MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• Sketch Artist Captures 'Something Unusual' At Senate Trial
  Art Lien, a courtroom artist who normally covers the Supreme Court, has been sketching the Senate proceedings. "I'm looking for color," he says — such as sleeping senators and fidget spinners.
• Latinx Critics Speak Out Against 'American Dirt'; Jeanine Cummins Responds
  Latinx writers and critics are speaking out against Jeanine Cummins' new book American Dirt, calling its depiction of the migrant experience inauthentic and harmful. We asked Cummins to respond.
• Actress Annabella Sciorra Testifies That Harvey Weinstein Raped Her
  She is the first of six women expected to testify at his trial that Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them. "I said, 'No, no,' but there was not much I could do at that point," Sciorra said.
• A Drug Kingpin Worries Over His Imminent Regicide In 'The Gentlemen'
  Guy Ritchie returns to the genre he made his bones on, and the film's "rigorous and largely circular" plot is fun; more fun than McConaughey's undercooked performance, anyway.
• 'Zombi Child': When The Real Horror Is Colonialism
  Writer-director Bertrand Bonello uses the tale of a Haitian zombie to explore intergenerational racial trauma in this quiet, moody film.
• No Love, Little Craft In Pulpy Body-Horror Flick 'Color Out Of Space'
  In this loose, grisly adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story, a family undergoes a series of mutations while Nicolas Cage gets increasingly unhinged; the result is "a gory mess."
• 'First, Last And Always, I Am A Fan': Michael Chabon Steers Latest 'Star Trek'
  The Pulitzer prize-winning author says he never had the "chutzpah" to dream of writing for Star Trek. But now, he's showrunner and executive producer on Star Trek: Picard on CBS All Access.
• In 'Sexual Citizens,' Students Open Up About Sex, Power And Assault On Campus
  Profs. Jennifer Hirsch and Shamus Khan asked more than 150 undergrads about their sex lives — what they wanted out of sex, how troubling encounters unfolded, and how misunderstandings led to assault.
• Intriguing 'Star Trek' Reboot Sends Patrick Stewart's Picard Back Into Space
  Star Trek: Picard begins in the year 2399, when the captain, long retired, is tending to his European vineyard. But Picard doesn't stay Earthbound long in this CBS All Access show.
• 'Nora From Queens' Is, And Is Not, Awkwafina
  Awkwafina's career has ranged from rap to Crazy Rich Asians to a Golden Globe for The Farewell. Now, she's putting down a lot of her old habits in a new Comedy Central series.