Arts Apr 29 New novel imagines how memories can be accessed and reviewed by ourselves and others Imagine a beautiful cube in which you can store all your memories, allowing access to them whenever you want. But there is a tradeoff. Others can access it, or, in a sense, you. Jennifer Egan has dreamed up this nonexistent…
Arts Apr 28 Preserving Ukraine’s cultural treasures with digital tools In Ukraine, as everywhere, much of contemporary life, including history and culture, is documented in the digital space. With so much at risk, new efforts are taking on a new kind of digital "cultural preservation." Jeffrey Brown reports for our…
Poetry Apr 18 Citizen poets share details of their pandemic lives in ‘Dear Vaccine’ A new poetry anthology called “Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic” illuminates how people around the world have experienced COVID-19. Jeffrey Brown sits down with Naomi Shihab Nye, an author, editor and current Young People’s Poet Laureate, to…
Arts Apr 12 Artist Faith Ringgold’s life’s work celebrated in New York exhibit A major retrospective at the New Museum in New York looks at the remarkable life and work of artist Faith Ringgold, 91, who has fought for change in the art world and beyond for 60 years. Jeffrey Brown visited with…
Education Apr 06 Push to purge some books from schools highlights nation’s cultural schism A new report from the American Library Association shows that attempts to ban books in the U.S. surged last year to the highest level since the group began tracking book challenges 20 years ago. According to the study, most of…
Arts Mar 30 Florida school uses art displays from around the world to promote diversity and inclusion In Sarasota, Florida large scale artworks are being used to teach students about diversity, inclusion and mental health. This comes at a time when there is growing controversy in the state, and school districts across the country, over how and…
Arts Mar 29 Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur reflects on his historic victory for ‘CODA’ One of the most moving moments from Sunday’s Oscars ceremony was the award for best supporting actor to Troy Kotsur, making him the first male deaf actor to win an Oscar Award. The film he appeared in, “CODA,” was also…
Arts Mar 28 Breaking down the major moments from the Academy Awards Ripple effects continued Monday after some unscripted drama at Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, as actor Will Smith struck presenter Chris Rock on stage. But there are also many other highlights to explore. Jeffrey Brown reports for our arts and…
World Mar 17 Ukraine’s cultural sites under threat from Russia’s invasion The theater in Mariupol that was reduced to rubble when it was bombed by Russian forces Wednesday is just one example of the risk the war poses to Ukraine's important cultural sites. Memorials, museums and churches, all places that speak…
Education Mar 10 Nationwide effort to ban books challenges freedom of speech Advocates are sounding the alarm about a set of measures that they say target teaching and writing related to LGBTQ issues, race and freedom of speech. Around the country, efforts to ban specific books or even whole categories of books…