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And, for the most part, they are not well-known figures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not, ‘Oh, here’s the story of how Eleanor Roosevelt was secretly a lesbian,’ or ‘Here is the story of Emily Dickinson, who was maybe in love with her brother’s wife,'” Possanza says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her research, Possanza dove into the archives, searching for people who, she says, “lived daringly and left some record of living a queer life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930108\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930108\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/amelia-possanza-author-photo-c-becca-farsace-for-arcs-and-final-copies-1-ce5cbd23237f9f48a668ae7f329cf30f189455f0-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A young woman with messy brown shoulder-length hair faces the camera. 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Part of that, Possanza says, could be her own bias. She swims for a gay and lesbian aquatic team in New York \u003ca href=\"https://www.tnya.org/\">(it’s actually the largest LGBTQ swim team in the world)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another part is just feeling free in your own body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13930013']“One sort of unexpected thing that came up for me in writing is there’s so much policing of what women, lesbians, queer people wore — and that policing actually became a way of just policing queerness in general,” Possanza says. “Today we have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1177727539/hamburger-marys-orlando-lawsuit-florida-desantis-drag-show\">drag bans in certain states\u003c/a>. And before those existed — before explicit terminology to ban these things — a lot of it was based on what you wore. And I think the beach was somewhere to be free of that, especially if you found a nude beach, if you could be in the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Possanza did not grow up with many stories about lesbians. But, she says they’re right there, even when the word is not used, even when that part of their story is erased.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I come from a really nerdy family of readers. My father is a classicist and my mother is a librarian. And I think they very much raised me to believe that if you’re going to have an experience and you’re nervous about it or you don’t know about it, you can go read a book about it,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s easy to find books about transitions that everyone goes through — getting ready for school or moving away from home. Now Possanza’s memoir fills a space long absent from bookshelves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I realized that there actually weren’t a lot of stories that I had about lesbians to guide me. And so I think doing this project made me start thinking about what gets you remembered, what generates records,” Possanza says. “You know, prisons generate records, governments generate records. Sometimes being in love doesn’t generate records.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929396']But \u003ca href=\"https://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/casal\">Mary Casal\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/mabel-hampton-residence/\">Mabel Hampton\u003c/a> did leave records. Casal met the love of her life in a hotel lobby in 1892 — and then wrote her own memoir. Hampton stayed with her partner for 40 years — and lent her voice to the \u003ca href=\"https://lesbianherstoryarchives.org/\">Lesbian Herstory Archives\u003c/a>, a New York City-based museum dedicated to preserving lesbian history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Too often, queer stories end in tragedy. What binds these stories together is how these lesbians create pockets of safety, security and community, even in the most hostile circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The audio and web versions of this story were edited by Reena Advani.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Lesbian+Love+Story%27+unearths+a+century+of+queer+romance&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">.\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Educational Theatre Association has released its top-10 lists of plays and musicals performed in high schools during the 2022-2023 school year. More than 2,300 public and private high school teachers across the U.S. participated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em> topped the list of full-length musicals, followed by \u003cem>Mamma Mia!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The No. 1 full length play was \u003cem>Clue,\u003c/em> followed by \u003cem>Puffs. \u003c/em>Disney’s\u003cem> Frozen JR\u003c/em> held the top spot among short musicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And \u003cem>10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse \u003c/em>tied with \u003cem>Check Please \u003c/em>for the most popular short play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see the \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/2023-play-survey-reveals-most-popular-high-school-shows\">full list here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/\">EdTA\u003c/a> calls the survey a “snapshot” of both what’s popular with high school theater departments and “the educational climate.” Eighty five percent of respondents reported being, “at least somewhat concerned about censorship” and 67% said that, “censorship concerns” are influencing their selections for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Changing tastes and values reflected in the Play Survey\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Katona, executive director of EdTA, believes \u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em>‘s popularity, “has a lot to do with our students love of the Netflix show \u003cem>Wednesday\u003c/em>.” Another hit this year: \u003cem>The SpongeBob Musical. \u003c/em>“It’s got a lot of music from a lot of different lyricists and musicians, so the students in the schools are really enjoying that one, too\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the first year\u003cem> Mean Girls: High School Version\u003c/em> has been licensed to schools and it jumped to the #10 spot of full-length musicals. It helps that the musical based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/04/06/599813454/on-broadway-they-wear-pink-mean-girls-is-now-a-musical\">Tina Fey’s popular movie\u003c/a> had a successful Broadway run not too long ago, and that the cast is largely female. High school theatre programs often attract more girls than boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='education_536534']The annual Play Survey began in 1938. NPR’s Education Desk did an eye-opening \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2019/07/31/427138970/the-most-popular-high-school-plays-and-musicals\">analysis\u003c/a> of how high school plays have tracked over the survey’s 85 year history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/13/967600332/returning-to-our-town-why-the-play-still-hits-home-after-80-years\">\u003cem>Our Town\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>for example\u003cem>, \u003c/em>was consistently among the top 10 plays “by decade,” from the 1940s-2010s. In the last two surveys, Thornton Wilder’s eternal classic held the number 10 spot but didn’t make the list this year. Katona says high school drama departments are “diversifying their repertoires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Schools have really made an effort to bring in different playwrights and have different representation of voices on their stages,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Stymied over censorship concerns\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With school boards and local governments \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1160731547/spelling-bee-high-school-theater\">cancelling\u003c/a> theater productions and banning books, the EdTA survey also found that drama teachers are nervous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg\" alt=\"A young man sits on the edge of a fake fountain on stage, with a young women resting her head on him. They are dressed in 18th century costume.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1202\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1364x2048.jpg 1364w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1920x2884.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-scaled.jpg 1704w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erik Martinez and Shelby Brown in New Albany High School’s production of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in New Albany, Ind. The show tied for fifth place (with ‘The Little Mermaid’) in the full-length musical category. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Teachers know that they need to be smart about what they’re putting on their stages,” says Katona, “They’re making choices that will allow them to keep their theater programs.” She adds, “Theater has always been a safe space for a lot of our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danny Issa teaches theater at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Va. While he says, while he always involves students in the play selection process, he also makes sure school officials are well aware of content that some might find inappropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928405']“The arts in general are in such a precarious position at all times. Are we going to have funding? Are we going to be able to make it through another season?” Issa reflects. “Just a single complaint from a parent can have a show pulled.” That includes losing, “all the money that you’ve pumped into a production.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Issa’s concerns did not stop him — and lots of other high school theater teachers — from staging \u003cem>Almost, Maine, \u003c/em>a play about love and relationships that includes gay characters\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite facing challenges in \u003ca href=\"https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/canceled-show-prompts-outcry/article_d52c9763-7814-5c6e-b7c0-e93de9fecbf5.html\">Michigan\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wfae.org/arts-culture/2015-01-13/almost-maine-goes-on-without-school-support\">North Carolina\u003c/a> in recent years, \u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> held the No. 6 spot on this year’s list of full-length plays.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>High school theater programs are “rebounding from the pandemic”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Culture wars aside, the Play Survey found that, on average, attendance is up and theater programs are ramping up production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The average audience size across all performances in a school season increased 13 percent over last year to 1,967,” EdTA writes in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930077\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930077\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png\" alt=\"A girl stands on a table in the center of a stage. Around her, other teens are gathered and mid-dance routine. 'Welcome to the Lion's Den' is projected above them on the stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1536x987.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM.png 1646w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Mean Girls: High School Version’ made its debut on the list this year in the full-length musical category. Above, a production at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Coming out of the pandemic, I think everyone was really excited to just be able to see theater again,” says Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='news_11947769']Washington-Liberty High School’s musical — \u003cem>The Prom\u003c/em> — sold more than $10,000 in tickets, up more than $4,000 from last year’s musical, according to Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> also did well\u003cem>. “\u003c/em>We ended up opening our balcony in the auditorium,” Issa says. “Just because of the sheer number of people that showed up for closing night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> versions of this story were edited by Rose Friedman and adapted to \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> by Beth Novey.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+were+the+most+frequently+performed+plays+and+musicals+in+high+schools+this+year&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "‘The Addams Family,’ ‘Mamma Mia!’ and ‘Frozen JR’ were among the most popular shows, according to a new survey.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Educational Theatre Association has released its top-10 lists of plays and musicals performed in high schools during the 2022-2023 school year. More than 2,300 public and private high school teachers across the U.S. participated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em> topped the list of full-length musicals, followed by \u003cem>Mamma Mia!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The No. 1 full length play was \u003cem>Clue,\u003c/em> followed by \u003cem>Puffs. \u003c/em>Disney’s\u003cem> Frozen JR\u003c/em> held the top spot among short musicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And \u003cem>10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse \u003c/em>tied with \u003cem>Check Please \u003c/em>for the most popular short play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see the \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/2023-play-survey-reveals-most-popular-high-school-shows\">full list here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/\">EdTA\u003c/a> calls the survey a “snapshot” of both what’s popular with high school theater departments and “the educational climate.” Eighty five percent of respondents reported being, “at least somewhat concerned about censorship” and 67% said that, “censorship concerns” are influencing their selections for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Changing tastes and values reflected in the Play Survey\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Katona, executive director of EdTA, believes \u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em>‘s popularity, “has a lot to do with our students love of the Netflix show \u003cem>Wednesday\u003c/em>.” Another hit this year: \u003cem>The SpongeBob Musical. \u003c/em>“It’s got a lot of music from a lot of different lyricists and musicians, so the students in the schools are really enjoying that one, too\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the first year\u003cem> Mean Girls: High School Version\u003c/em> has been licensed to schools and it jumped to the #10 spot of full-length musicals. It helps that the musical based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/04/06/599813454/on-broadway-they-wear-pink-mean-girls-is-now-a-musical\">Tina Fey’s popular movie\u003c/a> had a successful Broadway run not too long ago, and that the cast is largely female. High school theatre programs often attract more girls than boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The annual Play Survey began in 1938. NPR’s Education Desk did an eye-opening \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2019/07/31/427138970/the-most-popular-high-school-plays-and-musicals\">analysis\u003c/a> of how high school plays have tracked over the survey’s 85 year history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/13/967600332/returning-to-our-town-why-the-play-still-hits-home-after-80-years\">\u003cem>Our Town\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>for example\u003cem>, \u003c/em>was consistently among the top 10 plays “by decade,” from the 1940s-2010s. In the last two surveys, Thornton Wilder’s eternal classic held the number 10 spot but didn’t make the list this year. Katona says high school drama departments are “diversifying their repertoires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Schools have really made an effort to bring in different playwrights and have different representation of voices on their stages,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Stymied over censorship concerns\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With school boards and local governments \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1160731547/spelling-bee-high-school-theater\">cancelling\u003c/a> theater productions and banning books, the EdTA survey also found that drama teachers are nervous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg\" alt=\"A young man sits on the edge of a fake fountain on stage, with a young women resting her head on him. They are dressed in 18th century costume.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1202\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1364x2048.jpg 1364w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1920x2884.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-scaled.jpg 1704w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erik Martinez and Shelby Brown in New Albany High School’s production of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in New Albany, Ind. The show tied for fifth place (with ‘The Little Mermaid’) in the full-length musical category. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Teachers know that they need to be smart about what they’re putting on their stages,” says Katona, “They’re making choices that will allow them to keep their theater programs.” She adds, “Theater has always been a safe space for a lot of our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danny Issa teaches theater at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Va. While he says, while he always involves students in the play selection process, he also makes sure school officials are well aware of content that some might find inappropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The arts in general are in such a precarious position at all times. Are we going to have funding? Are we going to be able to make it through another season?” Issa reflects. “Just a single complaint from a parent can have a show pulled.” That includes losing, “all the money that you’ve pumped into a production.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Issa’s concerns did not stop him — and lots of other high school theater teachers — from staging \u003cem>Almost, Maine, \u003c/em>a play about love and relationships that includes gay characters\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite facing challenges in \u003ca href=\"https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/canceled-show-prompts-outcry/article_d52c9763-7814-5c6e-b7c0-e93de9fecbf5.html\">Michigan\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wfae.org/arts-culture/2015-01-13/almost-maine-goes-on-without-school-support\">North Carolina\u003c/a> in recent years, \u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> held the No. 6 spot on this year’s list of full-length plays.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>High school theater programs are “rebounding from the pandemic”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Culture wars aside, the Play Survey found that, on average, attendance is up and theater programs are ramping up production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The average audience size across all performances in a school season increased 13 percent over last year to 1,967,” EdTA writes in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930077\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930077\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png\" alt=\"A girl stands on a table in the center of a stage. Around her, other teens are gathered and mid-dance routine. 'Welcome to the Lion's Den' is projected above them on the stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1536x987.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM.png 1646w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Mean Girls: High School Version’ made its debut on the list this year in the full-length musical category. Above, a production at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Coming out of the pandemic, I think everyone was really excited to just be able to see theater again,” says Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Washington-Liberty High School’s musical — \u003cem>The Prom\u003c/em> — sold more than $10,000 in tickets, up more than $4,000 from last year’s musical, according to Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> also did well\u003cem>. “\u003c/em>We ended up opening our balcony in the auditorium,” Issa says. “Just because of the sheer number of people that showed up for closing night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> versions of this story were edited by Rose Friedman and adapted to \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> by Beth Novey.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+were+the+most+frequently+performed+plays+and+musicals+in+high+schools+this+year&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Succession’ Creator Explains Everything About That Shocking Season 4 Finale",
