MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• National Book Awards Handed To Susan Choi, Arthur Sze And More
  The novelist and poet joined Sarah M. Broom, László Krasznahorkai, Ottilie Mulzet, and Martin W. Sandler as winners Wednesday night — receiving $10,000 and a medallion for their front covers.
• 'Beautiful Day' Director On Mister Rogers' 'Radical Notion': Telling Kids The Truth
  "He wasn't afraid of any of the hardest parts of childhood," Marielle Heller says. Her film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood centers on Rogers' unlikely friendship with a cynical journalist.
• In 'Canyon Dreams,' A Navajo Town Struggles To Survive In An Often Hostile World
  Journalist Michael Powell's book is about basketball the same way that Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights is about football — sports are the ostensible focus, but the real interest is the community.
• 'They Will Drown' Isn't A Whodunit, It's A Who-Is-It?
  Johannes Anyuru's unusual speculative mystery They Will Drown in Their Mothers' Tears follows two seemingly ordinary (at first) Swedish citizens dealing with the aftermath of a shooting.
• 'Frozen II' Lets It Go ... Darker
  Yes, there's another earworm-ballad, but the sequel at least attempts to course-correct for the pernicious princess obsession that Disney unleashed on the world in the first place.
• Baltimore Museum Of Art Will Only Buy Works By Women Next Year
  A 2019 study of major U.S. art museums found that 87% of artists in their collections are men. The Baltimore museum's chief curator calls the initiative "re-correcting the canon."
• In New Book, Journalist Alleges Russian Links To Mysterious Deaths Abroad
  BuzzFeed News editor Heidi Blake says Russian agents in Britain killed exiled Russian oligarchs, security officials and others critical of the Kremlin. Her new book is From Russia with Blood.
• 'From Russia With Blood' Doesn't Capture The Messy Nature Of Russian Politics
  Buzzfeed's Heidi Blake fails to support a dubious argument, but the book is worth reading for its recap of more than a dozen murder and suspicious death stories during a two-decade period.
• Stephen Miller And 'The Camp Of The Saints,' A White Nationalist Reference
  The White House adviser has read the racist 1973 book, according to leaked emails. For far-right activists, the work of fiction has helped to shape real ideology and anti-immigration stances.
• 'Sorrow Is Not The Same As Pessimism': Comedian Jenny Slate
  Now that she's released her first Netflix stand-up special (Stage Fright) and her first book (Little Weirds), Slate says she's finally finding her comedic voice in smallness.