MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• Ted Lasso Recap, Season 2: The Prodigal Beefcake
  Jamie Tartt has fallen on hard times and asks to return to AFC Richmond in "Lavender," the second episode of the second season. Meanwhile, Ted continues to struggle to trust Dr. Sharon.
• Yola Takes The Whole Wheel With 'Stand For Myself'
  The British-born singer is, after years of successful but imbalanced collaborative work and four Grammy nominations for her last record, finally and fully at the creative helm of her career.
• Black Theater Artists Are Helping Shakespeare Speak To More Diverse Audiences
  Scholars have a mantra: Shakespeare is universal and his works are for everyone. But for Black actors and audiences, does an implicit whiteness in the Bard's canon hinder access and identification?
• Newport Folk Festival Returns, In A Year Defined By Uncertainty
  After a silent year in which artists were sent grants instead of invitations to perform, the beloved festival was determined to go on this year, as carefully as possible. And how possible is that?
• 'The Green Knight' Fulfills A Quest To Find New Magic In An Old Legend
  Dev Patel stars as a young adventurer from King Arthur's court in David Lowery's inventive adaptation of an enduring 14th-century poem.
• These 3 Books Will Help Your Kids Get Over Their Summer Reading Blues
  You don't have to be an Olympian to hit a wall — by late July, nothing's exciting anymore, not even the blow-up pool. We've got three books that can help your kids get their reading groove back.
• David Bowie, Travis Scott Inspired The Poems In This New Collection
  Poet Adrian Matejka used to be a DJ — and when he got stuck in pandemic-induced misery, it was music that lifted him up and helped him finish writing his latest book, Somebody Else Sold the World.
• Everything You'd Want To Know About The Unusual Masks Worn By Team USA Athletes
  It's a bold look that has been compared to the masked Batman villain Bane — even by the Japanese organizers of the Tokyo Games. The mask is voluminous and is a nod to the host country, Japan.
• ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill Dead At Age 72
  One-third of the Texas blues-rock mainstay ZZ Top has died. Dusty Hill, the band's bassist and one of its vocalists, was 72 years old, and according to his bandmates died at his home in Houston.
• 'Moonlight' Writer Tarell Alvin McCraney On His TV Series 'David Makes Man'
  McCraney's script was adapted into the Oscar-winning film. David Makes Man, now in season 2, begins with a Miami boy whose mother struggles with addiction, and has echoes of McCraney's own childhood.