Arts Sep 23 Brad Pitt on turning undertold stories into movies: 'Every film needs some champion' As one of the world's biggest and best-known movie stars, Brad Pitt is spending as much time helping get films made as he is acting. His latest project, "Ad Astra," is about a journey to the far reaches of the…
Poetry Sep 19 U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo on opening a 'doorway of hope' for indigenous artists Joy Harjo, the new poet laureate of the United States, is the first Native American to achieve that honor. Jeffrey Brown recently sat down with Harjo, a member of Oklahoma's Muscogee Creek Nation, in Tulsa to discuss how arts shaped…
Arts Sep 09 Why Margaret Atwood saw this as the moment for 'The Handmaid's Tale' sequel “The Testaments" is the greatly anticipated sequel to Margaret Atwood’s hit dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Though it’s fiction, Atwood says she doesn't "put anything in that doesn’t have a precedent in human history.” Jeffrey Brown spoke with Atwood recently…
Arts Sep 06 With newly expanded campus, Kennedy Center aims to make art an experience for all The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., is expanding its vision and offerings as it enlarges its physical footprint for the first time in its 50-year history. The institution hopes to showcase a range of…
Arts Aug 30 Why sculptor Andy Goldsworthy is tearing down walls -- and then rebuilding them British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy has long been known for his unconventional approach to art. In an ongoing project at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Goldsworthy has created a “walking wall,” assembling and then disassembling the same limestone rocks, moving…
Arts Aug 23 Jeff Daniels on getting in character to play Atticus Finch Small-town Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of the most recognizable characters in American literature. In the recent Broadway update of the classic American story, actor Jeff Daniels plays Finch. Jeffrey Brown talks…
Nation Aug 21 How the Trump administration is shaping the future of America's public lands The Trump administration is responsible for the largest reduction of federally protected land in U.S. history, according to a recent study by the journal Science. And in the wide expanses of the American West, Trump's encouragement of industry and development…
Arts Aug 16 What Woodstock taught us about protest in a time of polarization It’s been 50 years since Woodstock made music history. The groundbreaking festival is seen today as a nexus of freedom, drugs and rock and roll -- and as a defining symbol of 1960s counter-culture, idealism and anti-war sentiment. Jeffrey Brown…
Arts Aug 12 Another look at N.C. Wyeth, American art patriarch N.C. Wyeth, who led a multi-generational family of American art royalty and inspired “Star Wars” creator George Lucas and “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin, gets a new look in an exhibition of his illustrations and paintings. Jeffrey Brown…
Arts Aug 07 Actor and director Ron Howard on the joy of being a storyteller Ron Howard has cultivated a long, storied career in show business, beginning with “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960s and continuing to his present success as a director. His latest work is a documentary about opera legend Luciano Pavarotti.