culture

Books
Arts

2022 Whiting Awards celebrate 10 emerging writers

8:00pm April 06, 2022

by Fi O'Reilly

The 10 winners of this year's Whiting Awards have been announced; the $50,000 prize honors emerging writers, with the hope of allowing them to concentrate full-time on their work.

Meet 18-year-old Alyssa Gaines, Youth Poet Laureate of Indianapolis

4:29pm April 06, 2022

To celebrate National Poetry Month we're introducing listeners to poets competing to be the next National Youth Poet Laureate. First up: Alyssa Gaines, who's the Indianapolis Youth Poet Laureate.

El Peso Hero saves civilians in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol in a special edition of Héctor Rodríguez's self-published comic book series. The 18-page issue is free, with text in English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian.

Mexican American superhero saves Ukrainian civilians in comic book issue

1:56pm April 06, 2022

by Olivia Hampton

Fed up with Mexico's non-interventionist policy after Russia invaded Ukraine, Héctor Rodríguez sends his Mexican American superhero to Mariupol in the latest issue of the series.

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An American crime reporter (Ansel Elgort) allies himself with a frustrated police detective (Ken Watanabe) in the HBO Max series Tokyo Vice.

Arts

'Tokyo Vice' offers a stylized tour of Japan's criminal underworld

12:47pm April 06, 2022

by John Powers

HBO's new eight-part series follows an American crime reporter who intends to take Japanese journalism by storm — but first must learn how to navigate the churning opacity of 1990s Tokyo.

Peaches ripen on a branch at Chappell Farms orchard in Kline, S.C., in July 2013.

Science
Arts

Here's why most of us love the smell of vanilla and peaches and not sweaty feet

10:19am April 06, 2022

by Dustin Jones

Researchers found that most people share similar preferences when it comes to smell, and it has little to do with their cultural background.

Graphic novelist George O'Connor treats the Olympians as both a family and as distinct gods and goddesses, each with their own personality.

Books
Arts

Graphic novels about Greek gods that don't talk down to kids

7:59am April 06, 2022

by Elizabeth Blair

George O'Connor spent 12 years turning the Greek gods into best-selling graphic novels for kids. They're faithful to the ancient myths - which often include gender fluidity.

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Books
Arts

'The Candy House' is a brilliant portrait of intersecting lives

6:33am April 06, 2022

by Annalisa Quinn

In Jennifer Egan's novel, there is a persistent, lovely countermelody to the corporate project of mapping human experience; it's full of people engaged in a sweeter and more plaintive human algebra.

Director Miwa Nishikawa poses for portraits for the film "Nagai Iiwake" (Long excuses) at the 11th edition of the Rome Film Festival in Rome on Oct. 18, 2016.

A #MeToo crisis is raging in the Japanese film industry

5:55am April 06, 2022

by The Associated Press

A #MeToo moment may be growing in a country where top movie directors have signed a petition expressing outrage over allegations of sexual violence in the film industry.

April is National Poetry Month. In step with NPR tradition, we're asking readers to help celebrate. We supply the hashtag — you fill our feeds with your mini works of art.

Arts

It's National Poetry Month. Send us your mini poems

4:59pm April 05, 2022

April is National Poetry Month. In step with NPR tradition, we're asking readers to help us celebrate. We supply the hashtag — you fill our feeds with your mini works of art.

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Books
Arts

Poet Ocean Vuong sifts through the aftershock of grief in 'Time Is a Mother'

1:40pm April 05, 2022

by Tonya Mosley

Vuong's new collection of poetry was inspired by his mother's death from breast cancer. His 2019 novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, followed a boy who, like Vuong, is an immigrant from Vietnam.

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