"headTitle": "‘Succession’ Creator Explains Everything About That Shocking Season 4 Finale | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>The following interview includes plenty of spoilers for the series finale of ‘Succession’.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The much-anticipated series finale of HBO’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1045640636/succession-recaps\">\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/a> answered one big question — who would succeed media mogul patriarch Logan Roy — but we still have more: Did the show creator know the end at the beginning? Why didn’t any of the Roy children wind up as CEO of the family conglomerate Waystar Royco? Was Kendall considering jumping into the river at the end? Why was the presidential election left unresolved? And why was Logan in the bathroom in his first and last scenes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesse Armstrong is the show’s creator, showrunner and head writer. In the past, he has been reluctant to reveal much about \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>‘s plotlines or the characters’ motivations. But with the finale behind us, Armstrong is ready to talk. He spoke to Terry Gross, along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525575857/veep-executive-producer-on-making-a-show-about-the-craven-desire-for-power\">Frank Rich\u003c/a>, an executive producer of the series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Terry Gross: Why couldn’t any of the siblings take over the company? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Armstrong: \u003c/strong>If you were thinking about this as a business situation rather than a piece of drama, they might have slipped through, one of them, for a little while, for probably an unsatisfactory interregnum … as they tanked the share price. It could have happened, but in a drama this felt like the appropriate end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930051\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe\" alt=\"A white man in a suit and a white woman wearing black sit in the back of a car, street lights visible through the back window. Her hand gently rests on his in between them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1020x574.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-160x90.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-768x432.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1536x864.jpe 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68.jpe 1909w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Succession’ series creator Jesse Armstrong likens Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv’s (Sarah Snook) hands in the final episode to the joining of “two pieces of porcelain.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you see Shiv Roy at the end – as a prisoner who has weakened her position, or somebody who’s using all of her smarts to still have access to power? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Everyone has their own view and I can tell you mine, which is that for me it was a moment of equality. Chilly, rather terrifying equality, but equality, which has never been the case in that relationship before. Tom has always been subservient. Now he has this status, but his status is contingent. That’s kind of what the whole episode has been about. Shiv’s status is as all the kids are – secure. It’s secure in a financial sense. She has billions of dollars. She has wealth that could never diminish, whatever happened to the world. And she also has a name, which will sort of haunt her and make her interesting, to a certain degree, for the rest of her life, and that can’t be taken away from her. Whereas Tom’s position could be taken away in the click of her fingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926773']So for me, there’s a very terrifying equality in that, a remarkable dry hand on hand. It’s not really even human contact. It’s a sort of two pieces of porcelain or something. So that’s what it is for me. That isn’t what it would be for everyone. And certainly you could see the situation being a clever stratagem by which Shiv remains in play. Maybe that thought will occur to her tomorrow or the day after. But for me, the show’s ended at this point and the story is over and that’s where I think they end up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Frank Rich: \u003c/strong>I’m fascinated to hear Jesse come clean about it. I guess I experienced it as very transitional and very emotional. I felt that she was, in some ways, in emotional shock. When you look at the rapid fire of truly traumatic confrontations and events and the changing over of the business and all of that in a very compressed period of time, my feeling about her is that she’s leaving her options open. She does have this inheritance of a sort in terms of who she is, but also I just can’t imagine when she’s been through that with Kendall and she’s been through that with the company that she wanted to take over and been through everything with her husband, that she has a clear direction. So she’s in the moment, sort of. But there’s a kind of numbness. Part of this to me comes from Sarah [Snook]’s performance. It’s almost like she’s been traumatized, not maybe in the clinical sense, but just she’s in limbo. And I love the fact that it ends with that ambiguity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930052\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A white man in a dark blue shirt sits at a bar, martini glass in front of him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246.jpg 1700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The series finale of ‘Succession’ shows Roman (Kieran Culkin) for what he’s always been: a sad playboy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The last shot of Roman Roy is of him drinking a martini alone at a bar after saying “We’re all bulls—.” Why did you place him at the bar? What does that say to you about Roman in the moment and in the future?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The piece in the bar, there was more to it, a little bit more dialogue, but I think when we were in the edit room, Roman’s face, Kieran [Culkin]’s face was so eloquent that we just used a rather extraordinary set of expressions. … Kieran’s character, Roman, he ends up most particularly exactly where he started, which is living the life of a sort of sad playboy, I guess, and sipping a drink, which people might associate with his quasi-love of his life, Gerri, who we’ve often seen sipping a martini.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In the last shot of the series, we see Kendall Roy sitting on a bench, staring at the Hudson River. Water is such a powerful symbol in the series. (Kendall nearly drowns in a pool in Season 3, and he’s haunted by a deadly car wreck in a river in Season 1.)\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Did you know all along that the theme of water would also play out in the final scene? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s such a fascinating, knotty question. I guess water can also mean baptism and cleansing and ablution … and a fun swim and splashing in the pool, and we’ve occasionally seen it used that way. It’s developed. There was no sort of image structure that was formulaically laid down at the beginning of the show. … And it was the genius of [director] Mark Mylod and the camera operators and Jeremy that took us right down to the tip of Battery Park, to the tip of Manhattan, and looking at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you think he’s contemplating ending his life? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>For me, no. … I think for me, Kendall, at the end, one of the things he lacks is even the freedom to determine his own course through life. The name and the wealth around him – to lots of us, obviously, it seems extraordinarily fortunate, and it is. But I do believe there is a certain kind of tragedy to a royal name, to a huge business name, to being a Disney or a Windsor or any of those kinds of names, and he can never, ever escape that. And one of the ways he can’t escape that is to have a bubble of protection around him … of money and human beings. In this case, he’s got his dad’s bodyguard right there with him. So even if he is contemplating it, I don’t think it could ever happen to him. And yeah, for me, that’s not the way the story goes for this kind of person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"An older man with white hair and beard sits in a leather armchair in an opulent living room. A younger man wearing an overcoat crouches before him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1020x678.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1536x1021.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM.png 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Strong, left, as Kendall Roy, and Brian Cox as Logan Roy in ‘Succession.’ \u003ccite>(Peter Kramer/HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In an improvised take of that final scene that was not included in the final edit, Jeremy Strong climbs over the railing from the pedestrian side of the river to the riverside, looking as if he’s really maybe about to jump in. Were you there when he improvised that? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Yeah. We were there. It was biting cold. I’m there every day, and certainly for that important scene. I was terrified. I was terrified that he might fall in and be injured. … He didn’t look like he was going to jump in. But once he climbed over that barrier — when you film, there are generally a lot of health and safety assessments made, and that was not our plan that day. And normally I know that if we’d even been thinking of that happening, we would have had boats and frogmen and all kinds of safety measures, which we didn’t have. So my first thought was for his physical safety as a human being, not anything about the character. That’s what I felt on the day. Good Lord, above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13906871']\u003cstrong>Rich:\u003c/strong> It was like breaking a barrier, walking through the fourth wall and it was bitterly cold on top of it. Also, everyone was eager for the cold reasons and also for scheduling reasons involving subsequent production, to be done with it. And I think Scott Nicholson, who played [bodyguard] Colin, was also somewhat alarmed and was functioning as a person as much as a character in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You haven’t allowed Kendall to grow. Every time I think he’s getting more mature or more responsible, he’s not. Every time I think he’s getting a conscience, he doesn’t. Why not let him grow? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It’s not that I don’t think people are capable of change or growth. I guess I would say they happen rarely, slowly and not necessarily all in one direction, in that you’re just as likely to devolve as evolve as a person, unfortunately, I think. There’s a sort of sense about narrative, especially screenplay, that that’s what happens in a script: that people grow, they learn, and that is the shape of the script. And I would gently reject that, I guess. I don’t think that has to be the shape of the story. I don’t think it’s a true shape of all stories. Not that you can’t make a great story out of those things — and I’d like to write some of those — but that isn’t the story of this show. That doesn’t seem to be the truth of these people. And so we had to find story shapes which didn’t follow that particular shape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I fundamentally believe that people don’t change that much in real life. Some people do. Sure. But a lot of people don’t, including a lot of people I just know in real life. But look at politics, which I also spent a lot of time looking at as a journalist: There was always a new Nixon. There’s always a political move where some major politician is going to change his spots. I’m talking about ideology. I’m talking about personality and the human quotient. And there’s an analog there, I think, with the corporate world, and people are who they are. And a lot of people, particularly people who want power, whether it be economic or political power, keep doing the same things. And certainly it’s true in the arena where we set our show. It’s not like Murdoch has ever changed, or Sumner Redstone ever changed in terms of how they operate as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930054\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a grey suit sits, feet up on a desk in front of him, with a facial expression that reflects being deep in thought.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539.jpg 1816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Rich says that, in a line that didn’t make it into the final cut, someone describes Tom’s face as “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>At what point did you know Tom would end up being the CEO of \u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Waystar Royco, but he’d still be a puppet, that he’d be the figurehead, and Lukas Matsson\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>from GoJo would really be pulling the strings?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One of the things I like in the show is for things to feel natural, to feel like you could read them in \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Financial Times\u003c/em>, for them to feel like they fit, they’re congruent with the way that we see business, culture and politics going. And so in a way … it became obvious to me that [Tom] should take over. There are a few of these people who come after. … They have to have certain qualities, the person who can succeed from a founder, and I guess there are few examples in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a guy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/19/490573944/viacom-ceo-out-as-redstone-family-reasserts-control\">Philippe Dauman\u003c/a>, who took over from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/12/375143072/media-titan-sumner-redstone-who-made-viacom-a-global-empire-dies-at-97\">Sumner Redstone\u003c/a> when Shari [Redstone] was also trying to take over in the Viacom CBS empire. He rather floated up and made himself very amenable to power. … We tried to take from all kinds of historical moments. I guess I also thought a little bit about Stalin coming through the middle after Lenin’s death and there being much more glamorous intellectual candidates — Trotsky and Zinoviev — but Stalin arranged things and then slipped through the middle. So there were a bunch of historical and business parallels that started to seem like they were pointing in Tom’s direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I can’t say I was surprised. I mean, I’m sort of delighted, even though, in a line that didn’t make it to the final cut [someone says Tom’s] face is “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” He’s an empty suit, as is said. But, in Hollywood, in the ’30s, in the media companies at that time, it was the joke that “the son-in-law also rises.” And so in some ways it was completely plausible to me. And I also knew that these three kids could not take over for all the reasons we know, the various layers of them as people, as business people, all of it. So yeah, I thought it was an exciting, creative turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The presidential election isn’t decided yet when the series ends because there was a fire in Milwaukee and ballots were burned. Why did you want to end the series without the election actually being resolved?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I wrestled with this one quite a lot. I always knew that I wanted to have an election during the show because we’ve seen these characters and we’re interested in their psychology, hopefully. I certainly am. And that’s one strand of the show. But I don’t think we’d be interested in them if they ran a wallpaper factory. It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me, and so I wanted to show that, at its most important moment. But I also felt that, especially as a British person, that it wasn’t appropriate for the show to declare on what even our fictional world we think is going to be the fate of the republic. So it was important to me that we left it where it would be. And we worked with very skilled political operatives to figure out the right configuration of story that would both put ATN, their news organization, in a powerful position to affect things, but also would leave things poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people find the episode sort of gut-wrenching and traumatic, and I can imagine because it’s a very serious time for America. I didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to say which way we think things will go. So that was why we left it poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930055\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"An older man in a suit walks confidently away from a helicopter. He has white hair, a white beard and is wearing sunglasses.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35.jpg 1905w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesse Armstrong doesn’t think anyone would have been interested in the story of the Roy family if they’d run a wallpaper factory. “It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me,” he says. Above, Brian Cox as media mogul Logan Roy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong> is a very hard to describe mix of satire and drama and tragedy. Did you want to bring in the comedy slowly and not kind of announce itself right away? