Arts + Life

Libyan Radio Station Promotes Democracy, One Rap At A Time

Leila Fadel — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:07:00 +0000

Many of the militia fighters who rose up and ousted former dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 have refused to lay down their arms and are still challenging the post-revolutionary government.

Yet the militias are facing a challenge of their own. They now come under verbal attack on one of Libya's newest radio stations, Radio Zone.

Bassem Arady, a presenter at the station, says pretty much whatever's on his mind.

The Battered Old Car That Drove My Father's American Dream

Joanna Kakissis — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:12:15 +0000

Sometime in 1975, in the first few months after my family moved from Athens, Greece, to Rapid City, S.D., my father bought a junky, gigantic gold Oldsmobile that cost $200.

My sister and I called the car Old Goldie, a name meant to evoke a tough old broad with a glamorous past. My father loved her. It was behind her oversized wheel that he learned — at 40 — to drive.

The South Dakotan who taught his adult driver's education class assumed my father rode a donkey back in Greece, and saw Old Goldie as a symbol of the American Dream. Though my father hated donkeys, he agreed with symbolism.

An 'Adventure' For Kids, And Maybe For Their Parents Too

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:00:33 +0000

Count plenty of grown-ups among the millions of fans of Adventure Time, a kids' show on Cartoon Network. Some are surely Emmy voters. (It's won three.) Others are very possibly stoners. Still others are intellectuals. Lev Grossman falls in the last category. He wrote two best-selling novels, The Magicians and The Magician King, and he's Time's senior book critic.

Grossman's critique of Adventure Time? "It's soooo smart! It's sooo intelligent!"

Hang on. He's just getting started.

"I am a little bit obsessed with it," Grossman continues.

Fighting Unwanted Cat Calls, One Poster At A Time

editor — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 21:03:00 +0000

It's hard to go unnoticed in New York City, with everyone checking out the latest fashions and hairstyles. As the weather warms, some women who are shedding those winter layers are finding themselves the object of more cat calls, whistles and roving eyes than they'd like.

Artist Tatayana Fazlalizadeh is not going to take it anymore.

Under the cover of darkness, wearing a black knit hit, black leather jacket and black Chuck Taylors, Fazlalizadeh is nearly invisible.

How To Introduce Kids To Tough Topics? Art And TV Can Help

Elizabeth Blair — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:44:46 +0000

Parents steer their kids to media for all kinds of things: as a distraction so they can make dinner, to teach letters and numbers, and for pure entertainment. There are also times when parents rely on books, TV, museums and other media when they aren't quite sure how to approach a difficult topic by themselves.

Linda Ellerbee is the queen of hard subjects. Domestic abuse, Sept.

MTV Promises To Be About Music For An Entire Half Of A Day

Linda Holmes — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:27:16 +0000

Well, this is news.

MTV, VH1, and CMT sent out a press release this morning announcing that on July 4^th, which they're calling "Music Independence Day" (!) (!!), they will "dedicate their channels exclusively to music."

ALL DAY LONG. If by "all day long," you mean "from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern and Pacific." (Hey, what's a day, right? 12 hours, 24 hours, these are semantics.)

You might think that MTV, VH1, and CMT would not need a special declaration to devote a 12-hour block to music, but you would be wrong. IT'S MUSIC INDEPENDENCE DAY, WOOOOO!

From Seinfeld, A Second Season Of 'Coffee' Talk

editor — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:33:00 +0000

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is exactly what it sounds like — a show about three things Jerry Seinfeld loves.

Each individual episode of the stand-up comic's Web series features him talking to a fellow comedian while driving across town to get a cup of coffee.

While the premise is simple enough, and the celebrity interview as familiar as any late-night talk-show, the format of C3 allows for a more relaxed and personal tone than the typical sofa-chat format.

"I know these people, and this is it — this is what the

An Interview with Ioan Gruffudd, Special Guest at Origins Game Fair

Heather Anderson — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:16:58 +0000

Known for his roles as Mr. Fantastic in Fantastic 4, and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, as well as his roles in the movies Titanic, King Arthur, Amazing Grace, and more, Ioan Gruffudd is quite the accomplished actor. But did you also know that he was once an avid gamer?

Theater Of The Absurd: Have Audiences Lost Their Manners?

Linda Holmes — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:05:54 +0000

If you woke up this morning thinking, "I really need to hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer say the words 'noisily unwrapping her Twizzlers,'" have I got good news for you.

Margot Adler had a story on today's Morning Edition about Broadway audiences and whether they're getting ruder, given recent incidents involving the aforementioned Twizzlers, rude texting, talking and other interruptions.

