archive
History
WWII 'Canteen Girl' Kept Troops Company From Afar
December 18, 2012 For 15 minutes each week, Phyllis Jeanne Creore spoke and sang to the servicemen and their loved ones in her NBC radio broadcast. Now 96 years old, the beloved "Canteen Girl" shares her memories — and some personal wartime letters, too.
The Record
Ravi Shankar, Who Brought Eastern Music To Western Legends, Dies
December 12, 2012 When he was just 10 years old, Shankar began performing in Europe and the US with his family's Indian dance troupe. But at age 18, Shankar gave up all the glitter to study with a guru who taught him the sitar. He became a master, and introduced the West to his country's music.
Fine Art
Hopper's Lonely Figures Find Some Friends In Paris
December 10, 2012 An exhibition of works by American realist Edward Hopper is drawing impressive crowds at the Grand Palais. Hopper is well-known in the U.S. for his pensive, lonely portraits of people sitting together yet alone. He's less well-known in France, but the exhibit has been a surprising success.
Movies
Leslie Caron: Dancing From WWII Paris To Hollywood
November 29, 2012 In 1951, Leslie Caron arrived in California a malnourished and anemic ballerina. After spending the war in occupied Paris, Tinseltown was a revelation, and she soon took it by storm, appearing with the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in more than 40 films.
Holiday Recipes
A 'Splendid Table' Set With Mama Stamberg's Relish
November 16, 2012 In yet another installment of a long-standing NPR tradition, Susan Stamberg sneaks her (in)famous family recipe for cranberry relish on the air. This year, she talks to Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of The Splendid Table — who isn't fooled for a second.
Fine Art
One Dot At A Time, Lichtenstein Made Art Pop
October 15, 2012 Roy Lichtenstein is best known for his dotted, angst-filled comics featuring beautiful ladies in distress. But a major retrospective at the National Gallery shows that the painter found inspiration beyond the comic-book world; he also paid his respects to the masters — Picasso, Monet and more.
Fine Art
Print-Inspired Art: All The News That's Fit To Paint
September 25, 2012 Newsprint is both the medium and the message in the "Shock of the News" exhibit currently on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The show examines a century's worth of interaction between artists and the journals of their day.
Movies
The Marlon Brando Of Screen Dance, 100 Years On
August 23, 2012 Dancer-actor Gene Kelly would have been 100 this year, and his legacy of unparalleled athleticism and joyous, comic performance still looms large in popular culture. His versatility and his physical beauty were both part of his appeal.
Art & Design
Hopper's Pensive Lady In Pink Travels The World
August 20, 2012 The Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio has been home to Edward Hopper's Morning Sun painting for more than 50 years. But if you visit Columbus, there's no guarantee you'll be able to see it; the painting spends much of its time on loan to other museums.
Opinion
India's Blackout A Reminder Of How Far We've Come
August 4, 2012 The power outage in India this week, which darkened the lives of nearly 700 million people, brings to mind the time I spent there. It was nearly 50 years ago, when India was still a young democracy and power outages were as common as enjoying a cup of dark, sweet Indian tea.
Destination Art
Columbus, Ind.: A Midwestern Mecca Of Architecture
August 4, 2012 Thanks to one trailblazing industrialist, more than 60 of Columbus' buildings — including schools, churches and even a jail — were designed by a veritable who's who of modern masters. As one local tour guide puts it, "We don't build anything that isn't attractive."
Fine Art
Reflective Art Brings Light, Color To Historic Spaces
June 26, 2012 Swarovski crystals and chicken wire are just two ingredients of landscape artists Xavier Perrot and Andy Cao's work. Their installations at a one-time leprosarium outside Paris and in D.C.'s Dumbarton Oaks are informed by the history and space that surrounds them.
Fine Art
Vuillard: A Parisian Painter And His Jewish Patrons
June 19, 2012 A new exhibit in New York explores the life of Edouard Vuillard — a lesser-known, intellectual Parisian artist — and the Jewish tastemakers who supported him at the turn of the century.
Critics' Lists: Summer 2012
15 Summer Reads Handpicked By Indie Booksellers
May 25, 2012 Not sure what to read this summer? NPR's Susan Stamberg asked three booksellers to share their top five picks for the books you shouldn't miss. They recommend tales of con artists, grade-school spies, refugees and ranchers — plus an exploration of why stories make us human.
Movies
Power Couple, Covering War (And Waging Their Own)
May 22, 2012 Martha Gellhorn was one of the first great female war correspondents. But her reputation as a journalist was sometimes overshadowed by her marriage to Ernest Hemingway. A new HBO film looks at the relationship between this passionate power couple.
