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Marianne Moore's Odes to Animals

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Marianne Moore loved learning about animals, and she crammed scientific detail into her poems.

Decoding Nature's Most Elaborate Mating Dances

Thursday, March 10, 2016

An ornithologist argues that our definition or art is way too narrow. It’s not just a human activity — lots of plants and animals have aesthetic preferences, too.

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Billboard Top Five, But For Whales

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Marine biologists have found evidence of the fastest cultural transformation in nature: whale songs that spread across oceans in a matter of months.

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You Won't Believe Who Almost Directed "Alien"

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

By Matt Frassica

Ridley Scott got his big break directing the first "Alien" movie, in 1979. But Scott says he was the studio's fifth choice. The director they asked before him? Robert Altman.

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Directors' Cut: Ridley Scott

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Director Ridley Scott made his name with science fiction: his "Alien" and "Blade Runner" became classics. He stayed away from sci-fi for 30 years, but now he's back in a big way.

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Alexander Chee on 'The Queen of the Night'

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Alexander Chee’s new novel, “The Queen of the Night,” spins a grand, operatic tale from a time when opera was “so damn sexy.”

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Yes, #OscarsSoWhite. How Do We Fix It?

Thursday, February 18, 2016

The Oscars’ lack of diversity has been a problem for years. What’s it going to take to change the story?

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Cinematographer Roger Deakins Doesn’t Just Shoot Pretty Pictures

Thursday, February 18, 2016

One of the most celebrated cinematographers working just got his 13th Oscar nomination — this time, for the narco-thriller “Sicario.”

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Return to the Wild, Wild Western

Thursday, February 18, 2016

From “Mad Max” to “The Martian,” why are Westerns, after a hundred-odd years, now the genre du jour?

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Live In-Studio: Basia Bulat

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Fresh off a breakup, the folky, autoharp-wielding Canadian songwriter Basia Bulat went into the studio in Louisville, Kentucky. She came out with a bona fide pop album.

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Directors' Cut: Alejandro Iñárritu

Monday, January 25, 2016

An extended interview with Alejandro Iñárritu, whose Western survival movie “The Revenant” is up for 12 Oscars.

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How Alejandro González Iñárritu Survived “The Revenant”

Thursday, January 14, 2016

The Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu explains why bad shooting conditions make “The Revenant” good viewing.

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Why Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu Pities Donald Trump

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

By Matt Frassica

The Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu says anti-immigrant comments from the Republican candidate prove he's "a poor man whose only possession is money."

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The Return of the Worst Film Ever Made

Thursday, January 07, 2016

In 1972, Jerry Lewis made perhaps the worst movie ever, about a circus clown at a Nazi concentration camp. In 10 years, you’ll be able to see it.

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Hilary Mantel’s Henry VIII is a Monster for All Seasons

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Hilary Mantel’s books “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies” have reshaped how we think of Henry VIII — and made a hero out of the blacksmith’s son, Thomas Cromwell.

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At The Rijksmuseum, Old Paintings Get New Names

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Is Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum fixing a problem by changing some titles in its collection, or is it just a token gesture?

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This Novel Is a Time Machine

Thursday, December 17, 2015

“City on Fire,” the first novel by Garth Risk Hallberg, returns us to the gritty streets of 1970s New York. We visit the Village to see what’s changed.

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