Television

Arts

Hank Azaria On 'Brockmire' And Why He No Longer Performs Apu On 'The Simpsons'

1:34pm March 17, 2020

by Dave Davies

Azaria has voiced dozens of Simpsons' characters, starting with Mo the bartender. In the IFC comedy series Brockmire he plays a troubled baseball announcer who always speaks in his broadcaster voice.

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'Big Brother' Contestants Recently Learn Of Coronavirus Pandemic

6:12am March 17, 2020

The Big Brother roommates in Germany have been cut off from news since February. On the Canadian version, contestants noticed something was off when their studio audience disappeared.

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Octavia Spencer plays businesswoman Madam C.J. Walker in the Netflix series Self Made. "I've always felt that her story was germane to who I am as a black woman," Spencer says.

Arts

'I Always, Always Fight': Octavia Spencer On Demanding More From Hollywood

1:45pm March 16, 2020

by Terry Gross

Spencer plays businesswoman Madam C.J. Walker in a new Netflix series Self Made. Walker was born on a plantation in 1867 and built an empire selling hair and makeup products designed for black women.

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Arts

Here's How We Cope When We're Stressed: Ideas From NPR's Arts Desk

12:44pm March 16, 2020

by NPR Staff

A Norwegian knitting marathon. America's Next Top Model. British crime dramas. Real-time strategy games. Peanut soup. These are some things that help us feel better — maybe they'll work for you, too?

Arts

New Documentary Examines How Black Girls Are Disproportionately Punished In Schools

8:14am March 14, 2020

NPR's Renee Montagne speaks to Monique Morris who produced the documentary "Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools," based on her book of the same name.

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Books
Arts

'The Plot Against America' Asks: What If The U.S. Had Sided With The Nazis?

1:49pm March 13, 2020

David Bianculli reviews HBO's new miniseries, which imagines that Charles Lindbergh became president in 1940. And we listen back to a 2004 with Philip Roth, who wrote the novel the series is based on.

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John Turturro plays Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf in The Plot Against America, a limited HBO series based on Philip Roth's 2004 novel. "Every one of the characters struggles with that question of: Where do you stand in an America that is transforming itself in

Books
Arts

In 'Plot Against America,' David Simon Finds Present Day In An Imagined Past

11:37am March 13, 2020

Simon has adapted Philip Roth's 2004 novel, about aviation legend Charles Lindbergh being elected president. "It's startling how allegorical it is to our current political moment," he says.

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"It's all a lie — this world is a lie," says RuPaul Charles. "So don't base your value on the lie." RuPaul is shown above in London on Jan. 18, 2020.

Arts

RuPaul's Recipe For Success? Love Yourself And Stay Flexible

11:00am March 11, 2020

by Terry Gross

The host of RuPaul's Drag Race describes his drag look as "one-part Cher, two-parts David Bowie, one-part Diana Ross and two heaping spoonfuls of Dolly Parton."

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With popular shows like Dear White People using a wide range of pop songs in every episode, sync placements on TV have become an increasingly important way for artists to have their music heard.

Music & Culture

With Shows Breaking New Artists, Music Supervisors Are The New A&R

6:20pm March 10, 2020

by Allyson McCabe

The positive exposure for artists from their songs appearing in film, television and advertisements has turned the job of music supervision into a power player in the music business.

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'Sesame Street' Aims To Help Census' Undercounted Age Group

6:55am March 10, 2020

In the 2010 census, about a million children under age 5 weren't counted. Some Sesame Street residents are hoping to change that for 2020. Public service announcements started airing this week.

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