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The tone of the show is kind of how I write. Not that I can’t try and write in different tones, but this one was what seemed appropriate to this show. And I can kind of try and back-engineer how it came about. But the truth is, it just came out, the voices of these characters. … I’m thinking of that George Orwell quote about why I write, which is “there’s some lie I want to expose.” And I guess one impulse was that we have a certain view of these corporate titans in our culture, and it’s sometimes that they are very, very brilliant and can do no wrong. And I don’t want to diminish their talents completely. I don’t think I could do what they do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928692']But I think that they also have good fortune and often have good fortunes behind them. Rupert Murdoch had many millions in newspapers already before he started. So I guess one of the things I was curious about was showing the ludicrous, the comic, the incongruous, the gross parts of these gilded lives. And so maybe that’s where the impulse to make sure that there was comedy in there came from, because that’s a good register to try and approach some of that stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The series begins and ends for Logan in the bathroom. The first time we see him, he pees on the rug. Then he dies on his jet in the bathroom. So that seems to be a motif, Logan in the bathroom. Why? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One thing is that comedy often works better in small spaces. And so if a scene isn’t working, it’s sometimes worth trying: putting it in a smaller space and seeing what happens when people have to be in each other’s physicality. Apart from that, I guess there is something about, maybe it’s something childish about seeing kings and queens on the toilet. In the U.K., it was meant to be a hard thing to imagine: the late queen being on the toilet. I guess there may be something childlike about seeing great figures doing what all of us must do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930056\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930056\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A woman and two men, all white, huddle around a coffee table, listening closely to a message being relayed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) struggle to be taken seriously by their father and the upper level cronies at Waystar in Season 4’s “Honeymoon States” episode. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have unique writing styles for each of the siblings and for Logan. Can you talk a little bit about coming up with each of their voices? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It struck me that powerful people often don’t say so much. And Logan says probably many fewer words than his less powerful colleagues and people who surround him. Indeed, it’s probably true that the people with the least power speak the most. When you think about Tom (before he assumed power) and Greg, they have these great torrents of words because they’re trying to fill in the holes and equivocate and countermand what they’ve just said to precisely express themselves, because they’re worried the power is going to take a dim view of them. So there’s something about literally the quantity of words that you speak and also the volume. Power can often be very quiet and make you lean in until it explodes and makes you lean out. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928466']We hear [Kendall] first listening to rap music and he has a desire to hit a sort of colloquial but buzzword-infused [way of speaking]. I think he likes language. I think he wants to use interesting language. He’s not a terrible performer. Some people find his rap utterly risible. I find it comic, but also not bad. I think he has a certain verbal felicity, a certain verbal interest, and sometimes that goes over the edge into being ludicrous. Shiv, her tragedy has been that she has sought to modulate her every performance in the sense of what she’s doing in the world to keep her options open. And so there’s a sense in which she does that verbally as well. Roman is explosive and the most close to being a truth teller in that kind of jester role where he can say the unsayable and then claim that he didn’t say it or didn’t mean it. It’s a very powerful position once you start to be able to say, “I didn’t mean it,” after everything, every true thing that you say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED2pSguRn7U\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Roy siblings’ cousin Greg has a mixture of cluelessness and formality when he’s on the witness stand during the hearings about the Waystar cruise line sexual harassment scandal. At one point, while being questioned by a senator, Greg answers, “If it is to be said, so it be. So it is.” Can you talk about Greg’s strangely formal way of speaking there?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I think there’s a little bit of the kind of 18th century in there, that sort of courtier vibe. But I think there’s also a class thing there, which, you know, is the phrase “hyper correction,” where people who are outside their normal class or social arena sometimes end up being idiotic because they’re trying to be too proper. It happens in our English, class-obsessed society, when people try to change their vocal pitch and nature to try and fit in with posher people and you hypercorrect, and then you become ludicrous by throwing in those extra words or reversing the order and doing things which you think sound like they might have a formality, which is appropriate, but ends up being nonsense. So it’s a very nice thing in life to be comfortable with how you speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Logan is on his way to Norway to complete the deal with GoJo when he dies after suffering some kind of cardiac episode in the plane bathroom. Tom is on the plane and calls the siblings and they each say their goodbyes on the phone to him, even though it seems he’s already dead. Have you ever been in a position like that, of saying your goodbye on the phone?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>No, honestly, I haven’t. I’ve known sad things and I’ve known people who suffered sad things, and people were generous in the writers room sharing thoughts about those areas, things they knew. … I don’t believe you have to have been through something like that precisely to be able to write it. Often, the terrible thing we imagine in the future can be as vivid as the thing we’ve experienced. … There is something about the modern era, which is that often sad, bad news comes at us like that from nowhere and hits us from nowhere. … The modern sadnesses often happen in this rather disembodied way. And then you’re left in a nowhere state where you’re physically disconnected from the events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930057\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930057\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man and. woman on a couch sit, looking concerned. Another man in a suit sits opposite them, slumped forward. A fourth man stands nearby. They are in a sitting room area of a yacht.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Roy siblings huddle with the Waystar communications team to craft a statement after learning of their father’s sudden death. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You really capture the not knowing what to say aspect in a situation like that — not knowing how to say goodbye, but also the conflicted love-hate relationship they have with their father. Can you talk a little bit about writing those goodbyes? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The whole show is such multiple collaborations, but I feel, especially in those moments, [the words] could lie on the page inert if it wasn’t with those brilliant actors doing the scene. I’m a rewriter. I rewrite a lot. We reworked the scripts a lot through production, and it can sometimes be hard for the actors as we change things. But that episode, and especially that long stretch in the middle, I wrote it relatively quickly. And then I tried to be very careful about what I revised because, I don’t often feel this, but it felt like it had a coherence in its incoherence that it felt appropriate, and I wanted to leave it rather raw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928702']Hopefully our insults and our verbal attacks are believable and characterful, but they’re often more carefully wrought and multi-clause and baroque and the simplicity of the language, the mixture of truth and untruth, the feeling towards the edge of language and what it can express all felt good in the early, early drafts and therefore [we] tried not to change it. And I tried not to change the last things that Logan said, once I sort of knew that they were the last things that Logan said, because I didn’t want them to have the form of a grandiloquent moment of speech, because that didn’t seem appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can you say a few words about the ongoing \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1172876800/writers-guild-calls-strike\">\u003cstrong>writers’ strike\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong> I think about it through the lens of \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>, which has been basically well supported and a happy show. One of my most favorite parts of the show is the writers’ room. Our room is not one of these mini-rooms, it’s a big, full room and it runs for a long time. And then writers who have written in the writers’ room, many of them come to be on set. Those kinds of things, although they cost money, I think helped to make the show as good as it is, and there’s just a variety of writer who is likely to get cut out of the financial action unless the WGA gets at least some of what it’s asking for. So I’m supportive of the position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>The fact is that as the business transitioned from the old network linear model to streaming model, writers are often left out in the cold financially and it’s quite unjust. And I hope they win the battle because they really deserve it and they really are underpaid. It’s hard for people to understand how anyone could be underpaid in show business in Hollywood, but actually it does happen as in any other industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=We+ask+the+creator+of+%27Succession%27+everything+you+wanted+to+know+about+the+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The following interview includes plenty of spoilers for the series finale of ‘Succession’.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The much-anticipated series finale of HBO’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1045640636/succession-recaps\">\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/a> answered one big question — who would succeed media mogul patriarch Logan Roy — but we still have more: Did the show creator know the end at the beginning? Why didn’t any of the Roy children wind up as CEO of the family conglomerate Waystar Royco? Was Kendall considering jumping into the river at the end? Why was the presidential election left unresolved? And why was Logan in the bathroom in his first and last scenes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesse Armstrong is the show’s creator, showrunner and head writer. In the past, he has been reluctant to reveal much about \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>‘s plotlines or the characters’ motivations. But with the finale behind us, Armstrong is ready to talk. He spoke to Terry Gross, along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525575857/veep-executive-producer-on-making-a-show-about-the-craven-desire-for-power\">Frank Rich\u003c/a>, an executive producer of the series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Terry Gross: Why couldn’t any of the siblings take over the company? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Armstrong: \u003c/strong>If you were thinking about this as a business situation rather than a piece of drama, they might have slipped through, one of them, for a little while, for probably an unsatisfactory interregnum … as they tanked the share price. It could have happened, but in a drama this felt like the appropriate end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930051\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe\" alt=\"A white man in a suit and a white woman wearing black sit in the back of a car, street lights visible through the back window. Her hand gently rests on his in between them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1020x574.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-160x90.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-768x432.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1536x864.jpe 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68.jpe 1909w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Succession’ series creator Jesse Armstrong likens Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv’s (Sarah Snook) hands in the final episode to the joining of “two pieces of porcelain.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you see Shiv Roy at the end – as a prisoner who has weakened her position, or somebody who’s using all of her smarts to still have access to power? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Everyone has their own view and I can tell you mine, which is that for me it was a moment of equality. Chilly, rather terrifying equality, but equality, which has never been the case in that relationship before. Tom has always been subservient. Now he has this status, but his status is contingent. That’s kind of what the whole episode has been about. Shiv’s status is as all the kids are – secure. It’s secure in a financial sense. She has billions of dollars. She has wealth that could never diminish, whatever happened to the world. And she also has a name, which will sort of haunt her and make her interesting, to a certain degree, for the rest of her life, and that can’t be taken away from her. Whereas Tom’s position could be taken away in the click of her fingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So for me, there’s a very terrifying equality in that, a remarkable dry hand on hand. It’s not really even human contact. It’s a sort of two pieces of porcelain or something. So that’s what it is for me. That isn’t what it would be for everyone. And certainly you could see the situation being a clever stratagem by which Shiv remains in play. Maybe that thought will occur to her tomorrow or the day after. But for me, the show’s ended at this point and the story is over and that’s where I think they end up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Frank Rich: \u003c/strong>I’m fascinated to hear Jesse come clean about it. I guess I experienced it as very transitional and very emotional. I felt that she was, in some ways, in emotional shock. When you look at the rapid fire of truly traumatic confrontations and events and the changing over of the business and all of that in a very compressed period of time, my feeling about her is that she’s leaving her options open. She does have this inheritance of a sort in terms of who she is, but also I just can’t imagine when she’s been through that with Kendall and she’s been through that with the company that she wanted to take over and been through everything with her husband, that she has a clear direction. So she’s in the moment, sort of. But there’s a kind of numbness. Part of this to me comes from Sarah [Snook]’s performance. It’s almost like she’s been traumatized, not maybe in the clinical sense, but just she’s in limbo. And I love the fact that it ends with that ambiguity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930052\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A white man in a dark blue shirt sits at a bar, martini glass in front of him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246.jpg 1700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The series finale of ‘Succession’ shows Roman (Kieran Culkin) for what he’s always been: a sad playboy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The last shot of Roman Roy is of him drinking a martini alone at a bar after saying “We’re all bulls—.” Why did you place him at the bar? What does that say to you about Roman in the moment and in the future?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The piece in the bar, there was more to it, a little bit more dialogue, but I think when we were in the edit room, Roman’s face, Kieran [Culkin]’s face was so eloquent that we just used a rather extraordinary set of expressions. … Kieran’s character, Roman, he ends up most particularly exactly where he started, which is living the life of a sort of sad playboy, I guess, and sipping a drink, which people might associate with his quasi-love of his life, Gerri, who we’ve often seen sipping a martini.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In the last shot of the series, we see Kendall Roy sitting on a bench, staring at the Hudson River. Water is such a powerful symbol in the series. (Kendall nearly drowns in a pool in Season 3, and he’s haunted by a deadly car wreck in a river in Season 1.)\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Did you know all along that the theme of water would also play out in the final scene? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s such a fascinating, knotty question. I guess water can also mean baptism and cleansing and ablution … and a fun swim and splashing in the pool, and we’ve occasionally seen it used that way. It’s developed. There was no sort of image structure that was formulaically laid down at the beginning of the show. … And it was the genius of [director] Mark Mylod and the camera operators and Jeremy that took us right down to the tip of Battery Park, to the tip of Manhattan, and looking at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you think he’s contemplating ending his life? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>For me, no. … I think for me, Kendall, at the end, one of the things he lacks is even the freedom to determine his own course through life. The name and the wealth around him – to lots of us, obviously, it seems extraordinarily fortunate, and it is. But I do believe there is a certain kind of tragedy to a royal name, to a huge business name, to being a Disney or a Windsor or any of those kinds of names, and he can never, ever escape that. And one of the ways he can’t escape that is to have a bubble of protection around him … of money and human beings. In this case, he’s got his dad’s bodyguard right there with him. So even if he is contemplating it, I don’t think it could ever happen to him. And yeah, for me, that’s not the way the story goes for this kind of person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"An older man with white hair and beard sits in a leather armchair in an opulent living room. A younger man wearing an overcoat crouches before him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1020x678.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1536x1021.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM.png 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Strong, left, as Kendall Roy, and Brian Cox as Logan Roy in ‘Succession.’ \u003ccite>(Peter Kramer/HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In an improvised take of that final scene that was not included in the final edit, Jeremy Strong climbs over the railing from the pedestrian side of the river to the riverside, looking as if he’s really maybe about to jump in. Were you there when he improvised that? