A Panorama Of Devastation: Drawing Of WWI Battle Spans 24 Feet
Joe Sacco has made a career of tackling difficult subjects through imagery. He's a journalist and cartoonist who has reported on the Middle East and Bosnia — in both written and comic form. In his latest book, The Great War, Sacco turns to history, producing a 24-foot-long depiction of the horrifying first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Capitalize On 'This Minus That'
Every answer is the name of a state capital, to be identified from its anagram.
Theater
Here's A Wild Idea For Shakespeare: Do It His Way()
In the new Broadway productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, imported from London's Globe Theatre, the director and actors put on the shows pretty much as the Bard would have staged them — with an all-male cast and everything.
Author Interviews
'Days Of Fire': The Evolution Of The Bush-Cheney White House()
November 9, 2013 Peter Baker covered the George W. Bush administration for The New York Times. In his new book, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Baker takes a second look at those controversial years.
Author Interviews
English Manners Are Downright Medieval ('Sorry!' Was That Rude?)()
November 9, 2013 Did you know that the average Brit says "sorry" eight times per day? Sorry! The English and Their Manners traces the roots of polite behavior from the medieval "Which orifice can I stick my finger into?" — answer: none of them — to today's "Can I throw a temper tantrum at a tennis match?"
Author Interviews
'A Rose Is A Rose Is A' 75-Year-Old Kid's Book By Gertrude Stein()
November 9, 2013 Most people know Stein as the author of experimental fiction and the host of salons for the great artists of her time. But in 1939, Stein also became a children's book author. The World Is Round — a collaboration with illustrator Clement Hurd, of Goodnight Moon fame — follows the adventures of a young girl named Rose.
Book Reviews
Amy Tan's Latest: Mothers, Daughters And The Oldest Profession()
November 9, 2013 Amy Tan's fans will find familiar themes in her new novel, The Valley of Amazement: mothers and daughters, multi-generational secrets, Chinese-American identity. But Jane Ciabattari says the new work, which centers on an American madam in Shanghai and her courtesan daughter, is more sophisticated than Tan's previous novels.
Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
Not My Job: We Quiz Nick Offerman On The Finer Points Of Manhood()
November 9, 2013 Offerman plays one of the manliest men on TV — the meat-eating, scotch-drinking boss Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation. Offerman has just published a book of manly advice called Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living.
Books
In Art Lost And Found, The Echoes Of A Century's Upheaval()
November 8, 2013 Earlier this week, German authorities announced that a trove of Nazi-looted art, once thought lost, had been discovered in a Munich apartment. That news has sparked the imagination of author Susan Choi, who recalls reading a novel with a similar theme: Jenny Erpenbeck's Visitation.
The Two-Way
Blockbuster Fades Out, But Some Zombie Stores Will Live On()
November 8, 2013 Dish Network announced this week that it will shutter the 300 or so remaining Blockbuster stores it owns across the country. But in some places, dozens of the video stores will have an unlikely afterlife.
Movie Interviews
Jake Gyllenhaal, Going After What's Real()
November 8, 2013 On a visit to the set of Nightcrawler, NPR's Audie Cornish talks to the actor about his changing career and his recent crime drama, Prisoners, where he plays a solemn detective in search of two young missing girls.
The Two-Way
Poet Pablo Neruda Was Not Poisoned, Officials In Chile Say()
November 8, 2013 It was prostate cancer, not an assassin's poison, that killed the famous Chilean poet, officials announced Friday. The Nobel laureate's body was exhumed this spring to investigate claims that he was murdered at age 69 in 1973.
Movie Reviews
John Sayles' 'Go For Sisters,' Taking A Curious Direction()
November 8, 2013 Written and directed by John Sayles (Lone Star), the film focuses on a parole officer on searching for her missing son and the parolee and former cop she enlists for help. Edward James Olmos, LisaGay Hamilton and Yolonda Ross star.
Monkey See
A Complete Curmudgeon's Guide To 'The Sound Of Music'()
November 8, 2013 Well, sure. You could choose to think all the good things about The Sound Of Music, but you could also chose to think all the weird things. (Besides the fact that NBC has decided to remake it.)
TED Radio Hour
To The Edge()
July 26, 2013 Some people might only dream of adventure, but for others, there's no option but to explore the most extreme places on Earth. What drives adventurers to constantly push to the brink of human endurance? In this hour, TED speakers share their experiences of going to the edge of our world.
The Two-Way
Book News: Claire Vaye Watkins Wins The Dylan Thomas Prize()
November 8, 2013 Also: the shortlist for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award; Antarctica's new writer in residence; Buzzfeed won't "talk smack" about books.
Fine Art
Saudi Soldier Questions Authority With Art (And Plastic Wrap)()
November 8, 2013 Abdulnasser Gharem is revolutionizing the contemporary art scene in Saudi Arabia with performance art and installations that chafe against his country's bureaucracy. A lieutenant colonel in the army, Gharem skirts potential censorship by exhibiting his boldest, most critical pieces outside Saudi borders.
