MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• 'Into The Planet' Captures Cave Diving's Mortal Risks — And All lts Glory
  Jill Heinerth's memoir leads with her thoughts as she wonders if she will die underwater, setting the tone for an honest and engaging book about life as one of the world's top cave divers.
• 'Brittany Runs A Marathon' Is Formulaic, But Victorious At The Finish Line
  The underdog comedy, which centers on a hard-partying woman who signs up for the New York City Marathon, proves that even a predictable plot can be hard to resist if it's well executed.
• Stephen Root On 'Barry,' 'Office Space' And Why 'Less Is More' In Acting
  After appearing in nearly 800 TV episodes and 100 films, the noted character actor received his first Emmy nomination for his role as a handler to a hitman in the HBO series Barry.
• In The Brisk Horror-Comedy 'Ready Or Not,' Bluebloods Are Out For Blood
  The film, about a wealthy clan who play a deadly game of hide-and-seek with a young woman (the fantastic Samara Weaving) marrying into the family, is fast, fun and not for the squeamish.
• 'Floating Coast' Reads Like A Eulogy To The Natural World — With A Sliver Of Hope
  The triumph of this book is how Bathsheba Demuth pulls seemingly disparate threads together into a net of actions and consequences from which the whales, the Yupik, and our children can't escape.
• 'The Outlaw Ocean': A Forgotten Frontier Where Slavery And Illegal Activities Abound
  Ian Urbina combines stellar investigative reporting skills and straightforward writing to convey what lies on the other side of the ocean — opposite cruise-ship vacations to beautiful beaches.
• 'This Way Up' Deserves A Spot On Your Crowded Viewing List
  It can be hard not to miss lower-profile streaming shows. But This Way Up, a comedy created by Irish actress Aisling Bea and streaming on Hulu, has a sweet and funny story to tell.
• 'A Good Provider' Argues Migration Can Be Salvation
  Jason DeParle's new book follows one Filipino family for over 30 years. He had originally intended to research slum life — but discovered that migration was what lifted the family out of the slum.
• How A Few 'Renegade' Thinkers Helped Usher In A New Era Of Anthropology
  In his new book, Gods of the Upper Air, Charles King tells the story of Franz Boas, Margaret Mead and the other 20th century anthropologists who challenged outdated notions of race, class and gender.
• Ironic, Informal And Expressive, 'New Rules Of Language' Evolve Online
  A lively new book by Gretchen McCulloch dissects the common vernacular that forms the cornerstone of online communication. Because Internet parses emojis, lols and punctuation — or lack thereof.