Pop Culture

Columbia Journalism Review set up a misinformation newsstand in Manhattan in October 2018, in an effort to educate news consumers about the dangers of disinformation in the lead-up to the U.S. midterm elections.

Arts

'Disinformation' Is The Word Of The Year — And A Sign Of What's To Come

1:22pm December 30, 2019

by Geoff Nunberg

Foreign nations have been systematically spreading falsehoods on social media for years; in 2019, it seemed like the world began to fully grasp the ramifications of disinformation campaigns.

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Arts

The 2010s: Slang That Stuck

8:21am December 29, 2019

Adulting in the 2010s involved some shade, some tea, especially if you were hanging with your bae, rocking some mom jeans in that selfie. We round up the slang that stuck in this decade.

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The career of DJ Don Imus, which spanned more than four decades, was made and then undone by his acid tongue.

Controversial Shock Jock Don Imus Has Died At 79

9:13pm December 27, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

The broadcaster, who typically wore a cowboy hat, was a pioneer of the radio genre that prizes irreverence and caustic wit and had pushed back against political correctness.

As the world prepares to ring in 2020, many people are arguing over whether a new decade will also begin on Jan. 1 or whether it will actually begin on the first day of 2021.

People Can't Even Agree On When The Decade Ends

1:14pm December 27, 2019

by Bill Chappell

In these binary times, it might not surprise anyone that people can't even agree on when one period of time ends and another begins.

Music & Culture

Obama's Year-End Best-Of List

5:11am December 27, 2019

Every December former President Obama releases a list of his favorite songs, books and movies. NPR's David Greene talks with Jay Ruttenberg of the comedy journal The Lowbrow Reader.

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Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) defends wrongly condemned Walter McMillan (Jamie Foxx) in Destin Daniel Cretton's film.

Arts

'Just Mercy': An Earnest, Effective Legal Drama

5:00pm December 26, 2019

by Andrew Lapin

This adaptation of attorney Bryan Stevenson's book about a wrongly condemned black man dramatizes that case while offering an unflinching look at the death penalty.

Arts

Highly Specific Superlatives: The Best Bits Of Stand-Up Comedy In 2019

5:42pm December 25, 2019

by Elizabeth Blair

All Things Considered's Best of 2019 lists are going highly specific. Up next: the best bits from stand-up comedy specials, from Best Joke about the Immigrant Experience to Best Bit about Pregnancy.

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Highly Specific Superlatives: TV And Movies From 2019

7:24pm December 24, 2019

NPR's All Things Considered best of 2019 lists are going highly specific this year. Up first: highly specific superlatives from TV and movies.

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Schofield (George MacKay) gets entrenched in Sam Mendes' 1917.

Arts

'1917' Is Gripping, Visceral And Strangely Beautiful

5:01am December 24, 2019

by Chris Klimek

Sam Mendes' technique — stringing together a series of long takes to seem continuous, as if the story's events unfold in real time — makes for a "wholly absorbing cinematic experience."

Merritt Wever and Toni Collette play two detectives investigating a series of sexual assaults in the Netflix show Unbelievable.

Books

A Critic Returns To The Books, TV, Music And Movies He Didn't Get To In 2019

1:33pm December 23, 2019

by John Powers

Few things haunt a critic more than loving something and not being able to share it. This year, Fresh Air critic John Powers circles back to Unbelievable, Atlantics, Where the Light Falls and more.

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