MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• 'I Done Been Through Some Things': The Tina Turner Musical Is Now On Broadway
  Tina playwright Katori Hall and star Adrienne Warren have plenty to say about working with the star, depicting domestic violence and learning to sing in a new voice.
• Caroll Spinney, Who Played Big Bird And Oscar On 'Sesame Street,' Dies At 85
  The actor and puppeteer performed on the popular TV show from its very first episode in 1969 until his retirement last year.
• 'Mahna Mahna' (Do Do Do Do Do, Do Do Do Do) Turns 50
  One of the goofiest earworms just celebrated a big anniversary. Journalist Jennifer Van Evra explores the song's surprising history — and traces it back to a sexy Italian film.
• In 'Parker Looks Up,' A 2-Year-Old Shares A Moment With Michelle Obama
  In 2018, a photo of Parker Curry looking at a portrait of Michelle Obama went viral. Within a week, she got to meet the first lady. Parker tells the story in a new book she co-authored with her mom.
• For 'Frozen II,' Kristen Bell Found Inspiration In Personal Pain
  In the sequel, the story of the sister princesses veers into darker territory that Bell says is rooted in a darkness present in both her own life, as well as those of her collaborators.
• Not My Job: Ali Wong, Comic And Author Of 'Dear Girls,' Gets Quizzed On Girl Deer
  Wong's new memoir is called Dear Girls, so we've invited her to answer three questions about deer girls, as in: female deer.
• 'Reverie' Dreams Outside The Box
  Ryan LaSala's new novel imagines a world where people get swept up in dangerous, all-encompassing dreams — and only a damaged, anmesiac kid and his friends have the power to fight them.
• Opinion: This Art Is Bananas
  A banana taped to a wall was sold for $120,000 as a piece of art. NPR's Scott Simon wonders how it makes people think about the passage of time.
• Sock It To Me: In Praise Of An Evergreen Holiday Gift
  It's the Christmas gift for when you can't think of what else to give — socks! And they're having their fashion-world moment, says Steven Frumkin, a dean at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
• Clarity Isn't The Point In Confusing, Absorbing 'Dead Astronauts'
  Jeff Vandermeer's new novel, set on a far-future, post-apocalyptic earth, follows a trio of only vaguely human astronauts through a shifting, allegorical story that jumps back and forth across time.