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Neda Ulaby Neda Ulaby reports on arts, entertainment, and cultural trends for NPR's Arts Desk.
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Netflix Curbs Tobacco Use Onscreen, But Not Pot. What's Up With That?

Brett Gray (left) as Jamal Turner, and Peggy Blow as Abuela, a lovable, pot-smoking grandma, in the first season of the Netflix teen drama On My Block. Netflix/Screenshot by NPR hide caption

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Netflix/Screenshot by NPR

Shots - Health News

Netflix Curbs Tobacco Use Onscreen, But Not Pot. What's Up With That?

TV networks have standards that minimize tobacco use on shows, and Netflix now does, too. But streaming companies lack public policies about smoking cannabis onscreen, and doctors say that hurts kids.

Netflix Curbs Tobacco Use Onscreen, But Not Pot. What's Up With That?

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Book News & Features

'Archive Of Our Own' Fanfiction Website Is Up For A Hugo Award

The fanfiction website Archive of Our Own — where people post stories about their favorite movies, books and TV shows — is up for a Hugo Award, one of the highest awards in sci-fi and fantasy.

'Archive Of Our Own' Fanfiction Website Is Up For A Hugo Award

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Fine Art

Crock Of Ages: New Exhibit Reveals Ancient Pottery's Millennia-Long Songs

Sculpture seems like an inherently visual art, but Oliver Beer has made it auditory. He dropped microphones into a mishmash of objects from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to craft an orchestra.

Crock Of Ages: New Exhibit Reveals Ancient Pottery's Millennia-Long Songs

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A Kinder, Gentler Wave Of Reality TV Tries A Little Tenderness, For A Change

Jonathan Van Ness embraces a participant on Season 4 of Queer Eye. Following the success of the reboot, Netflix has made kindness a key element of its unscripted and competition programming. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Television

A Kinder, Gentler Wave Of Reality TV Tries A Little Tenderness, For A Change

It's a genre historically known for screaming matches and backstabbing competition. But lately, the shows at its forefront — say, Queer Eye or Marie Kondo — feature a lot more generosity of spirit.

A Kinder, Gentler Wave Of Reality TV Tries A Little Tenderness, For A Change

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At Whitney Museum Biennial, 8 Artists Withdraw In Protest Of Link To Tear Gas Sales

Artists are requesting that the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York remove their work from its biennial showcase over a museum board member's ties to the sale of law enforcement supplies including tear gas. Bebeto Matthews/AP hide caption

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Bebeto Matthews/AP

Arts & Life

At Whitney Museum Biennial, 8 Artists Withdraw In Protest Of Link To Tear Gas Sales

Artists are asking the New York City museum to pull their work from the high-profile show, protesting the Whitney's board vice chair Warren Kanders, who profits from the sale of tear gas and bullets.

At Whitney Museum Biennial, 8 Artists Withdraw In Protest Of Link To Tear Gas Sales

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Sports

The World Champion U.S. Women's Soccer Team Celebrates With Parade Through Manhattan

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team celebrated their World Cup win with a ticker-tape parade Wednesday in New York City. It's only the second time a women's sports team has been given that honor.

The World Champion U.S. Women's Soccer Team Celebrates With Parade Through Manhattan

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Sports

Ticker-Tape Parade Will Honor U.S. Women's Soccer Team

New York City will celebrate the U.S. women's national soccer team with a parade Wednesday. The women beat the Netherlands on Sunday to win the FIFA World Cup.

Ticker-Tape Parade Will Honor U.S. Women's Soccer Team

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National

Why People Are Rethinking The Words 'Crazy' And 'Insane'

The word "retarded" has fallen out of use as sensitivity to the disabled has grown. Now, a similar dynamic is beginning to play out around the word "crazy" and those with mental illness.

Why People Are Rethinking The Words 'Crazy' And 'Insane'

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Satirical Staple 'MAD' To Exit Newsstands And Recycle Its Classic Material

A 2018 exhibit at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University celebrated the artistic legacy of MAD magazine. Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP hide caption

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Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP

Arts & Life

Satirical Staple 'MAD' To Exit Newsstands And Recycle Its Classic Material

At MAD magazine's peak in the early 1970s, its circulation peaked at more than 2 million. The magazine will shift to printing collections of old content and end-of-year specials with new material.

National

WorldPride In New York City

WorldPride is taking place in New York City this weekend. Millions of visitors are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn raid and riots that ushered in the LGBTQ rights movement.

WorldPride In New York City

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National

World Pride Arrives In New York City, 50 Years After The Stonewall Riots

World Pride is taking place in New York City this weekend. Millions of visitors are expected to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn raid that helped lead to the LGBT rights movement.

World Pride Arrives In New York City, 50 Years After The Stonewall Riots

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'You Don't Own Me,' A Feminist Anthem With Civil Rights Roots, Is All About Empathy

Lesley Gore and producer Quincy Jones at work in the studio. The two collaborated on "You Don't Own Me" and a handful of other 1960s hits. Donaldson Collection/Getty Images hide caption

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Donaldson Collection/Getty Images

American Anthem

'You Don't Own Me,' A Feminist Anthem With Civil Rights Roots, Is All About Empathy

Ever since a 17-year-old Lesley Gore sang it in 1963, the coolly mutinous song has moved women to reject passive femininity. Its writers, though, say there are layers of resistance in its words.

'You Don't Own Me,' A Feminist Anthem With Civil Rights Roots, Is All About Empathy

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'Avengers,' But Make It Without Women, Or Men Hugging, Or Levity In General

Though women superheroes play big roles in Avengers: Endgame, a "defeminized" fan edit of the movie minimizes screen time for most of them. It completely cuts out all scenes with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, center left). Marvel Studios hide caption

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Marvel Studios

Movies

'Avengers,' But Make It Without Women, Or Men Hugging, Or Levity In General

A fan edit of smash hit Avengers: Endgame circulating online has cut out anything deemed feminist or gay. Such "defeminized edits" are now notorious in some corners of fandom.

'Avengers,' But Make It Without Women, Or Men Hugging, Or Levity In General

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Franco Zeffirelli, Creator Of Lavish Productions On Screen And Stage, Dies At 96

Franco Zeffirelli pictured above in New York in October 1974. Jerry Mosey/AP hide caption

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Jerry Mosey/AP

Obituaries

Franco Zeffirelli, Creator Of Lavish Productions On Screen And Stage, Dies At 96

The Italian director staged sumptuously visualized operas, which often resembled Renaissance paintings brought to life. On film, he brought Shakespearean and biblical tales to the big screen.

Franco Zeffirelli, Creator Of Lavish Productions On Screen And Stage, Dies At 96

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