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Yeah. We were there. It was biting cold. I’m there every day, and certainly for that important scene. I was terrified. I was terrified that he might fall in and be injured. … He didn’t look like he was going to jump in. But once he climbed over that barrier — when you film, there are generally a lot of health and safety assessments made, and that was not our plan that day. And normally I know that if we’d even been thinking of that happening, we would have had boats and frogmen and all kinds of safety measures, which we didn’t have. So my first thought was for his physical safety as a human being, not anything about the character. That’s what I felt on the day. Good Lord, above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich:\u003c/strong> It was like breaking a barrier, walking through the fourth wall and it was bitterly cold on top of it. Also, everyone was eager for the cold reasons and also for scheduling reasons involving subsequent production, to be done with it. And I think Scott Nicholson, who played [bodyguard] Colin, was also somewhat alarmed and was functioning as a person as much as a character in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You haven’t allowed Kendall to grow. Every time I think he’s getting more mature or more responsible, he’s not. Every time I think he’s getting a conscience, he doesn’t. Why not let him grow? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It’s not that I don’t think people are capable of change or growth. I guess I would say they happen rarely, slowly and not necessarily all in one direction, in that you’re just as likely to devolve as evolve as a person, unfortunately, I think. There’s a sort of sense about narrative, especially screenplay, that that’s what happens in a script: that people grow, they learn, and that is the shape of the script. And I would gently reject that, I guess. I don’t think that has to be the shape of the story. I don’t think it’s a true shape of all stories. Not that you can’t make a great story out of those things — and I’d like to write some of those — but that isn’t the story of this show. That doesn’t seem to be the truth of these people. And so we had to find story shapes which didn’t follow that particular shape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I fundamentally believe that people don’t change that much in real life. Some people do. Sure. But a lot of people don’t, including a lot of people I just know in real life. But look at politics, which I also spent a lot of time looking at as a journalist: There was always a new Nixon. There’s always a political move where some major politician is going to change his spots. I’m talking about ideology. I’m talking about personality and the human quotient. And there’s an analog there, I think, with the corporate world, and people are who they are. And a lot of people, particularly people who want power, whether it be economic or political power, keep doing the same things. And certainly it’s true in the arena where we set our show. It’s not like Murdoch has ever changed, or Sumner Redstone ever changed in terms of how they operate as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930054\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a grey suit sits, feet up on a desk in front of him, with a facial expression that reflects being deep in thought.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539.jpg 1816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Rich says that, in a line that didn’t make it into the final cut, someone describes Tom’s face as “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>At what point did you know Tom would end up being the CEO of \u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Waystar Royco, but he’d still be a puppet, that he’d be the figurehead, and Lukas Matsson\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>from GoJo would really be pulling the strings?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One of the things I like in the show is for things to feel natural, to feel like you could read them in \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Financial Times\u003c/em>, for them to feel like they fit, they’re congruent with the way that we see business, culture and politics going. And so in a way … it became obvious to me that [Tom] should take over. There are a few of these people who come after. … They have to have certain qualities, the person who can succeed from a founder, and I guess there are few examples in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a guy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/19/490573944/viacom-ceo-out-as-redstone-family-reasserts-control\">Philippe Dauman\u003c/a>, who took over from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/12/375143072/media-titan-sumner-redstone-who-made-viacom-a-global-empire-dies-at-97\">Sumner Redstone\u003c/a> when Shari [Redstone] was also trying to take over in the Viacom CBS empire. He rather floated up and made himself very amenable to power. … We tried to take from all kinds of historical moments. I guess I also thought a little bit about Stalin coming through the middle after Lenin’s death and there being much more glamorous intellectual candidates — Trotsky and Zinoviev — but Stalin arranged things and then slipped through the middle. So there were a bunch of historical and business parallels that started to seem like they were pointing in Tom’s direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I can’t say I was surprised. I mean, I’m sort of delighted, even though, in a line that didn’t make it to the final cut [someone says Tom’s] face is “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” He’s an empty suit, as is said. But, in Hollywood, in the ’30s, in the media companies at that time, it was the joke that “the son-in-law also rises.” And so in some ways it was completely plausible to me. And I also knew that these three kids could not take over for all the reasons we know, the various layers of them as people, as business people, all of it. So yeah, I thought it was an exciting, creative turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The presidential election isn’t decided yet when the series ends because there was a fire in Milwaukee and ballots were burned. Why did you want to end the series without the election actually being resolved?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I wrestled with this one quite a lot. I always knew that I wanted to have an election during the show because we’ve seen these characters and we’re interested in their psychology, hopefully. I certainly am. And that’s one strand of the show. But I don’t think we’d be interested in them if they ran a wallpaper factory. It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me, and so I wanted to show that, at its most important moment. But I also felt that, especially as a British person, that it wasn’t appropriate for the show to declare on what even our fictional world we think is going to be the fate of the republic. So it was important to me that we left it where it would be. And we worked with very skilled political operatives to figure out the right configuration of story that would both put ATN, their news organization, in a powerful position to affect things, but also would leave things poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people find the episode sort of gut-wrenching and traumatic, and I can imagine because it’s a very serious time for America. I didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to say which way we think things will go. So that was why we left it poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930055\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"An older man in a suit walks confidently away from a helicopter. He has white hair, a white beard and is wearing sunglasses.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35.jpg 1905w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesse Armstrong doesn’t think anyone would have been interested in the story of the Roy family if they’d run a wallpaper factory. “It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me,” he says. Above, Brian Cox as media mogul Logan Roy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong> is a very hard to describe mix of satire and drama and tragedy. Did you want to bring in the comedy slowly and not kind of announce itself right away? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The tone of the show is kind of how I write. Not that I can’t try and write in different tones, but this one was what seemed appropriate to this show. And I can kind of try and back-engineer how it came about. But the truth is, it just came out, the voices of these characters. … I’m thinking of that George Orwell quote about why I write, which is “there’s some lie I want to expose.” And I guess one impulse was that we have a certain view of these corporate titans in our culture, and it’s sometimes that they are very, very brilliant and can do no wrong. And I don’t want to diminish their talents completely. I don’t think I could do what they do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But I think that they also have good fortune and often have good fortunes behind them. Rupert Murdoch had many millions in newspapers already before he started. So I guess one of the things I was curious about was showing the ludicrous, the comic, the incongruous, the gross parts of these gilded lives. And so maybe that’s where the impulse to make sure that there was comedy in there came from, because that’s a good register to try and approach some of that stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The series begins and ends for Logan in the bathroom. The first time we see him, he pees on the rug. Then he dies on his jet in the bathroom. So that seems to be a motif, Logan in the bathroom. Why? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One thing is that comedy often works better in small spaces. And so if a scene isn’t working, it’s sometimes worth trying: putting it in a smaller space and seeing what happens when people have to be in each other’s physicality. Apart from that, I guess there is something about, maybe it’s something childish about seeing kings and queens on the toilet. In the U.K., it was meant to be a hard thing to imagine: the late queen being on the toilet. I guess there may be something childlike about seeing great figures doing what all of us must do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930056\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930056\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A woman and two men, all white, huddle around a coffee table, listening closely to a message being relayed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) struggle to be taken seriously by their father and the upper level cronies at Waystar in Season 4’s “Honeymoon States” episode. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have unique writing styles for each of the siblings and for Logan. Can you talk a little bit about coming up with each of their voices? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It struck me that powerful people often don’t say so much. And Logan says probably many fewer words than his less powerful colleagues and people who surround him. Indeed, it’s probably true that the people with the least power speak the most. When you think about Tom (before he assumed power) and Greg, they have these great torrents of words because they’re trying to fill in the holes and equivocate and countermand what they’ve just said to precisely express themselves, because they’re worried the power is going to take a dim view of them. So there’s something about literally the quantity of words that you speak and also the volume. Power can often be very quiet and make you lean in until it explodes and makes you lean out. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We hear [Kendall] first listening to rap music and he has a desire to hit a sort of colloquial but buzzword-infused [way of speaking]. I think he likes language. I think he wants to use interesting language. He’s not a terrible performer. Some people find his rap utterly risible. I find it comic, but also not bad. I think he has a certain verbal felicity, a certain verbal interest, and sometimes that goes over the edge into being ludicrous. Shiv, her tragedy has been that she has sought to modulate her every performance in the sense of what she’s doing in the world to keep her options open. And so there’s a sense in which she does that verbally as well. Roman is explosive and the most close to being a truth teller in that kind of jester role where he can say the unsayable and then claim that he didn’t say it or didn’t mean it. It’s a very powerful position once you start to be able to say, “I didn’t mean it,” after everything, every true thing that you say.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ED2pSguRn7U'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ED2pSguRn7U'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Roy siblings’ cousin Greg has a mixture of cluelessness and formality when he’s on the witness stand during the hearings about the Waystar cruise line sexual harassment scandal. At one point, while being questioned by a senator, Greg answers, “If it is to be said, so it be. So it is.” Can you talk about Greg’s strangely formal way of speaking there?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I think there’s a little bit of the kind of 18th century in there, that sort of courtier vibe. But I think there’s also a class thing there, which, you know, is the phrase “hyper correction,” where people who are outside their normal class or social arena sometimes end up being idiotic because they’re trying to be too proper. It happens in our English, class-obsessed society, when people try to change their vocal pitch and nature to try and fit in with posher people and you hypercorrect, and then you become ludicrous by throwing in those extra words or reversing the order and doing things which you think sound like they might have a formality, which is appropriate, but ends up being nonsense. So it’s a very nice thing in life to be comfortable with how you speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Logan is on his way to Norway to complete the deal with GoJo when he dies after suffering some kind of cardiac episode in the plane bathroom. Tom is on the plane and calls the siblings and they each say their goodbyes on the phone to him, even though it seems he’s already dead. Have you ever been in a position like that, of saying your goodbye on the phone?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>No, honestly, I haven’t. I’ve known sad things and I’ve known people who suffered sad things, and people were generous in the writers room sharing thoughts about those areas, things they knew. … I don’t believe you have to have been through something like that precisely to be able to write it. Often, the terrible thing we imagine in the future can be as vivid as the thing we’ve experienced. … There is something about the modern era, which is that often sad, bad news comes at us like that from nowhere and hits us from nowhere. … The modern sadnesses often happen in this rather disembodied way. And then you’re left in a nowhere state where you’re physically disconnected from the events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930057\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930057\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man and. woman on a couch sit, looking concerned. Another man in a suit sits opposite them, slumped forward. A fourth man stands nearby. They are in a sitting room area of a yacht.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Roy siblings huddle with the Waystar communications team to craft a statement after learning of their father’s sudden death. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You really capture the not knowing what to say aspect in a situation like that — not knowing how to say goodbye, but also the conflicted love-hate relationship they have with their father. Can you talk a little bit about writing those goodbyes? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The whole show is such multiple collaborations, but I feel, especially in those moments, [the words] could lie on the page inert if it wasn’t with those brilliant actors doing the scene. I’m a rewriter. I rewrite a lot. We reworked the scripts a lot through production, and it can sometimes be hard for the actors as we change things. But that episode, and especially that long stretch in the middle, I wrote it relatively quickly. And then I tried to be very careful about what I revised because, I don’t often feel this, but it felt like it had a coherence in its incoherence that it felt appropriate, and I wanted to leave it rather raw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Hopefully our insults and our verbal attacks are believable and characterful, but they’re often more carefully wrought and multi-clause and baroque and the simplicity of the language, the mixture of truth and untruth, the feeling towards the edge of language and what it can express all felt good in the early, early drafts and therefore [we] tried not to change it. And I tried not to change the last things that Logan said, once I sort of knew that they were the last things that Logan said, because I didn’t want them to have the form of a grandiloquent moment of speech, because that didn’t seem appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can you say a few words about the ongoing \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1172876800/writers-guild-calls-strike\">\u003cstrong>writers’ strike\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong> I think about it through the lens of \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>, which has been basically well supported and a happy show. One of my most favorite parts of the show is the writers’ room. Our room is not one of these mini-rooms, it’s a big, full room and it runs for a long time. And then writers who have written in the writers’ room, many of them come to be on set. Those kinds of things, although they cost money, I think helped to make the show as good as it is, and there’s just a variety of writer who is likely to get cut out of the financial action unless the WGA gets at least some of what it’s asking for. So I’m supportive of the position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>The fact is that as the business transitioned from the old network linear model to streaming model, writers are often left out in the cold financially and it’s quite unjust. And I hope they win the battle because they really deserve it and they really are underpaid. It’s hard for people to understand how anyone could be underpaid in show business in Hollywood, but actually it does happen as in any other industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=We+ask+the+creator+of+%27Succession%27+everything+you+wanted+to+know+about+the+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy’s Fearless Experiment Sets a New Album Ablaze",
