Arts
The Arts
‘Perry Mason’ Reboot Is No Rerun: This Is A ‘Very Dark’ Take, Says Matthew Rhys
Welsh actor Matthew Rhys stars in the HBO version of the 1960s legal drama. This Perry Mason is a seamy, slovenly private eye in 1932 Los Angeles. “He doesn’t fit in in any way,” Rhys says.
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Miss Iceland’ Is A Subdued, Powerful Portrait Of A Suppressed Society
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir’s atmospheric novel, about a young writer and her outcast friends in 1963 Iceland, will transport you to another time and place, though not necessarily a rosier time and place.
‘I Want Teens To Recognize Their Own Power’: Questions For Young Adult Author Liara Tamani
Tamani’s new young adult novel follows two high school basketball stars who fall in love at first sight — but then have to deal with their own issues and secrets to build a lasting relationship.
Academy Says Future Films Must Meet Diversity And Inclusion Rules For Oscars
The effort by the Motion Picture Academy to de-white-ify the film community includes a plan to change eligibility standards for award nominees “to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated.”
Brit Bennett Set Her Novel ‘The Vanishing Half’ 50 Years Ago — She Didn’t Expect It To Be ‘Timely’
The Vanishing Half is about African American twins — one lives as a black woman, the other “passes” as white. Passing is “an act of self-creation and also an act of self-destruction,” Bennett says.
Dayton, Washington’s Historic Liberty Theater Hopes For A Summer Reopening
The lights have dimmed for a couple of months at the historic Liberty Theater in Dayton, Washington, due to the coronavirus. But its manager has plans to reopen the doors this summer.
Here Are The Finalists In The NPR Student Podcast Challenge (Including One From Walla Walla)
Despite the coronavirus pandemic that closed schools nationwide, students from 46 states and the District of Columbia submitted entries. We’ve narrowed those down to 25 finalists.
Pullman’s RTOP Play House Adapts As It Navigates Coronavirus Restrictions
When COVID-19 struck, the theatre in Pullman was preparing its final show of the season, Thoroughly Modern Millie. Associate director Michael Todd says it had even hired actress Sandrinne Edstrom to come from New York for a couple of months to play the lead role. When the show was postponed, Ms. Edstrom was quarantined in Pullman. Still is. So they made the best of it.
Art Of The New Deal: How Artists Helped Redefine America During The Depression
When the Roosevelt administration rolled out millions of dollars to fund artists, musicians, writers and actors, it wasn’t just about job creation. It was to unite a nation in turmoil.
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Brown Album’ Centers On The Erasure Of Race In American Culture
Porochista Khakpour’s work is strongest when she turns the lens on herself to examine how she, too, is complicit; many essays here are just too tantalizingly brief to allow space for deep analysis.
Hillary Without Bill? ‘Rodham’ Imagines What Could Have Been
Curtis Sittenfeld’s latest novel imagines a life for Hillary Rodham in which she turns down Bill Clinton’s proposals and forges a career for herself, as a law professor and later a politician.
TV REVIEW: With Crass Warfare, ‘The Great’ Casts A (Vodka) Gimlet Eye On Privilege
Loosely (very loosely) based on the early life of Russia’s Catherine the Great, Hulu’s 10-episode historical comedy-drama is arch, witty, twisty and knowing.
