Accessibility links
Arts & Life Art and entertainment commentary plus interviews, book reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, comedy, and visual art. Subscribe to podcasts and follow trends in music, painting, art, architecture, photography, and design.

Arts & Life

Performing Arts

Dance Theatre of Harlem School Reopens

The Dance Theatre of Harlem names a new executive director and raises the necessary funds to reopen its school. The dance company had been forced to cancel its fall season, laid off much of its staff, and closed the 35-year-old school. Alicia Zuckerman of member station WNYC reports.

Dance Theatre of Harlem School Reopens

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4193062/4193063" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Opinion

Pop Culture

Branson and Trump: Two Business Styles, Televised

Donald Trump's reality show The Apprentice is doing well in its second season, but another telegenic tycoon has surfaced: Virgin CEO Richard Branson now has a reality series called Rebel Billionaire. Hear John Byrne of Fast Company on what the shows reveal about Trump and Branson

Branson and Trump: Two Business Styles, Televised

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4193048/4193049" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Pop Culture

A Long 'Jeopardy!' Run, Jeopardized

After winning 74 consecutive Jeopardy! games since June and winning more than $2.5 million, contestant Ken Jennings may have finally met his match. NPR's Michele Norris talks with Andy Saunders, a Canadian college student and Jeopardy! enthusiast.

A Long 'Jeopardy!' Run, Jeopardized

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4193044/4193045" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Movies

The Man Behind 'Kinsey': Filmmaker Bill Condon

Fresh Air

The new biopic Kinsey takes on the story of scientist Alfred Kinsey, who pioneered research in human sexuality in the 1940s and 1950s. For the project, director Bill Condon -- who also wrote the script -- interviewed many of the scientist's colleagues.

The Man Behind 'Kinsey': Filmmaker Bill Condon

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4192388/4192389" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Digital Generations

Digital Generations: Growing Up in a High-Tech World

Cell phones, PDAs, computers and MP3 music players may seem a bit confusing to the average adult -- but for kids born in the so-called digital age, these devices are second nature. The second part of the Digital Generations series profiles a 13-year old and his family, who talk about what it means to grow up as a part of the "Internet Generation."

Digital Generations: Growing Up in a High-Tech World

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4192022/4192023" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Scenes I Wish I Had Written

The Hills Are Alive for Suzan-Lori Parks

Writer Suzan-Lori Parks has won acclaim for depictions of African-American life. The author of Topdog/Underdog discusses two of her favorite dramatic scenes, from The Sound of Music and Taxi Driver.

The Hills Are Alive for Suzan-Lori Parks

Listen · 5:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4191707/4192073" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Actor Paul Reubens, 'Pee-Wee Herman'

Fresh Air

The complete 45-episode series of the TV show Pee-Wee's Playhouse is now out on DVD. Reubens originally created the Pee-Wee character at the Los Angeles improv group called The Groundlings. Pee-Wee's Playhouse went on the air in 1986. It ran on CBS for 5 years, garnering 22 Emmys.

Actor Paul Reubens, 'Pee-Wee Herman'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4190544/4190545" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Digital Generations

Digital Generations: Rural High-Speed Web Access

Our five-part Digital Generations series begins with a report on how some rural communities are installing their own high-speed Internet connections. New research indicates that access speed is the determining factor in who uses the Internet, and faster speeds are a big draw for many young professionals looking to put down roots and set up businesses.

Digital Generations: Rural High-Speed Web Access

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4190131/4190132" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Retelling the Tale of the Feather Trade

An article in Audubon Magazine recalls the 19th century effort that ended the feather trade. Until a public outcry stopped the practice, thousands of birds across North America were slaughtered to provide decorations for women's hats. Hear Jennifer Price, author of the article, and NPR's Jennifer Ludden.

Retelling the Tale of the Feather Trade

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4189955/4189956" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Writer Simon Nye, Reviving 'Pollyanna'

Screenwriter Simon Nye's most recent work is the Pollyanna, showing Sunday night on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. Nye talks to NPR's Liane Hansen about the challenges -- and "glad things" -- about working with Eleanor H. Porter's 1913 novel.

Writer Simon Nye, Reviving 'Pollyanna'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4189545/4189546" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

National

Bid to Fix Up Hemingway's 'Finca' Hits Snags

A house once owned by the writer Ernest Hemingway is a tourist attraction in Cuba. But it has long been in a state of disrepair. Americans who want to restore the house are blocked by the U.S. government's strict policy against aid to Cuba. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports.

Bid to Fix Up Hemingway's 'Finca' Hits Snags

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4189537/4189538" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">