to be had in Chelsea Bieker's 'Heartbroke'

6:45am April 07, 2022

by Kristen Martin

The author of Godshot brings readers a new set of stories; Heartbroke unfolds in a chorus of yearning and sorrow, told in 11 different voices that Chelsea Bieker inhabits with perfect pitch.