"headTitle": "John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy’s Fearless Experiment Sets a New Album Ablaze | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A little over 60 years ago, the editor-in-chief of \u003cem>DownBeat\u003c/em> magazine asked John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy a deceptively simple question: \u003cem>What are you trying to do? \u003c/em>He rephrased slightly: \u003cem>What are you doing? \u003c/em>The two saxophonists sat for a long 30 seconds before Dolphy broke the silence. “That’s a good question,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>DownBeat \u003c/em>editor, Don DeMicheal, printed this exchange in the April 1962 issue, as part of \u003ca href=\"https://downbeat.com/microsites/prestige/dolphy-interview.html\">a fascinating article\u003c/a> headlined “John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy Answer the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/jazz\">Jazz\u003c/a> Critics.” Regular readers of the magazine would have known precisely what provoked this gesture: a scathing review of Coltrane’s quintet with Dolphy, decrying “an anarchistic course in their music that can but be termed anti-jazz.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929691']1961 had been a prolific and pivotal year for Coltrane. That spring, his sleek, intriguing quartet version of “My Favorite Things,” from \u003cem>The Sound of Music, \u003c/em>became a breakout hit. But later that year, as he signed to a new label, Impulse! Records, he wasn’t putting a premium on commercial success. Instead, he was exploring new sounds and configurations, often testing ideas on the bandstand. One such idea was the addition of Dolphy, a wildly original voice on both reeds and flute, and a close personal friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intrepid depth of their musical rapport takes center stage on a stunning new archival release, \u003cem>Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy\u003c/em>, which \u003ca href=\"https://JohnColtrane.lnk.to/Shop\">Impulse! will release on July 14\u003c/a>. Tomorrow the label will share a preview track, “Impressions,” featuring Coltrane on soprano saxophone and Dolphy on alto saxophone and bass clarinet — along with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Reggie Workman, who together make the song feel something like a runaway train. (Until then, you can hear it — exclusively — here.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYja5pH7ciM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any time that we worked with John,” Workman, who is a few weeks shy of 86, tells NPR, “you could always hear transition in his music.” This was maybe never truer than it is here, in a recording made during a month-long residency in late-summer of 1961. \u003cem>Evenings at the Village Gate \u003c/em>actually opens with a version of “My Favorite Things,” and closes with the droning, polyrhythmic churn of “Africa.” Coltrane was in the process of reinventing his language, and by extension the language of jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was growing into a place where he did not want to be inhibited by the steps and the changes that were prescribed by certain structures,” Workman says, adding: “He wanted us to be about a chant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929976\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929976\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-800x625.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-800x625.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-1020x796.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-160x125.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-768x600.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM.png 1158w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of the marquee at the Village Gate in New York, advertising John Coltrane’s performances in the summer of 1961. \u003ccite>(Herb Snitzer/Courtesy of Impulse! Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Village Gate was a large basement room with a growing reputation in 1961, home to folksingers and comedy acts as well as artists like Nina Simone. Coltrane worked there in August as part of a triple bill, alongside groups led by drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver. (A photograph of the club marquee by Herb Snitzer shows Coltrane billed with a quartet, underscoring how recently Dolphy had joined the fray.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13927947']The Gate had a state-of-the-art sound system, installed by an ambitious young engineer named Richard Alderson. One night during Coltrane’s run, Alderson decided to test the system by capturing the band, using a single RCA ribbon microphone suspended above the stage, with a line running to a reel-to-reel tape recorder. The tapes were never intended for public consumption, and unauthorized in any case, so Alderson set them aside. They found their way to a collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, where they were recently rediscovered by a Bob Dylan archivist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929973\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929973\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jc-ed_3000x3000_packshot_revised_custom-330d48681258a72348dda94428b70420669ce944.jpg\" alt=\"An album cover depicts two men performing on stage, in shadow.\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jc-ed_3000x3000_packshot_revised_custom-330d48681258a72348dda94428b70420669ce944.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jc-ed_3000x3000_packshot_revised_custom-330d48681258a72348dda94428b70420669ce944-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Evenings at the Village Gate’ by John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Impulse! Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Coltrane admirers, jazz historians and anyone intrigued by the experimental end of improvisational music, \u003cem>Evenings at the Village Gate \u003c/em>will represent not only a welcome new find but also a link in a chain. The Coltrane-and-Dolphy frontline was short-lived, in part because it faced such strong headwinds from the jazz establishment, but it did leave behind a major testament: \u003cem>Coltrane “Live” at the Village Vanguard, \u003c/em>recorded at a different Greenwich Village club in November 1961, the same month that their unruly output jarred loose the indelible phrase “anti-jazz.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those Village Vanguard tapes, which later yielded a monumental four-disc set, amount to one of the most mysterious and thrilling documents in jazz history. A couple of years ago, Ben Ratliff, author of \u003cem>Coltrane: The Story of a Sound\u003c/em>, placed this music within a cultural context of “ambivalent possibility,” in a vivid essay for the \u003cem>Washington Post \u003c/em>titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/11/03/john-coltrane-village-vanguard-1961/\">John Coltrane and the Essence of 1961\u003c/a>.” He observes: “The music sounds post-heroic and pre-cynical; interestingly free from grandiosity; full of room for the listener to find a place within it and make up their own mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, after hearing the version of “Impressions” from \u003cem>Evenings at the Gate, \u003c/em>Ratliff elaborated on this idea. “It’s very hard to label or encapsulate, but it’s just so ferociously full of life force,” he said of the performance. “The musicians know how good this is, and they know how exciting it is — but beyond that, they don’t really know much, and it hasn’t been called anything yet. There’s a lot of the unknown here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929974\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929974\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1961_johncoltrane_herbsnitzer_photographicprint_2-copy_custom-f56222536ca8d06c927a5cde2b64884d8f143a42.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1961_johncoltrane_herbsnitzer_photographicprint_2-copy_custom-f56222536ca8d06c927a5cde2b64884d8f143a42.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1961_johncoltrane_herbsnitzer_photographicprint_2-copy_custom-f56222536ca8d06c927a5cde2b64884d8f143a42-160x198.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph of Eric Dolphy (left) and John Coltrane taken by Herb Snitzer during a performance at the Village Gate in New York in 1961. \u003ccite>(Herb Snitzer/Courtesy of Impulse! Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What came next for Coltrane was the most stable period of his career, as he solidified the personnel of his quartet — Tyner, Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison, who can be heard on parts of the Village Vanguard corpus — and made venerated albums like \u003cem>Crescent, Ballads \u003c/em>and \u003cem>A Love Supreme.\u003c/em> Parting ways, Dolphy refocused on his own visionary music, making strong statements until his tragically untimely death, of a diabetic coma, in 1964. (Coltrane died only three years later, of liver cancer.) The last several years have brought revelatory archival releases from both saxophonists, but \u003cem>Evenings at the Gate\u003c/em> is a window onto the early bloom of their collaboration, when it must have felt like pure possibility to all involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 80-minute album — which will be released in physical formats with illuminating liner essays by Workman, Alderson, Grammy-winning jazz writer Ashley Kahn, and saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Lakecia Benjamin — seems guaranteed to reignite conversation about an incipient phase in Coltrane’s restless evolution. And it’s worth recalling part of the answer he finally gave DeMicheal, for the piece in \u003cem>DownBeat.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13921584']“I think the main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe,” Coltrane said, sounding not the least bit defensive. “That’s what music is to me — it’s just another way of saying this is a big, beautiful universe we live in, that’s been given to us, and here’s an example of just how magnificent and encompassing it is. That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=John+Coltrane+and+Eric+Dolphy%27s+fearless+experiment+sets+a+new+album+ablaze+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A little over 60 years ago, the editor-in-chief of \u003cem>DownBeat\u003c/em> magazine asked John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy a deceptively simple question: \u003cem>What are you trying to do? \u003c/em>He rephrased slightly: \u003cem>What are you doing? \u003c/em>The two saxophonists sat for a long 30 seconds before Dolphy broke the silence. “That’s a good question,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>DownBeat \u003c/em>editor, Don DeMicheal, printed this exchange in the April 1962 issue, as part of \u003ca href=\"https://downbeat.com/microsites/prestige/dolphy-interview.html\">a fascinating article\u003c/a> headlined “John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy Answer the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/jazz\">Jazz\u003c/a> Critics.” Regular readers of the magazine would have known precisely what provoked this gesture: a scathing review of Coltrane’s quintet with Dolphy, decrying “an anarchistic course in their music that can but be termed anti-jazz.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>1961 had been a prolific and pivotal year for Coltrane. That spring, his sleek, intriguing quartet version of “My Favorite Things,” from \u003cem>The Sound of Music, \u003c/em>became a breakout hit. But later that year, as he signed to a new label, Impulse! Records, he wasn’t putting a premium on commercial success. Instead, he was exploring new sounds and configurations, often testing ideas on the bandstand. One such idea was the addition of Dolphy, a wildly original voice on both reeds and flute, and a close personal friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intrepid depth of their musical rapport takes center stage on a stunning new archival release, \u003cem>Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy\u003c/em>, which \u003ca href=\"https://JohnColtrane.lnk.to/Shop\">Impulse! will release on July 14\u003c/a>. Tomorrow the label will share a preview track, “Impressions,” featuring Coltrane on soprano saxophone and Dolphy on alto saxophone and bass clarinet — along with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Reggie Workman, who together make the song feel something like a runaway train. (Until then, you can hear it — exclusively — here.)\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/DYja5pH7ciM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/DYja5pH7ciM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any time that we worked with John,” Workman, who is a few weeks shy of 86, tells NPR, “you could always hear transition in his music.” This was maybe never truer than it is here, in a recording made during a month-long residency in late-summer of 1961. \u003cem>Evenings at the Village Gate \u003c/em>actually opens with a version of “My Favorite Things,” and closes with the droning, polyrhythmic churn of “Africa.” Coltrane was in the process of reinventing his language, and by extension the language of jazz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was growing into a place where he did not want to be inhibited by the steps and the changes that were prescribed by certain structures,” Workman says, adding: “He wanted us to be about a chant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929976\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929976\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-800x625.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"625\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-800x625.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-1020x796.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-160x125.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM-768x600.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-01-at-10.33.31-AM.png 1158w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of the marquee at the Village Gate in New York, advertising John Coltrane’s performances in the summer of 1961. \u003ccite>(Herb Snitzer/Courtesy of Impulse! Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Village Gate was a large basement room with a growing reputation in 1961, home to folksingers and comedy acts as well as artists like Nina Simone. Coltrane worked there in August as part of a triple bill, alongside groups led by drummer Art Blakey and pianist Horace Silver. (A photograph of the club marquee by Herb Snitzer shows Coltrane billed with a quartet, underscoring how recently Dolphy had joined the fray.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Gate had a state-of-the-art sound system, installed by an ambitious young engineer named Richard Alderson. One night during Coltrane’s run, Alderson decided to test the system by capturing the band, using a single RCA ribbon microphone suspended above the stage, with a line running to a reel-to-reel tape recorder. The tapes were never intended for public consumption, and unauthorized in any case, so Alderson set them aside. They found their way to a collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, where they were recently rediscovered by a Bob Dylan archivist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929973\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929973\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jc-ed_3000x3000_packshot_revised_custom-330d48681258a72348dda94428b70420669ce944.jpg\" alt=\"An album cover depicts two men performing on stage, in shadow.\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jc-ed_3000x3000_packshot_revised_custom-330d48681258a72348dda94428b70420669ce944.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/jc-ed_3000x3000_packshot_revised_custom-330d48681258a72348dda94428b70420669ce944-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Evenings at the Village Gate’ by John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Impulse! Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Coltrane admirers, jazz historians and anyone intrigued by the experimental end of improvisational music, \u003cem>Evenings at the Village Gate \u003c/em>will represent not only a welcome new find but also a link in a chain. The Coltrane-and-Dolphy frontline was short-lived, in part because it faced such strong headwinds from the jazz establishment, but it did leave behind a major testament: \u003cem>Coltrane “Live” at the Village Vanguard, \u003c/em>recorded at a different Greenwich Village club in November 1961, the same month that their unruly output jarred loose the indelible phrase “anti-jazz.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those Village Vanguard tapes, which later yielded a monumental four-disc set, amount to one of the most mysterious and thrilling documents in jazz history. A couple of years ago, Ben Ratliff, author of \u003cem>Coltrane: The Story of a Sound\u003c/em>, placed this music within a cultural context of “ambivalent possibility,” in a vivid essay for the \u003cem>Washington Post \u003c/em>titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/11/03/john-coltrane-village-vanguard-1961/\">John Coltrane and the Essence of 1961\u003c/a>.” He observes: “The music sounds post-heroic and pre-cynical; interestingly free from grandiosity; full of room for the listener to find a place within it and make up their own mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, after hearing the version of “Impressions” from \u003cem>Evenings at the Gate, \u003c/em>Ratliff elaborated on this idea. “It’s very hard to label or encapsulate, but it’s just so ferociously full of life force,” he said of the performance. “The musicians know how good this is, and they know how exciting it is — but beyond that, they don’t really know much, and it hasn’t been called anything yet. There’s a lot of the unknown here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929974\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929974\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1961_johncoltrane_herbsnitzer_photographicprint_2-copy_custom-f56222536ca8d06c927a5cde2b64884d8f143a42.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1961_johncoltrane_herbsnitzer_photographicprint_2-copy_custom-f56222536ca8d06c927a5cde2b64884d8f143a42.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/1961_johncoltrane_herbsnitzer_photographicprint_2-copy_custom-f56222536ca8d06c927a5cde2b64884d8f143a42-160x198.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph of Eric Dolphy (left) and John Coltrane taken by Herb Snitzer during a performance at the Village Gate in New York in 1961. \u003ccite>(Herb Snitzer/Courtesy of Impulse! Records)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What came next for Coltrane was the most stable period of his career, as he solidified the personnel of his quartet — Tyner, Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison, who can be heard on parts of the Village Vanguard corpus — and made venerated albums like \u003cem>Crescent, Ballads \u003c/em>and \u003cem>A Love Supreme.\u003c/em> Parting ways, Dolphy refocused on his own visionary music, making strong statements until his tragically untimely death, of a diabetic coma, in 1964. (Coltrane died only three years later, of liver cancer.) The last several years have brought revelatory archival releases from both saxophonists, but \u003cem>Evenings at the Gate\u003c/em> is a window onto the early bloom of their collaboration, when it must have felt like pure possibility to all involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 80-minute album — which will be released in physical formats with illuminating liner essays by Workman, Alderson, Grammy-winning jazz writer Ashley Kahn, and saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Lakecia Benjamin — seems guaranteed to reignite conversation about an incipient phase in Coltrane’s restless evolution. And it’s worth recalling part of the answer he finally gave DeMicheal, for the piece in \u003cem>DownBeat.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I think the main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe,” Coltrane said, sounding not the least bit defensive. “That’s what music is to me — it’s just another way of saying this is a big, beautiful universe we live in, that’s been given to us, and here’s an example of just how magnificent and encompassing it is. That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way. The musician’s is through his music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=John+Coltrane+and+Eric+Dolphy%27s+fearless+experiment+sets+a+new+album+ablaze+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Five Great Moments From the ‘Ted Lasso’ Finale",
