culture

Books
Arts

In 'Ancestor Trouble,' Maud Newton wrestles with her family history

11:35am March 29, 2022

by Kristen Martin

Maud Newton spent decades researching genealogic records, genetic science, and the cultural history of "ancestor hunger"; her book is also a coming-to-terms with how to face and honor family history.

Will Smith slaps actor and comedian Chris Rock onstage during the Oscars.

Read Will Smith's apology to Chris Rock

8:35pm March 28, 2022

by Jaclyn Diaz

Smith slapped Rock on the Oscars stage after the comedian made a joke at the expense of Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Will Smith holds his Oscar for best actor in a leading role for King Richard at the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

Arts

Should Will Smith have been allowed to collect an Oscar after he slapped Chris Rock?

7:37pm March 28, 2022

by Eric Deggans

When the moment came for the Oscar show's producers to step up and say that someone who commits violence on live television doesn't get their moment in the winners' circle, the producers blinked.

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Will Smith accepts the award for best actor in a leading role for King Richard, not long after slapping Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars.

Arts

After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, the Oscars took a turn

5:54pm March 28, 2022

by Linda Holmes

It's always a bad sign when the academy has to say it doesn't condone violence.

Arts

This German woman has been collecting the tiny balls from fountain pens for 10 years

5:27pm March 28, 2022

by Fernando Alfonso III

Stuffed in a desk in North Germany is a small box with one of the world's most unique and perplexing collections. Charlotte Ruchhöft has collected more than 500 balls from fountain pens.

La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz holds up the winner card reading actual Best Picture winner Moonlight with actor Warren Beatty and host Jimmy Kimmel onstage during the Academy Awards in 2017.

Arts

5 most unexpected moments in Oscars' history

4:17pm March 28, 2022

by Fi O'Reilly

One year the telecast was actually too short. Another time an actor climbed over rows of chairs between him and his Academy Award. Björk laid eggs on the red carpet. Oscar can go weirdly off script.

Jada Pinkett Smith attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards.

Arts

Jada Pinkett Smith's hair loss, noted at the Oscars, is a struggle for many women

3:50pm March 28, 2022

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars for a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's medical condition, there are renewed conversations about toxic masculinity and concepts of feminine beauty.

Law & Order actor Sam Waterston, shown here in 2016, also co-stars in the Netflix series Grace and Frankie and in the Hulu series The Dropout.

Arts

Sam Waterston returns to 'Law & Order,' glad to be working into his 80s

1:04pm March 28, 2022

by Dave Davies

Waterston joined the cast of the original NBC series in 1994 on a one-year contract. He wound up staying 16 years, until the series wrapped in 2010. Now the show's back — and so is he.

Books
Arts

A sleeper-agent-pageant-queen exacts revenge — and finds herself — in 'Monarch'

7:48am March 28, 2022

by Kristen Martin

Poet Candice Wuehle's irresistibly weird debut novel Monarch is the kind of book that you want to start reading again immediately after turning the last page.

Arts

Oscars 2022: The full list of winners

11:43pm March 27, 2022

by Natalie Escobar

Here are all the movies that have won and were nominated at the 94th Academy Awards.