MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• Richard Wilbur, Renowned American Poet And Translator, Dies At 96
  His commitment to traditional forms, with tight patterns and taut construction, stood out among his contemporaries. He said his craft was finding order in pain and chaos — not creating it.
• Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Richard Wilbur Dies At 96
  Poet Richard Wilbur won two Pulitzer Prizes and was the second poet to hold the title of Poet Laureate of the United States. He died Saturday at the age of 96.
• Sleep Scientist Warns Against Walking Through Life 'In An Underslept State'
  "Human beings are the only species that deliberately deprive themselves of sleep for no apparent gain," says sleep scientist Matthew Walker. His new book is Why We Sleep.
• Amy Tan Revisits The Roots Of Her Writing Career In 'Where The Past Begins'
  In a new memoir, the Joy Luck Club author searches her past for the sources of her creativity. She says, "I certainly think that the bad experiences ... shaped me as a writer."
• Director Agnes Varda And French Artist JR Team Up In Road Picture 'Faces Places'
  The odd couple travels around France in the new documentary, photographing strangers and making murals out of their portraits. Critic David Edelstein calls it an "entirely down to earth" art film.
• In His 15th Season At 'SNL,' Kenan Thompson Still Knows How To Play It Funny
  Thompson has lasted longer than any other performer in Saturday Night Live history. He's so likeable that the writers sometimes use the action line "Kenan reacts" when they need to get a joke in.
• Tom Hanks Is Obsessed With Typewriters (So He Wrote A Book About Them)
  The actor's new collection of short fiction — his debut book as an author — is called Uncommon Type, and each story has something to do with the machine close to his heart.
• From Hamilton To Grant: Ron Chernow Paints A 'Farsighted' President in New Biography
  After the massive success of his last book, which inspired an award-winning Broadway musical, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ron Chernow is back with a new biography of President Ulysses S. Grant.
• Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro Once Wrote A Screenplay About Eating A Ghost
  Written in the '80s, The Gourmet is an absurdist satire exploring the politics of food and the hedonistic culture of consumerism that treats it as a recreational drug. It's still strikingly relevant.
• Mortician Explores Cultures' Many Paths For 'Sacred Transition' Of Death
  Caitlin Doughty, whose Los Angeles funeral home specializes in alternative ceremonies, traveled the world to collect stories about how different peoples send loved ones off to the great beyond.