MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Arts & Culture Stories from NPR

• Journalist Warns Cyber Attacks Present A 'Perfect Weapon' Against Global Order
  New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger says U.S. officials worry that foreign powers have planted malware that could knock out critical infrastructure, including electric power.
• 'The Melody' Will Draw You In, Then Take You Somewhere Unexpected
  Jim Crace's superb new novel is a trickster — it seems to be a bittersweet tale of late-life love, but then it becomes a meditation on gentrification and the toll poverty can take on human beings.
• Pithy And Pointed 'There There' Puts Native American Voices Front And Center
  Critic Maureen Corrigan says Tommy Orange's novel, which centers on a cast of native and mixed-race characters whose lives intersect at a powwow, features "a literary authority rare in a debut."
• It'll Take More Than A Few Angry Villagers To Kill Off 'Frankenstein'
  Mary Shelley's timeless novel gave us not only an enduring trope — the misunderstood monster — but an equally enduring way to talk about what happens when human knowledge outpaces responsibility.
• Have We Reached Peak Funny?
  In his new book Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture, Ken Jennings takes humor seriously, tracing how comedy infiltrated every aspect of our lives — and what it's doing to us.
• What We Learned From Dad
  This Father's Day, we celebrate what our dads have taught us, from how to run to being a good listener.
• 'You Just Serve As Much As You Can': Mj Rodriguez On Ball Culture And 'Pose'
  The FX drama stars several transgender actors, including Rodriguez. She says, "It's great that finally our stories are getting to be told."
• 'Where The Nightmares Go' Maps The Territory Of Fear
  C. Robert Cargill's new story collection covers the globe and genres of horror from classic to modern, with ghost stories, thrillers, gore and puzzles that would be right at home on premium cable.
• A Dad, A Daughter, A Disappearing Act: Love And Mourning On Father's Day
  After waiting a lifetime to meet her father, NPR journalist Maquita Peters finally got to know him, only to have him vanish from her life.
• 'The Secret Life of Cows' Aims To Show Animals As Thinking, Feeling Beings
  Farmer Rosamund Young's book will charm people who want to lap up more evidence that animals have personalities, but may not warm hearts of animal lovers who don't eat meat.