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Fine Art
10:40 am
Wed June 19, 2013

The Art Of Life: Claes Oldenburg At MOMA

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 11:14 am

The sculptor Claes Oldenburg was born in Stockholm but grew up in Chicago, went to Yale and came to New York in 1956, where he became a key player in the pop art movement — the major counter-reaction to the abstract expressionism that dominated the 1950s.

So much for art history. Although Oldenburg is a serious artist, probably no artist in history ever created works that were more fun. In a new show at the Museum of Modern Art — really two shows — practically everyone, including myself, was walking through the galleries with a huge grin.

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The Salt
9:28 am
Wed June 19, 2013

The Martini: This American Cocktail May Have An International Twist

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 9:50 am

There's no cocktail more distinctly American than the martini. It's strong, sophisticated and sexy. It's everything we hope to project while ordering one.

Baltimore-born satirist H.L. Mencken is said to have called the martini "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet." But is the martini perfectly American? Maybe not entirely.

So in honor of National Martini Day on Wednesday, we decided to dig into the drink's muddled past.

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Monkey See
8:03 am
Wed June 19, 2013

The 25 Movies To Which 'World War Z' Is A Sequel, Probably

Credit Jaap Buitendijk / Paramount Pictures
Brad Pitt is Gerry Lane, Abigail Hargrove is Rachel Lane, and Mireille Enos is Karin Lane in World War Z.

World War A (in which Isaac Newton is bonked on the head and still bravely figures out gravity)

World War B (spun off from a VH1 reality show)

World War C (in which two dudes hit each other with cellos for 2.5 hours)

World War D (part of The Great Report Card Skirmish Of 1998)

World War-E (in which a tiny robot rolls around and watches Hello Dolly and then smashes the doubloons out of everything in sight)

World War F (the [bleep]ing best war ever)

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Monkey See
6:47 am
Wed June 19, 2013

Bait And Twitch: Vice Magazine, Suicide Glamour, And Not Staying Quiet

Credit iStockphoto.com

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 11:10 am

This week, Vice Magazine unveiled a fashion spread featuring images based on famous women writers who killed themselves. To call it merely tasteless would be to understate how calculated it was as well as how revolting it was — it literally created an image based on a real writer who really hanged herself with a pair of stockings, and then it told you where to buy the stockings.

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The Two-Way
5:58 am
Wed June 19, 2013

Book News: Kim Jong Un Reportedly Gave 'Mein Kampf' As Gifts

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 7:52 am

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

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Book Reviews
5:03 am
Wed June 19, 2013

A Family's Secrets And Sorrows Surface In 'Heatwave'

British writer Maggie O'Farrell, born in Northern Ireland, is less well-known in the U.S. than she should be. Her mesmerizing, tautly plotted novels often revolve around long-standing, ugly family secrets and feature nonconformist women who rebel against their strict Irish Catholic upbringing. Her most recent books, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (2006) and The Hand That First Held Mine (2010), offer the sort of spellbinding reads that can make you miss your flight announcement.

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Dollar For Dollar: Adventures In Investing
1:17 am
Wed June 19, 2013

The Art Of Investing: The Rewards Aren't Always Financial

Credit Vladimir Kryloff
Flower Study #14 by Vladimir Kryloff, the painting NPR's Uri Berliner bought as an investment for $450.

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 7:40 am

NPR's Uri Berliner is taking $5,000 of his own savings and putting it to work. Though he's no financial whiz or guru, he's exploring different types of investments — alternatives that may fare better than staying in a savings account that's not keeping up with inflation.

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Kitchen Window
10:13 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Stalking The Elusive, Worthy Apricot

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 8:40 am

Apricots are the finest of summer's fruits, with dense, juicy flesh and delicate, velvety skins. Piled in baskets in farmers market stalls, they seem to glow in the early morning light. The prettiest ones have a celestial blush and a sweet, floral fragrance.

That's why it is so disheartening when you bite into one only to find it is mealy and flavorless. I can't count the number of times this apricot lover has been the victim of just such an injustice. You probably have been, too.

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Architecture
4:18 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Change Is On The Horizon For London's Famous Skyline

Credit Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images
London's 122 Leadenhall Street (nicknamed the "Cheese-Grater") is shown under construction on March 5. Once complete it will be London's second-tallest building. The recent construction of numerous skyscrapers has sparked concern that views of historic landmark buildings, such as St Paul's Cathedral, are being obscured.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 4:32 pm

Cities are defined by their skylines — while Paris is composed mostly of low-rise apartment buildings, New York is a city of tall office towers. But London is a city in transition. On Tuesday, Boris Johnson, the mayor of the British capital, attends a "topping out" ceremony for one of London's latest skyscrapers in a city where tall buildings cause a lot of controversy.

Until recently, London has been a low-rise city.
 Even now, a 12-story building is considered rather tall.
 But a spate of new skyscrapers is raising questions about the kind of city London should be.

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Theater
1:41 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

In NYC, A Play Festival Spotlights Stories Of Disability

Credit Carol Rosegg / Theater Breaking Through Barriers
Mary Theresa Archbold (left), Anita Hollander and Tiffan Borelli star in Bekah Brunstetter's Gorgeous, part of Theater Breaking Through Barriers' initial Some of Our Parts Festival in 2011. A third round of new short plays runs through June 28 at New York City's Clurman Theatre.

Ike Schambelan doesn't like thinking about disability, and he's guessing you don't either.

"We hate it. We do not want to see it," he says. "Personally, I want to see it least in myself, second in my wife, third in my cat and fourth in you and all others. I don't want to know about it. I want to be in a total state of denial about it as much as I can be."

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Music Interviews
11:57 am
Tue June 18, 2013

Samberg, Taccone And Schaffer: Three's Not A Lonely Island

Originally published on Wed June 19, 2013 11:11 am

Music Reviews
11:43 am
Tue June 18, 2013

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Making Old Songs New Again

Credit J.R. Photography / Courtesy of the artist
Miami-born Cécile McLorin Salvant learned about improvisation and sang with her first band after moving to France in 2007.

Originally published on Tue June 18, 2013 1:46 pm

Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant was born in Miami to French and Haitian parents, and started singing jazz while living in Paris. Back in the U.S., she won the Thelonious Monk vocal competition in 2010. The 23-year-old's first album, WomanChild, is now out — and few jazz debuts by singers or instrumentalists make this big a splash.

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Monkey See
10:52 am
Tue June 18, 2013

Death Of A Puppy: An Exclusive Imaginary Excerpt From The 'Man Of Steel' Sequel

Credit Warner Brothers Pictures
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent in Man Of Steel.

NPR has obtained [or invented, whatever] an excerpt of the draft script for Zack Snyder's much-rumored sequel to the hugely successful Man Of Steel. The script, which was found in a booth at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on La Cienega, suggests that the distinctive tone set by Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and adopted by Snyder's Man Of Steel will continue to inform the expanding cinematic universe of DC Comics characters.


JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE MOVIE

Screenplay by David S. Goyer

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