"headTitle": "Five Great Moments From the ‘Ted Lasso’ Finale | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>had a bit of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1170074939/ted-lasso-season-3-review\">bumpy third season\u003c/a>, and its final episode (now streaming on Apple TV+) didn’t undo all of those bumps. Nevertheless, the show pulled off some very nice moments that doubtless reminded viewers why they fell in love with it in the first place. It stands to reason, hopefully, that spoilers follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. A song for the coach.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926462']Richmond AFC’s performance of “So Long, Farewell” from \u003cem>The Sound of Music \u003c/em>called back to the time \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMsNLc7KgEU\">we saw the team do “Bye Bye Bye.” \u003c/a>If you know the movie, you were well-prepared for all those heads to pop out and say “cuckoo,” and it was a pure delight. Granted, having seen “Bye Bye Bye,” I’d have loved more dancing from Jamie (Phil Dunster) (my third season MVP), but perhaps it was enough that Roy was mouthing along. Sue me, I love a musical number.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. Roy asks to become a Diamond Dog.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With Nate back in the fold (despite some misgivings I have about how that story developed), the Diamond Dogs 2.0, now including Trent Crimm, were shocked and flattered when Roy said the words Ted had longed to hear: “Can I be a Diamond Dog?” Part of the charm of \u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>when it’s at its best is that unabashedly corny things work because of the charm of the performances. And even if it was always inevitable that Roy would give himself up to the loving embrace of his pals, his growth was signaled beautifully by his willingness not simply to say yes when asked, but to ask on his own. Who among us has not felt the need to say, “Can I be your friend?” Or, in this case, “Can I be a Diamond Dog?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929886\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929886\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"A middle aged man in a suit stands alongside two slender blond women. One girlish in a short red dress, the other statuesque and professional in a blue one.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM.png 1160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham as Leslie, Keeley and Rebecca. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>3. Rebecca asks Ted to stay.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Ted and Rebecca have had a friendship that has changed the courses of both of their lives. Their relationship is emotionally intimate but not romantic, which is a kind of bond that television often can’t hold in its head when it comes to (as far as we know) a straight man and a straight woman. Rebecca had to make that last ask to him, the best version of “we could stay together” that she could come up with, even though it was not especially reasonable to suggest his wife and son should both change continents. But she had to try. That scene also gave the finale a chance to luxuriate in the stadium seats from the opening credits that have been so much a part of the show’s iconography.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. The team reassembles the sign.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Look, you were never going to like this show if the sight of all the Greyhounds retrieving their various pieces of the destroyed “BELIEVE” sign and reassembling them made you roll your eyes. Again, corny! But it works! And realizing they’d all hidden them in different places — behind a photo, in a book, in a sock or a sleeve — was a pretty literal but charming representation of how these guys have taken in what Ted was trying to teach them and are capable of recreating it themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two men in sports uniforms stand opposite each other in a locker room, double fist bumping in a friendly manner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phil Dunster as Jamie, left, and Brett Goldstein as Roy. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>5. Jamie passes the ball.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jamie Tartt has had the most complete, coherent and satisfying character arc of any character on the show. He has never been anything other than himself (he still has his entire arsenal of body spray, right next to his copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s \u003cem>The Beautiful and Damned\u003c/em>), but he has genuinely learned both to have friends (like Roy) and to share in the achievements of a team. By giving up the ball to Dani for the penalty and to Sam when Sam was open — while still scoring — he managed to be both star and cooperative teammate in Richmond’s final game, finally achieving the balance that has so often eluded him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928322']In the end, it wasn’t entirely clear whether all the futures that we saw, with Roy becoming the manager of AFC Richmond, and with Rebecca ending up with the guy she met in Amsterdam, and with Keeley and Rebecca preparing to start a women’s team, were real. It wasn’t even clear where Ted’s own family life ended up, although it did seem that Dr. Jacob had left the scene. While cast members have said on social media that this was the end of the road, Apple has resisted saying for sure whether we’ll ever return to this world. If we don’t, it’s good that there was some singing and dancing, some good football, and a reminder that this is, at its heart, a show about friendship and camaraderie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Five+great+moments+from+the+%27Ted+Lasso%27+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>had a bit of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1170074939/ted-lasso-season-3-review\">bumpy third season\u003c/a>, and its final episode (now streaming on Apple TV+) didn’t undo all of those bumps. Nevertheless, the show pulled off some very nice moments that doubtless reminded viewers why they fell in love with it in the first place. It stands to reason, hopefully, that spoilers follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. A song for the coach.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Richmond AFC’s performance of “So Long, Farewell” from \u003cem>The Sound of Music \u003c/em>called back to the time \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMsNLc7KgEU\">we saw the team do “Bye Bye Bye.” \u003c/a>If you know the movie, you were well-prepared for all those heads to pop out and say “cuckoo,” and it was a pure delight. Granted, having seen “Bye Bye Bye,” I’d have loved more dancing from Jamie (Phil Dunster) (my third season MVP), but perhaps it was enough that Roy was mouthing along. Sue me, I love a musical number.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. Roy asks to become a Diamond Dog.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With Nate back in the fold (despite some misgivings I have about how that story developed), the Diamond Dogs 2.0, now including Trent Crimm, were shocked and flattered when Roy said the words Ted had longed to hear: “Can I be a Diamond Dog?” Part of the charm of \u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>when it’s at its best is that unabashedly corny things work because of the charm of the performances. And even if it was always inevitable that Roy would give himself up to the loving embrace of his pals, his growth was signaled beautifully by his willingness not simply to say yes when asked, but to ask on his own. Who among us has not felt the need to say, “Can I be your friend?” Or, in this case, “Can I be a Diamond Dog?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929886\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929886\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"A middle aged man in a suit stands alongside two slender blond women. One girlish in a short red dress, the other statuesque and professional in a blue one.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM.png 1160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham as Leslie, Keeley and Rebecca. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>3. Rebecca asks Ted to stay.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Ted and Rebecca have had a friendship that has changed the courses of both of their lives. Their relationship is emotionally intimate but not romantic, which is a kind of bond that television often can’t hold in its head when it comes to (as far as we know) a straight man and a straight woman. Rebecca had to make that last ask to him, the best version of “we could stay together” that she could come up with, even though it was not especially reasonable to suggest his wife and son should both change continents. But she had to try. That scene also gave the finale a chance to luxuriate in the stadium seats from the opening credits that have been so much a part of the show’s iconography.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. The team reassembles the sign.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Look, you were never going to like this show if the sight of all the Greyhounds retrieving their various pieces of the destroyed “BELIEVE” sign and reassembling them made you roll your eyes. Again, corny! But it works! And realizing they’d all hidden them in different places — behind a photo, in a book, in a sock or a sleeve — was a pretty literal but charming representation of how these guys have taken in what Ted was trying to teach them and are capable of recreating it themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two men in sports uniforms stand opposite each other in a locker room, double fist bumping in a friendly manner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phil Dunster as Jamie, left, and Brett Goldstein as Roy. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>5. Jamie passes the ball.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jamie Tartt has had the most complete, coherent and satisfying character arc of any character on the show. He has never been anything other than himself (he still has his entire arsenal of body spray, right next to his copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s \u003cem>The Beautiful and Damned\u003c/em>), but he has genuinely learned both to have friends (like Roy) and to share in the achievements of a team. By giving up the ball to Dani for the penalty and to Sam when Sam was open — while still scoring — he managed to be both star and cooperative teammate in Richmond’s final game, finally achieving the balance that has so often eluded him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the end, it wasn’t entirely clear whether all the futures that we saw, with Roy becoming the manager of AFC Richmond, and with Rebecca ending up with the guy she met in Amsterdam, and with Keeley and Rebecca preparing to start a women’s team, were real. It wasn’t even clear where Ted’s own family life ended up, although it did seem that Dr. Jacob had left the scene. While cast members have said on social media that this was the end of the road, Apple has resisted saying for sure whether we’ll ever return to this world. If we don’t, it’s good that there was some singing and dancing, some good football, and a reminder that this is, at its heart, a show about friendship and camaraderie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Five+great+moments+from+the+%27Ted+Lasso%27+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "19 Summer Books That NPR Critics Are Excited About",
"headTitle": "19 Summer Books That NPR Critics Are Excited About | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929396']Memorial Day is often considered the unofficial start to summer. Many kids are entering the last weeks of school, pools start to open, and vacations from work are on the horizon. It’s a time of the year that many associate with a somewhat slower pace affording, maybe, a little more free time to read. NPR asked some of its regular book critics what soon-to-be-published titles they are most looking forward to reading this summer. Here’s what they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\n\u003cp>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Here+are+19+books+our+critics+are+excited+for+this+summer&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em> by Emma Törzs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a book person, is there anything more alluring than a book about people who are obsessed with books? I was immediately intrigued by the premise of \u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em>: Estranged sisters are reunited when mysterious forces threaten their family’s library of magic books. It took only a few pages for this stellar debut to put me completely under its spell. Genres entwine to form the cleverly paced narrative as we travel from thriller to murder mystery to romance, while always keeping a foot in the deliciously fantastical. (May 30) — Caitlyn Paxson\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Wind Knows My Name\u003c/em> by Isabel Allende\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I learned Isabel Allende’s new book, \u003cem>The Wind Knows My Name\u003c/em>, is set in my hometown of Nogales, Ariz., among other places real and mystical, I put it on the top of my reading list. Allende’s artistry shapes a lyrical romanticism around social political history and global turmoil. I’m eager to find what she discovers in our borderlands. (June 6) — Marcela Davison Avilés\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>A Quitter’s Paradise\u003c/em> by Elysha Chang\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929807 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/quitter_custom-cd6cc4fa5bbbc58b1871c27d00c7dea8a9078e95.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/quitter_custom-cd6cc4fa5bbbc58b1871c27d00c7dea8a9078e95.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/quitter_custom-cd6cc4fa5bbbc58b1871c27d00c7dea8a9078e95-160x243.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">When Sarah Jessica Parker launched her literary imprint SJP Lit, she promised it would publish “big-hearted literary and commercial works … inclusive of … underrepresented voices.” The first book on the actor’s imprint is Elysha Chang’s debut novel \u003cem>A Quitter’s Paradise\u003c/em>, a drolly comedic tale about a young Taiwanese American scientist doing all the wrong things at work and in her personal life, while trying to avoid what her parents’ immigrant story and her mother’s death might mean to her. Reminiscent of Rachel Khong’s \u003cem>Goodbye, Vitamin\u003c/em> and Weike Wang’s \u003cem>Chemistry\u003c/em>, Chang’s debut seems to check all of Sarah Jessica Parker the Publisher’s boxes. (June 6) — Leland Cheuk\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Kairos\u003c/em> by Jenny Erpenbeck\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Erpenbeck fans go, I’m a latecomer. It took her “memoir in pieces” \u003cem>Not a Novel\u003c/em> for me to see the novelist-historian. Her sentences are ascetic and plainspoken, easily mistaken as needle drops, when really they’re short stories. They stretch far into the horizon. “I can still picture the hand of a friend of mine who died of cancer,” she once ended a speech about time. Her newest, \u003cem>Kairos\u003c/em>, translated by Michael Hofmann, marries her philosophy of time with her childhood in East Berlin. It’s somehow both Sebaldian and anti-Sebaldian. In historical clarity, it brims. (June 6) — Kamil Ahsan\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Talk\u003c/em> by Darrin Bell\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929813 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/talk_custom-53aea21a8046f25a516ab1931065b27230ede2d9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/talk_custom-53aea21a8046f25a516ab1931065b27230ede2d9.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/talk_custom-53aea21a8046f25a516ab1931065b27230ede2d9-160x225.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Darrin Bell is 6 years old, playing alone, when a police officer yells at him to freeze. He doesn’t share the disturbing event for years. \u003cem>The Talk\u003c/em> is Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist Bell’s debut graphic memoir, a stunning account of a young Black man navigating his way through Los Angeles and Berkeley in the 1980s and ’90s, into life as a successful professional and father. The illustrations, fluctuating from the whimsically cartoonish to the painterly, are as multi-tiered and engrossing as Bell’s narrative voice. Like Alison Bechdel’s \u003cem>Fun Home\u003c/em> and Marjane Satrapi’s \u003cem>Persepolis\u003c/em>, this epic portrait of an artist is destined for iconic status. (June 6) — Tahneer Oksman\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>All the Sinners Bleed\u003c/em> by S.A. Cosby\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t wait to get my hands on S.A. Cosby’s \u003cem>All the Sinners Bleed\u003c/em>. The setting is a county in rural Virginia with Confederate sensibilities that aren’t completely in the past, the new sheriff in town is Black, and a serial killer is afoot. Cosby’s last novel, \u003cem>Razorblade Tears\u003c/em>, rocketed right from President Barack Obama’s 2022 “summer favorites” list onto my stack of most-admired fiction. Based on those unforgettable characters, I anticipate in Cosby’s new book a highly propulsive story with issues of social justice at its heart. (June 6) — Barbara J. King\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Loot\u003c/em> by Tania James\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929803 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/loot_custom-79a42db46a893c811fe954706737edab2e26d629.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/loot_custom-79a42db46a893c811fe954706737edab2e26d629.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/loot_custom-79a42db46a893c811fe954706737edab2e26d629-160x238.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">The legendary Tipu Sultan, Tiger of Mysore, was killed by British armies in 1799. Among his many creations was a life-size wooden tiger automaton mauling a British soldier. Tania James’ latest novel, \u003cem>Loot\u003c/em>, gives us a spirited imagining of this tiger’s origins and how the British besieged and looted Tipu’s capital. With carefully engineered plotlines and epigrammatic flourishes, James molds the tiger’s fascinating, fictional journey from India to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum — and the singular lives of those who were connected with it. It’s a historical novel I’ve been looking forward to because it subtly problematizes the very historicity of what has been enshrined in the grand halls of eternal record. (June 13) — Jenny Bhatt\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight\u003c/em> by Kalynn Bayron\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charity works at a horror simulation tourist trap based on a cheesy 1980s teen slasher movie, Camp Mirror Lake. It’s all fun and games until the staff start going missing. Something monstrous is stalking Charity and her terrified friends, and it won’t stop until they’re all dead. Like any good horror movie, this one is full of twists and turns, with one heck of a kicker at the end. (June 20) — Alex Brown\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Fear of Too Much Justice\u003c/em> by Stephen Bright and James Kwak\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929819 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/justicebright_custom-a9d6c32a7be04a2a4883b88985af398a9b6eeacf.