'Matilda' Star Mara Wilson On Why Some Child Actors Lose It

editor — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:38:53 +0000

After years in movies and TV shows, some child actors end up making headlines later in life for stints in rehab, or ongoing legal battles. But not all former child stars become tabloid fodder. Some leave Hollywood behind and pursue other careers.

Mara Wilson, who starred in Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire and Miracle on 34th Street, was able to avoid the drama.

In The Rush To The Tonys, A Late Glut For Theatergoers

Jeff Lunden — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:13:36 +0000

This spring, more than in any recent year, the 2012-2013 Broadway season accelerated toward its conclusion: Nineteen productions opened between the beginning of March and April 25, the cut-off date for Tony eligibility. And many of those shows raised their curtains in the final two weeks of the season.

The Tony Awards are ostensibly given for excellence over the course of an entire year, but all the late openings make me wonder whether producers haven't taken to scheduling their shows strategically to garner Tony nominations and Tony votes for marketing purposes.

The Tony Awards: Is This The Greatest Awards Show Opening Ever?

Linda Holmes — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:01:23 +0000

Unless you've seen every awards show since the dawn of time (which would make you The Unluckiest Person In The World), you can't really answer the question of whether last night's opener of the Tony Awards, hosted for the fourth time by Neil Patrick Harris, was the best opening ever.

But if you're talking about awards shows in recent memory, the answer is that not only was it the best opener, but it utterly embarrassed just about everything except maybe Jimmy Fallon's "Born To Run" at the 2010 Emmys.

An Abstract Look At The Food We Eat

editor — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:03:00 +0000

When photographer Ajay Malghan looks at this image, he sees the Virgin Mary. But you might see something entirely different — a flower petal, maybe. Or a sea slug.

Or how about ... a carrot? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is a picture of a sliced carrot.

And this? It's not a supernova. It's not the Eye of Sauron. It's a strawberry.

These intriguingly abstract images are part of a photo series called Naturally Modified — the brainchild of photographer Ajay Malghan.

Justin Bieber Destined For Outer Space

Scott Neuman — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:56:00 +0000

Singer Justin Bieber is the latest celebrity to score a booking on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, destined for its first suborbital test flight sometime this year.

The Bieb and manager Scooter Braun join the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie on the elite passenger list of those willing and able to pay $250,000 for a seat on Richard Branson's commercial space-flight venture.

Sir Richard tweeted the news Thursday:

Bieber's suggestion of a music video in space is novel, but not entirely original.

Amazon's Grocery Delivery: A Trojan Horse To Get In Your Door

editor — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:32:00 +0000

Amazon already delivers everything from toothpaste to televisions to your doorstep. Now, it wants to bring your berries and beer, too.

The online retailing behemoth is planning a major expansion of AmazonFresh, the home delivery service of meat, dairy and other fresh and frozen foods that it has been field-testing in Seattle since 2007.

'Arrested' No More: Hurwitz On Why The Bluths Are Back

editor — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:44:00 +0000

The Bluth family of the cult show Arrested Development can be oblivious, mean — to each other and anyone who enters their orbit — and eccentric. But that, says show creator Mitch Hurwitz, is in some ways the point.

"The goal with the show has always been that the Bluths are wrong," he tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "[They're] self-centered. They haven't had to develop.

New 'Arrested Development' Gags Are Best Served In One Sitting

David Bianculli — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 20:04:00 +0000

When Mitch Hurwitz and his collaborators began making the Fox sitcom Arrested Development 10 years ago, it was loaded with jokes — in-jokes, recurring jokes and just plain bizarre jokes — that rewarded viewers who watched more than once. But even though it won the Emmy for best comedy series one year, not enough viewers bothered to watch it even once, so the show was canceled in 2006 after three seasons. And that would have been it, except for a loyal cult following that built up once the show was released on DVD and the Internet.

Foster Families Take Center Stage

Neda Ulaby — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:14:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlTGYq-sTwI

Cardboard Bike Creator May Soon Start Peddling His Product

Mark Memmott — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:46:00 +0000

After capturing the imagination of people around the world last year with video of a bicycle made almost entirely out of cardboard, Israeli inventor Izhar Gafni is now hoping to capture money from folks who would like to own one.

Cardboard Technologies is launching a Kickstarter campaign that offers "limited and exclusive access" to those interested in getting one of the bikes.

Reports: Jean Stapleton, Who Played Edith Bunker, Dies

Eyder Peralta — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 21:17:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjhzhK2zryg