Bella DuBalle says the legislators behind a new Tennessee law criminalizing public drag shows don't understand the art: "They think that every drag performer is doing something hypersexual or obscene." We talk with the native Tennessean about the law, performing for kids, and how her livelihood and safety are at risk.
Nora Ephron's 1983 novel Heartburn just come out in a 40th anniversary edition. And Jenny Jackson's debut comic novel, Pineapple Street, is a smart comedy of manners.
Many of Ricardo Nuila's patients at Houston's Ben Taub Hospital are dealing with serious illnesses as a result of not being able to access basic preventive care. His new book is The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine.
When Hersch invited jazz, pop and opera composer Spalding to perform three nights with him at the Village Vanguard, he thought she'd bring her bass. Instead, Spalding just wanted to use her voice.
Brown's been working since the 1980s, voicing Mr. Krabs in Spongebob and playing memorable villains in movies like The Shawshank Redemption and Highlander. He now has a supporting role in John Wick 4.
Birnam Wood is a whooshingly enjoyable new novel by Eleanor Catton, a New Zealander whose previous book, The Luminaries, made her, at 28, still the youngest person ever to win the Booker Prize.
Karen Fine talks about practicing Chinese medicine and acupuncture on sick pets, what "ADR" stands for, and the mental health issues many veterinarians face. Her new book is The Other Family Doctor.
Desire, I Want to Turn Into You was recorded during a time when many were emerging from pandemic isolation, and, intentionally or not, it taps into the upheaval and disorientation we've lived through.
Slate film critic Dana Stevens traces Keaton's trajectory, from performing in his family's vaudeville act as a child, to starring in and directing silent films. Originally broadcast Jan. 24, 2022.
Palm Trees and Power Lines marks a confident new filmmaking voice in the director Jamie Dack, who adapted the film from her 2018 short of the same title with her co-screenwriter, Audrey Findlay. They've written a disturbing cautionary tale about grooming and trafficking.
The New Yorker recently published Mallon's diary excepts detailing life in Manhattan in the '80s. His new novel, Up With the Sun, is based on the life of a little-known actor who was gay and closeted.
Shorter, who died March 2, was inspired by film and literature, as much as by sounds. One of the great musical minds of our time, he had a profound influence on the course of jazz.
John Powers says the movie starts off like a sentimental fish-out-of-water story about a young woman's search for her roots. But it quickly becomes clear that we're seeing something stranger and stronger.
Writer Sally Adee says scientists are looking into ways to manipulate the body's natural electrical fields to try and treat wounds, depression, paralysis, and cancer. Her new book is We Are Electric.
At 98, Carter is the oldest living president in U.S. history. After serving his term, he worked to promote safe housing, human rights and conflict resolution. Originally broadcast in '93, '95 and '96.
In 1981, Brooks wrote, directed and starred in a collection of short comedy sketches, called History of the World: Part I. Forty-two years later, he's presenting an eight-episode TV sequel for Hulu.
Perry Mason, best known to most Americans as the unbeatable defense attorney played on TV with glowering self-assurance by Raymond Burr. When HBO's first installment of its Perry Mason reboot came out in 2020, it replaced this triumphalist hero with a scuffed-up Perry whose origin story bore all the hallmarks of today's prestige TV, from its embrace of long-form storytelling to a pricey, production-designed evocation of 1930s Los Angeles.
Watson, who died in 2012, was born in North Carolina went on to become widely regarded as the single greatest flat-picking guitar player in America. Originally broadcast in 1988 and 1989.
Journalist Will Sommer went to road shows and spoke to believers and their families while investigating QAnon. His book, Trust the Plan, makes the case that there are more conspiracy theories to come.
Maureen Corrigan reviews I Have Some Questions for You which she says "is both a thickly-plotted, character-driven mystery and a stylishly self-aware novel of ideas."