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/justicebright_custom-a9d6c32a7be04a2a4883b88985af398a9b6eeacf.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/justicebright_custom-a9d6c32a7be04a2a4883b88985af398a9b6eeacf-160x239.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Americans have begun to see the gross injustices in our criminal “justice” system, which favors wealthy white people over Black people, other people of color, and poor people. We have one of the largest prison systems in the world, and some of the longest sentences. Stephen Bright, co-author with James Kwak, has spent his life shining a bright light on these problems and addressing them through the courts. He’s trained generations of lawyers, including Bryan Stevenson. I look forward to this book for what is sure to be a searing, no-holds-barred analysis about where we stand and how we can go forward. (June 20) — Martha Anne Toll\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Archive Undying\u003c/em> by Emma Mieko Candon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I first heard of \u003cem>The Archive Undying\u003c/em> I was stoked — in our age of AI discourse and terrifying robot dogs, it’s exciting to see a writer exploring these concepts in a way that’s fresh and nuanced. That the book is also about bodies — how we use them, how they betray or disappoint us, and how we survive in them nonetheless — only made me more excited. I can’t wait to dive in headfirst and explore Emma Mieko Candon’s Downworld. (June 27) — Ilana Masad\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>July\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Owner of a Lonely Heart\u003c/em> by Beth Nguyen\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Owner of a Lonely Heart\u003c/em> offers indelible insights on biological and surrogate motherhood, informed by the author’s upbringing in a chaotic yet emotionally repressed family led by a Vietnamese refugee father and a second-generation Mexican stepmother in white-centric Grand Rapids, Mich. Referencing yet subverting the swaggering lyrics of a 1983 Yes song, Nguyen’s memoir, a taut, contemplative sequel to \u003cem>Stealing Buddha’s Dinner\u003c/em>, reconciles the apparent gaps in her family history with the need for sufficient space and time to redefine the past. (July 4) — Thúy Đinh\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Nothing Special\u003c/em> by Nicole Flattery\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929811 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/nothing_custom-22fc05226f711d44f18df0631f2c8f5bde29697c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/nothing_custom-22fc05226f711d44f18df0631f2c8f5bde29697c.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/nothing_custom-22fc05226f711d44f18df0631f2c8f5bde29697c-160x243.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">In \u003cem>Nothing Special\u003c/em>, Nicole Flattery — known for bringing young women’s stories to life — chose to explore the fascinating moment in the ’60s when Andy Warhol composed his unconventional book, \u003cem>a, A Novel\u003c/em>, by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous friends at The Factory. Here, 17-year-old high school dropout Mae is one of the girls tasked with transcribing these tapes. I’m eager to delve into this story. What happens to a young girl coming of age in New York City when innocent voyeurism and the famous space known for art, celebrity and debauchery clash? (July 11) — Keishel A. Williams\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Silver Nitrate\u003c/em> by Silvia Moreno-Garcia\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A curse, magic, an old movie director whose career vanished, an unfinished cursed film, Nazi occultism and a woman who discovers she has special powers may sound like a wild mix of elements. But Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the most unique and exciting voices in contemporary fiction, so when it comes to Silver Nitrate, each of these things only makes me want to read the novel even more. Moreno-Garcia makes darkness shine, and this one promises to be very dark. (July 18) — Gabino Iglesias\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>August\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Tom Lake\u003c/em> by Ann Patchett\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three sisters stuck in a cherry orchard, far from the excitements of society. Sound familiar? Can’t wait to see how Ann Patchett channels Chekhov in her new novel, \u003cem>Tom Lake\u003c/em>. Set during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sisters seek shelter on their family’s Michigan farm and, for entertainment while picking cherries, persuade their mother to tell them about a summer-stock romance decades earlier with a now-famous actor. Patchett, beloved bookseller and chronicler of people thrown together in patched families and hostage situations, turns her attention to love — youthful, marital, fleeting, enduring. (Aug. 1) — Heller McAlpin\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Family Lore\u003c/em> by Elizabeth Acevedo\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929820 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/lore_custom-f1befb287c275839af0f34101dd549dd62cd14f5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"302\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/lore_custom-f1befb287c275839af0f34101dd549dd62cd14f5.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/lore_custom-f1befb287c275839af0f34101dd549dd62cd14f5-160x242.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">As one of the brightest stars in the literary firmament, YA superstar Elizabeth Acevedo has won a slew of the book world’s most coveted prizes, including a National Book Award and Carnegie Medal for Poet X. Spanning the past and present and locations from Santo Domingo to New York City, \u003cem>Family Lore\u003c/em>, her first novel for adults, is a lush and lyrical Dominican American drama about four supernaturally gifted sisters on the occasion of a living wake for one of them. It’s also one of the author’s most personal creations — inspired in part by her eight inimitable aunts and fascination with how culture and traditions are made. (Aug. 1) — Carole Bell\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Witness: Stories\u003c/em> by Jamel Brinkley\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jamel Brinkley’s 2018 debut, \u003cem>A Lucky Man\u003c/em>, was one of the best books of the year, filled with short stories that deftly looked at family, identity and desire. His follow-up collection, set in New York City, contains stories about people who choose to speak on behalf of others — or fail to do so. Brinkley is immensely talented, making this one of the year’s most anticipated works of American fiction. (Aug. 1) — Michael Schaub\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Mobility\u003c/em> by Lydia Kiesling\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929809 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/mobility_custom-9a671180eaca3057fa1f6fed387ddd4cd77159ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/mobility_custom-9a671180eaca3057fa1f6fed387ddd4cd77159ca.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/mobility_custom-9a671180eaca3057fa1f6fed387ddd4cd77159ca-160x248.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Lydia Kiesling’s debut novel, \u003cem>The Golden State\u003c/em>, sucked me in with its tight portrait of a woman on edge in a town on edge — it unspools over 10 days as a young mother decamps to a town in the high desert of California with secessionist dreams. In \u003cem>Mobility\u003c/em>, Kiesling applies her sharp pairing of politics and the personal to a wider scale, encompassing decades in the life of a hapless onetime foreign service brat named Bunny. As Bunny languishes in Azerbaijan as a 1990s teenager oblivious to the global scramble for oil, stumbles into an oil career in Texas in young adulthood, and grapples with our climate-wrecked future, Kiesling explores individual complicity with late capitalism. (Aug. 1) — Kristen Martin\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Time’s Mouth\u003c/em> by Edan Lepucki\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edan Lepucki’s third novel, \u003cem>Time’s Mouth\u003c/em>, is a time-travel story that feels shatteringly real. It bounces from goddess-praising feminism to Reichian therapy, from a cult in the woods to the suburban side of Hollywood, exploring parenthood — often, but not always, motherhood — from a new angle in every chapter. Like all of Lepucki’s work, it’s both gripping and moving, and promises at least one burst of cathartic tears. (Aug. 1) — Lily Meyer\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Fever House\u003c/em> by Keith Rosson\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929812 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/fever_custom-6bb462eef3645234a0095bdb8484eeec3823bb15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/fever_custom-6bb462eef3645234a0095bdb8484eeec3823bb15.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/fever_custom-6bb462eef3645234a0095bdb8484eeec3823bb15-160x244.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Keith Rosson has been quietly, humbly releasing a string of exceptional novels via small indie presses over the past few years. But with his upcoming book\u003cem> Fever House\u003c/em>, he’s making the leap to Random House. Accordingly, he’s bringing the heat. \u003cem>Fever House\u003c/em> skimps not one bit on weirdness, darkness or suspense: It’s a whirlwind mystery that involves rock stars, mob enforcers, cursed body parts and conspiracies. Rosson’s books have always wielded a punk-rock edge — he’s also a graphic designer who’s worked with Green Day and Against Me! — and \u003cem>Fever House\u003c/em> is no different. What sets it above and beyond his past offerings is a global scope that hurls his genre-slashing ambition into the stratosphere. (Aug. 15) — Jason Heller\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "NPR asked some of its book critics what titles they’re most looking forward to reading this summer. Here's what they said.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Memorial Day is often considered the unofficial start to summer. Many kids are entering the last weeks of school, pools start to open, and vacations from work are on the horizon. It’s a time of the year that many associate with a somewhat slower pace affording, maybe, a little more free time to read. NPR asked some of its regular book critics what soon-to-be-published titles they are most looking forward to reading this summer. Here’s what they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\n\u003cp>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Here+are+19+books+our+critics+are+excited+for+this+summer&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>June\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em> by Emma Törzs\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a book person, is there anything more alluring than a book about people who are obsessed with books? I was immediately intrigued by the premise of \u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em>: Estranged sisters are reunited when mysterious forces threaten their family’s library of magic books. It took only a few pages for this stellar debut to put me completely under its spell. Genres entwine to form the cleverly paced narrative as we travel from thriller to murder mystery to romance, while always keeping a foot in the deliciously fantastical. (May 30) — Caitlyn Paxson\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Wind Knows My Name\u003c/em> by Isabel Allende\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I learned Isabel Allende’s new book, \u003cem>The Wind Knows My Name\u003c/em>, is set in my hometown of Nogales, Ariz., among other places real and mystical, I put it on the top of my reading list. Allende’s artistry shapes a lyrical romanticism around social political history and global turmoil. I’m eager to find what she discovers in our borderlands. (June 6) — Marcela Davison Avilés\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>A Quitter’s Paradise\u003c/em> by Elysha Chang\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929807 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/quitter_custom-cd6cc4fa5bbbc58b1871c27d00c7dea8a9078e95.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/quitter_custom-cd6cc4fa5bbbc58b1871c27d00c7dea8a9078e95.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/quitter_custom-cd6cc4fa5bbbc58b1871c27d00c7dea8a9078e95-160x243.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">When Sarah Jessica Parker launched her literary imprint SJP Lit, she promised it would publish “big-hearted literary and commercial works … inclusive of … underrepresented voices.” The first book on the actor’s imprint is Elysha Chang’s debut novel \u003cem>A Quitter’s Paradise\u003c/em>, a drolly comedic tale about a young Taiwanese American scientist doing all the wrong things at work and in her personal life, while trying to avoid what her parents’ immigrant story and her mother’s death might mean to her. Reminiscent of Rachel Khong’s \u003cem>Goodbye, Vitamin\u003c/em> and Weike Wang’s \u003cem>Chemistry\u003c/em>, Chang’s debut seems to check all of Sarah Jessica Parker the Publisher’s boxes. (June 6) — Leland Cheuk\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Kairos\u003c/em> by Jenny Erpenbeck\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Erpenbeck fans go, I’m a latecomer. It took her “memoir in pieces” \u003cem>Not a Novel\u003c/em> for me to see the novelist-historian. Her sentences are ascetic and plainspoken, easily mistaken as needle drops, when really they’re short stories. They stretch far into the horizon. “I can still picture the hand of a friend of mine who died of cancer,” she once ended a speech about time. Her newest, \u003cem>Kairos\u003c/em>, translated by Michael Hofmann, marries her philosophy of time with her childhood in East Berlin. It’s somehow both Sebaldian and anti-Sebaldian. In historical clarity, it brims. (June 6) — Kamil Ahsan\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Talk\u003c/em> by Darrin Bell\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929813 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/talk_custom-53aea21a8046f25a516ab1931065b27230ede2d9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/talk_custom-53aea21a8046f25a516ab1931065b27230ede2d9.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/talk_custom-53aea21a8046f25a516ab1931065b27230ede2d9-160x225.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Darrin Bell is 6 years old, playing alone, when a police officer yells at him to freeze. He doesn’t share the disturbing event for years. \u003cem>The Talk\u003c/em> is Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist Bell’s debut graphic memoir, a stunning account of a young Black man navigating his way through Los Angeles and Berkeley in the 1980s and ’90s, into life as a successful professional and father. The illustrations, fluctuating from the whimsically cartoonish to the painterly, are as multi-tiered and engrossing as Bell’s narrative voice. Like Alison Bechdel’s \u003cem>Fun Home\u003c/em> and Marjane Satrapi’s \u003cem>Persepolis\u003c/em>, this epic portrait of an artist is destined for iconic status. (June 6) — Tahneer Oksman\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>All the Sinners Bleed\u003c/em> by S.A. Cosby\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t wait to get my hands on S.A. Cosby’s \u003cem>All the Sinners Bleed\u003c/em>. The setting is a county in rural Virginia with Confederate sensibilities that aren’t completely in the past, the new sheriff in town is Black, and a serial killer is afoot. Cosby’s last novel, \u003cem>Razorblade Tears\u003c/em>, rocketed right from President Barack Obama’s 2022 “summer favorites” list onto my stack of most-admired fiction. Based on those unforgettable characters, I anticipate in Cosby’s new book a highly propulsive story with issues of social justice at its heart. (June 6) — Barbara J. King\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Loot\u003c/em> by Tania James\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929803 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/loot_custom-79a42db46a893c811fe954706737edab2e26d629.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/loot_custom-79a42db46a893c811fe954706737edab2e26d629.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/loot_custom-79a42db46a893c811fe954706737edab2e26d629-160x238.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">The legendary Tipu Sultan, Tiger of Mysore, was killed by British armies in 1799. Among his many creations was a life-size wooden tiger automaton mauling a British soldier. Tania James’ latest novel, \u003cem>Loot\u003c/em>, gives us a spirited imagining of this tiger’s origins and how the British besieged and looted Tipu’s capital. With carefully engineered plotlines and epigrammatic flourishes, James molds the tiger’s fascinating, fictional journey from India to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum — and the singular lives of those who were connected with it. It’s a historical novel I’ve been looking forward to because it subtly problematizes the very historicity of what has been enshrined in the grand halls of eternal record. (June 13) — Jenny Bhatt\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight\u003c/em> by Kalynn Bayron\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Charity works at a horror simulation tourist trap based on a cheesy 1980s teen slasher movie, Camp Mirror Lake. It’s all fun and games until the staff start going missing. Something monstrous is stalking Charity and her terrified friends, and it won’t stop until they’re all dead. Like any good horror movie, this one is full of twists and turns, with one heck of a kicker at the end. (June 20) — Alex Brown\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Fear of Too Much Justice\u003c/em> by Stephen Bright and James Kwak\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929819 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/justicebright_custom-a9d6c32a7be04a2a4883b88985af398a9b6eeacf.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/justicebright_custom-a9d6c32a7be04a2a4883b88985af398a9b6eeacf.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/justicebright_custom-a9d6c32a7be04a2a4883b88985af398a9b6eeacf-160x239.