MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• After Irma, South Florida's Fairy Tale Estate Looks Stricken By An Evil Spell
  Before the hurricane wreaked "cataclysmic destruction," the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami hosted decades of quinceañeras and weddings. Now, hundreds of volunteers are helping clean up.
• National Museum Of African American History And Culture Celebrates 1 Year
  Thousands of people flock to the museum each day, making it one of the most popular Smithsonian destinations in the nation's capital.
• Katharine Hepburn's Brownies: A Recipe For Home-Wrecking?
  Two years ago in The New York Times' food section, Sydne Newberry commented on this recipe — and the bittersweet end to her marriage. The comment went on to become Internet legend.
• 'Unforgivable Love' Resets Steamy 'Dangerous Liaisons' In 1940s Harlem
  The retelling of the 1782 French novel has just as much betrayal and bed-hopping as the original, but in a new locale. Author Sophfronia Scott explains why Harlem — and how she writes good sex scenes.
• Leveling Up In The Video Game Industry, Without Checkpoints: 'Significant Zero'
  Videogame writer Walt Williams describes his Red-Bull-and-Adderal-fueled advancement in a competitive and secretive industry. Critic Jason Sheehan says the book "plays out ... like a videogame."
• Goodbye, For Now, To A Vital Source For Native American News
  Indian Country Today Media Network announced it would "cease active operations." That leaves a big hole in news coverage by, and about, Native Americans.
• 'We Believe Deeply In Lox And Bagels': What It Means To Be A Secular Jew
  In his new one-man show, On the Media host Bob Garfield grapples with questions of identity and belonging. "I've been running from the religious part of my religion for my entire adult life," he says.
• 'Inside Studio 54' Takes You Behind The Velvet Rope, And Into Some Dark Corners
  Owner Mark Fleischman's memoir drops plenty of celebrity names while detailing the day-to-day logistics (and the drugs) that kept the nightspot running.
• Above The Ballet, Where The Tutus Are Made
  Every year, the New York City Ballet asks top fashion designers to outfit its dancers for its Fall Gala. Good thing the capacity of its 18-person costume department is "the highest you can get."
• Not My Job: 'Empire' Creator Lee Daniels Gets Quizzed On Cookies
  On the hit TV show, Daniels created one of the great characters of our time — the ambitious record company matriarch Cookie Lyon. So we'll see what he knows about actual cookies.