Jan 20 Watch The conflict in Syria through the eyes of a young poet By PBS News Hour Instead of weapons, Amal Kassir uses words to fight. An 18-year-old Syrian-American activist, Kassir grew up in Syria, but now lives in the United States, where she performs slam poetry to bring attention to the suffering in the Middle East. Continue watching
Jan 20 Sherlock ‘Curly Fu’ Holmes finds large, devoted audience in China By Ellen Rolfes The third season of “Sherlock” premiered in the U.K. on Jan. 2 and in the U.S. on Jan. 19. But one of the largest fan bases for the BBC program is far from the West, in China. Video… Continue reading
Jan 20 Weekly Poem: Elizabeth Alexander honors MLK Day with stories of the black experience By Victoria Fleischer Poet Elizabeth Alexander "cant untether" herself from history, especially when reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. When she offered her own work in commemoration of the holiday, Alexander read four poems that travel through history to "give us a… Continue reading
Jan 20 La Scala, Berlin Philharmonic conductor Claudio Abbado dies at 80 By Ellen Rolfes Italian conductor Claudio Abbado died peacefully in Bologna at the age of 80. He will be remembered for his extraordinary conducting skills, a teacher who championed both new music and new talent. Continue reading
Jan 17 Bolshoi Ballet hopes dancing, not drama gets the spotlight in 2014 By artsdesk It's one year exactly since Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Moscow-based Bolshoi Ballet, suffered a viscous acid attack, masterminded by a jealous Bolshoi dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko. Here's an update to the story and a look back at some NewsHour… Continue reading
Jan 17 For Rita Moreno, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, an Oscar and now a SAG Life Achievement Award By Victoria Fleischer Rita Moreno is the only Latino American to win an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and an Oscar. And on Saturday, the 82-year-old actress will receive a new award: the Screen Actor Guild (SAG) Life Achievement Award. In October, Moreno sat down… Continue reading
Jan 16 POLL: What are your picks for the Academy Awards? By Victoria Fleischer Early Thursday morning the Oscar nominations were announced in Los Angeles. But, before the Academy decides, we at Art Beat want to hear from you. Tell us, what -- and who -- should win at the Academy Awards this year?… Continue reading
Jan 16 And the Oscar nominations go to … The announcements are in! This year's Oscar nominations were released Thursday morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "American Hustle" and "Gravity" lead the pack with 10 nominations and "12 Years a Slave" is not far behind… Continue reading
Jan 16 ‘American Hustle,’ ‘Gravity,’ ’12 Years a Slave’ lead Oscar nominations The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday this year's Oscar nominations. "American Hustle" and "Gravity" lead the pack with 10 nominations and "12 Years a Slave" is not far behind with nine. Those films will be… Continue reading
Jan 15 ’12 Years’ writer on how Hollywood does a ‘poor job’ depicting slavery By Victoria Fleischer At Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony, the movie won Best Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for six other awards, including best screen play. Screenwriter John Ridley spoke to PBS NewsHour's Jeffrey Brown in November about his film, adapted from the… Continue reading