Arts Aug 24 Actor Michael K. Williams’ posthumous memoir details how his life informed his career A posthumous memoir out this week tells of the life and legacy of actor Michael K. Williams, who died of a drug overdose last fall. Williams is known for his powerful performances on screen, but the memoir also reveals his…
Arts Aug 17 Art and medicine intersect in New York City hospitals It’s one of the largest public art collections in the country and it’s not where you might expect to see it. Artwork in New York hospitals aims to heal patients and healers. Jeffrey Brown continues his occasional look at the…
Arts Aug 15 Examining Salman Rushdie’s lifelong fight for free speech Three days after being repeatedly stabbed onstage as he was preparing to give a lecture, author Salman Rushdie is recovering while the man accused of attacking him has been charged with attempted murder. Ayad Akhtar, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and…
Arts Aug 09 Author Mohsin Hamid explores the construct of race in his new novel ‘The Last White Man’ A work of imagination asks us to see race in a new way from a novelist once again taking on magical realism in his fiction. Jeffrey Brown talks with Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid for our arts and culture series, "CANVAS."…
Arts Aug 03 Remembering the legendary sports broadcaster Vin Scully The baseball world is mourning the loss of the Hall of Fame sportscaster Vin Scully, who died Tuesday at the age of 94. He called games for the Los Angeles Dodgers for 67 years, the longest tenure any broadcaster has…
Arts Aug 02 Singer Rhiannon Giddens becomes new artistic director of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble Rhiannon Giddens has been on her first tour this summer as artistic director of Silkroad Ensemble, which was founded in 1998 by famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who joined her on stage at the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts last week.
Poetry Jul 27 Ada Limón on becoming the new U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón has been named the nation's new poet laureate. Jeffrey Brown recently met with Limón to learn more about her life’s path, one that includes backyard groundhogs, Kentucky bluegrass, pokeweed and plenty of poetry. It's part of our arts…
Arts Jul 19 New initiative aims to make world of jazz more inclusive When most people think about jazz greats, it's possible few faces of women and nonbinary musicians come to mind. But a new program is working to change that. Jeffrey Brown takes a look at a pipeline being developed to pump…
Arts Jul 13 Ukrainian-born pianist discusses his ode to Odesa and the impact of Russia’s invasion As the fighting in Ukraine continues, we take a musical journey to Odessa, Ukraine’s historic port city on the Black Sea. It is a personal vision of a Ukrainian-born pianist, Vadim Neselovskyi, who teaches at the Berklee College of Music…
Arts Jul 08 Author Geraldine Brooks delves into an untold story of a racehorse and his caretaker A history-making racehorse, and the people around it, are re-imagined in a new work of fiction dealing with obsession and justice. Jeffrey Brown talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks about her latest novel, “Horse,” for our arts and culture…