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Americans have begun to see the gross injustices in our criminal “justice” system, which favors wealthy white people over Black people, other people of color, and poor people. We have one of the largest prison systems in the world, and some of the longest sentences. Stephen Bright, co-author with James Kwak, has spent his life shining a bright light on these problems and addressing them through the courts. He’s trained generations of lawyers, including Bryan Stevenson. I look forward to this book for what is sure to be a searing, no-holds-barred analysis about where we stand and how we can go forward. (June 20) — Martha Anne Toll\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The Archive Undying\u003c/em> by Emma Mieko Candon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I first heard of \u003cem>The Archive Undying\u003c/em> I was stoked — in our age of AI discourse and terrifying robot dogs, it’s exciting to see a writer exploring these concepts in a way that’s fresh and nuanced. That the book is also about bodies — how we use them, how they betray or disappoint us, and how we survive in them nonetheless — only made me more excited. I can’t wait to dive in headfirst and explore Emma Mieko Candon’s Downworld. (June 27) — Ilana Masad\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>July\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Owner of a Lonely Heart\u003c/em> by Beth Nguyen\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Owner of a Lonely Heart\u003c/em> offers indelible insights on biological and surrogate motherhood, informed by the author’s upbringing in a chaotic yet emotionally repressed family led by a Vietnamese refugee father and a second-generation Mexican stepmother in white-centric Grand Rapids, Mich. Referencing yet subverting the swaggering lyrics of a 1983 Yes song, Nguyen’s memoir, a taut, contemplative sequel to \u003cem>Stealing Buddha’s Dinner\u003c/em>, reconciles the apparent gaps in her family history with the need for sufficient space and time to redefine the past. (July 4) — Thúy Đinh\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Nothing Special\u003c/em> by Nicole Flattery\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929811 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/nothing_custom-22fc05226f711d44f18df0631f2c8f5bde29697c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/nothing_custom-22fc05226f711d44f18df0631f2c8f5bde29697c.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/nothing_custom-22fc05226f711d44f18df0631f2c8f5bde29697c-160x243.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">In \u003cem>Nothing Special\u003c/em>, Nicole Flattery — known for bringing young women’s stories to life — chose to explore the fascinating moment in the ’60s when Andy Warhol composed his unconventional book, \u003cem>a, A Novel\u003c/em>, by recording the conversations and experiences of his many famous friends at The Factory. Here, 17-year-old high school dropout Mae is one of the girls tasked with transcribing these tapes. I’m eager to delve into this story. What happens to a young girl coming of age in New York City when innocent voyeurism and the famous space known for art, celebrity and debauchery clash? (July 11) — Keishel A. Williams\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Silver Nitrate\u003c/em> by Silvia Moreno-Garcia\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A curse, magic, an old movie director whose career vanished, an unfinished cursed film, Nazi occultism and a woman who discovers she has special powers may sound like a wild mix of elements. But Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the most unique and exciting voices in contemporary fiction, so when it comes to Silver Nitrate, each of these things only makes me want to read the novel even more. Moreno-Garcia makes darkness shine, and this one promises to be very dark. (July 18) — Gabino Iglesias\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>August\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Tom Lake\u003c/em> by Ann Patchett\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three sisters stuck in a cherry orchard, far from the excitements of society. Sound familiar? Can’t wait to see how Ann Patchett channels Chekhov in her new novel, \u003cem>Tom Lake\u003c/em>. Set during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sisters seek shelter on their family’s Michigan farm and, for entertainment while picking cherries, persuade their mother to tell them about a summer-stock romance decades earlier with a now-famous actor. Patchett, beloved bookseller and chronicler of people thrown together in patched families and hostage situations, turns her attention to love — youthful, marital, fleeting, enduring. (Aug. 1) — Heller McAlpin\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Family Lore\u003c/em> by Elizabeth Acevedo\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929820 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/lore_custom-f1befb287c275839af0f34101dd549dd62cd14f5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"302\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/lore_custom-f1befb287c275839af0f34101dd549dd62cd14f5.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/lore_custom-f1befb287c275839af0f34101dd549dd62cd14f5-160x242.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">As one of the brightest stars in the literary firmament, YA superstar Elizabeth Acevedo has won a slew of the book world’s most coveted prizes, including a National Book Award and Carnegie Medal for Poet X. Spanning the past and present and locations from Santo Domingo to New York City, \u003cem>Family Lore\u003c/em>, her first novel for adults, is a lush and lyrical Dominican American drama about four supernaturally gifted sisters on the occasion of a living wake for one of them. It’s also one of the author’s most personal creations — inspired in part by her eight inimitable aunts and fascination with how culture and traditions are made. (Aug. 1) — Carole Bell\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Witness: Stories\u003c/em> by Jamel Brinkley\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jamel Brinkley’s 2018 debut, \u003cem>A Lucky Man\u003c/em>, was one of the best books of the year, filled with short stories that deftly looked at family, identity and desire. His follow-up collection, set in New York City, contains stories about people who choose to speak on behalf of others — or fail to do so. Brinkley is immensely talented, making this one of the year’s most anticipated works of American fiction. (Aug. 1) — Michael Schaub\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Mobility\u003c/em> by Lydia Kiesling\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929809 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/mobility_custom-9a671180eaca3057fa1f6fed387ddd4cd77159ca.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/mobility_custom-9a671180eaca3057fa1f6fed387ddd4cd77159ca.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/mobility_custom-9a671180eaca3057fa1f6fed387ddd4cd77159ca-160x248.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Lydia Kiesling’s debut novel, \u003cem>The Golden State\u003c/em>, sucked me in with its tight portrait of a woman on edge in a town on edge — it unspools over 10 days as a young mother decamps to a town in the high desert of California with secessionist dreams. In \u003cem>Mobility\u003c/em>, Kiesling applies her sharp pairing of politics and the personal to a wider scale, encompassing decades in the life of a hapless onetime foreign service brat named Bunny. As Bunny languishes in Azerbaijan as a 1990s teenager oblivious to the global scramble for oil, stumbles into an oil career in Texas in young adulthood, and grapples with our climate-wrecked future, Kiesling explores individual complicity with late capitalism. (Aug. 1) — Kristen Martin\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Time’s Mouth\u003c/em> by Edan Lepucki\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edan Lepucki’s third novel, \u003cem>Time’s Mouth\u003c/em>, is a time-travel story that feels shatteringly real. It bounces from goddess-praising feminism to Reichian therapy, from a cult in the woods to the suburban side of Hollywood, exploring parenthood — often, but not always, motherhood — from a new angle in every chapter. Like all of Lepucki’s work, it’s both gripping and moving, and promises at least one burst of cathartic tears. (Aug. 1) — Lily Meyer\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Fever House\u003c/em> by Keith Rosson\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13929812 alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/fever_custom-6bb462eef3645234a0095bdb8484eeec3823bb15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/fever_custom-6bb462eef3645234a0095bdb8484eeec3823bb15.jpg 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/fever_custom-6bb462eef3645234a0095bdb8484eeec3823bb15-160x244.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">Keith Rosson has been quietly, humbly releasing a string of exceptional novels via small indie presses over the past few years. But with his upcoming book\u003cem> Fever House\u003c/em>, he’s making the leap to Random House. Accordingly, he’s bringing the heat. \u003cem>Fever House\u003c/em> skimps not one bit on weirdness, darkness or suspense: It’s a whirlwind mystery that involves rock stars, mob enforcers, cursed body parts and conspiracies. Rosson’s books have always wielded a punk-rock edge — he’s also a graphic designer who’s worked with Green Day and Against Me! — and \u003cem>Fever House\u003c/em> is no different. What sets it above and beyond his past offerings is a global scope that hurls his genre-slashing ambition into the stratosphere. (Aug. 15) — Jason Heller\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Love to Love You, Donna Summer' Documents the Disco Queen — But at a Distance",
"headTitle": "‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ Documents the Disco Queen — But at a Distance | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>This may sound odd now, but when Donna Summer first hit America’s pop music charts in 1975, it was a steamy, scandalous moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” featured Summer making noises of pleasure which sounded seriously sexual, inspiring the BBC to initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/30-songs-banned-by-the-bbc/\">refuse to play the record \u003c/a>and interviewers to ask what exactly she was doing while tracking the vocals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as Summer explains in a clip from HBO’s documentary \u003cem>Love to Love You, Donna Summer\u003c/em>, the singer was not actually a sultry, sexy seductress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t me, it was something I was playing,” she says. “It was a role. Everyone that knew me would call me up and say, ‘That’s not you, [moaning on the record] is it?’ Yeah, it’s me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQXInltKe8E\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A secretive artist\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, HBO’s film struggles to define who Summer actually was, despite knitting together interviews with family members, archival clips and home movie footage — all guided, in part, by her daughter Brooklyn Sudano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sudano co-directed the film with Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, searching for meaning in her mother’s story. The movie notes even Summer’s children sometimes found her tough to know — including one scene in which Sudano’s sister, Amanda Ramirez, talks about how secretive their mother could be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were never allowed in her room; the door was always locked,” Ramirez says. “We would find out things by reading newspaper articles … I actually remember the first time that we heard ‘Love to Love You.’ Didn’t even know it existed. Brooklyn came in the room and was like, ‘Have I got a song for you to hear!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929374\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929374\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe\" alt=\"A beautiful light-skinned Black womam with long curly hair faces forward. She is wearing a red shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-1020x768.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-160x120.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-768x578.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6.jpe 1142w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing the film does make clear: Summer’s towering abilities as a singer, performer and songwriter. It shows how she suggested the title for “Love to Love You”; was inspired by an exhausted restroom attendant to write “She Works Hard for the Money”; and co-wrote the percolating synthesizer riff which powers her 1977 hit “I Feel Love” with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='trulyca_3474']Elton John spoke about that song’s impact in a clip used by the film. “I remember when ‘I Feel Love’ came on at Studio 54,” he says. “You just stopped in your tracks. What is this? It sounded like no other record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer says they were going for a specific vibe in the studio. “When I went in to do it I had the sense that I was floating. And that’s what … we wanted to maintain, that floaty kind of — that elation that you feel when you’re in love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929375\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929375\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman and white bearded man sit behind the mixing desk of a recording studio. The walls are wood paneled. \" width=\"800\" height=\"593\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1020x755.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-768x569.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1536x1138.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer in the studio with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines and raised in Boston, Summer grew up singing in church. Later, she moved to Germany for a production of the musical \u003cem>Hair\u003c/em> and began making records. The film offers lots of performance footage and behind-the-scenes clips, recounting her fights with her record company, abusive lovers and the struggle to be recognized as more than just a disco queen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='trulyca_3323']But perhaps because Summer held back from her family, the film rarely digs deeply into any aspect of her life before moving on. This is especially noticeable when Sudano asks her uncle Ric Gaines about allegations Summer was molested by a church pastor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became a defining moment in her life,” Gaines says. “It’s not easy when you don’t tell or [don’t] have the ability to tell people.” But it’s tough to see exactly how this incident defined her life, or at least why her brother believed it did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929376\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg\" alt=\"A Black womam sits at a piano, hands on keys, looking sullen.\" width=\"800\" height=\"968\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1020x1234.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-768x929.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1269x1536.jpg 1269w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer at her piano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A structure that feeds confusion\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The film’s structure doesn’t help. Subjects speaking about Summer’s life are often not shown talking on camera, so it’s difficult to know if you’re hearing an archival interview or something recorded for the film. And Sudano doesn’t reveal much about how she pulled the movie together, making it hard to judge why some elements are used the way they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='trulyca_3390']Even Summer’s death in 2012 from lung cancer is handled obliquely, with fleeting glimpses of what she went through. Such pivotal moments deserve a bit more detail; without them, the audience remains at a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who only know Summer through hits like “She Works Hard for the Money” and “Last Dance,” HBO’s film offers important context about her talent and lots of great performance footage. But like the artist herself, the film can also be maddeningly enigmatic, just when you want to know more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Love+to+You%2C+Donna+Summer%27+documents+the+disco+queen+%E2%80%94+but+at+a+distance&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ premieres on HBO on May 20, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This may sound odd now, but when Donna Summer first hit America’s pop music charts in 1975, it was a steamy, scandalous moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” featured Summer making noises of pleasure which sounded seriously sexual, inspiring the BBC to initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/30-songs-banned-by-the-bbc/\">refuse to play the record \u003c/a>and interviewers to ask what exactly she was doing while tracking the vocals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as Summer explains in a clip from HBO’s documentary \u003cem>Love to Love You, Donna Summer\u003c/em>, the singer was not actually a sultry, sexy seductress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t me, it was something I was playing,” she says. “It was a role. Everyone that knew me would call me up and say, ‘That’s not you, [moaning on the record] is it?’ Yeah, it’s me.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/xQXInltKe8E'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/xQXInltKe8E'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch3>A secretive artist\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, HBO’s film struggles to define who Summer actually was, despite knitting together interviews with family members, archival clips and home movie footage — all guided, in part, by her daughter Brooklyn Sudano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sudano co-directed the film with Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, searching for meaning in her mother’s story. The movie notes even Summer’s children sometimes found her tough to know — including one scene in which Sudano’s sister, Amanda Ramirez, talks about how secretive their mother could be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were never allowed in her room; the door was always locked,” Ramirez says. “We would find out things by reading newspaper articles … I actually remember the first time that we heard ‘Love to Love You.’ Didn’t even know it existed. Brooklyn came in the room and was like, ‘Have I got a song for you to hear!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929374\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929374\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe\" alt=\"A beautiful light-skinned Black womam with long curly hair faces forward. She is wearing a red shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-1020x768.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-160x120.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-768x578.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6.jpe 1142w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing the film does make clear: Summer’s towering abilities as a singer, performer and songwriter. It shows how she suggested the title for “Love to Love You”; was inspired by an exhausted restroom attendant to write “She Works Hard for the Money”; and co-wrote the percolating synthesizer riff which powers her 1977 hit “I Feel Love” with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Elton John spoke about that song’s impact in a clip used by the film. “I remember when ‘I Feel Love’ came on at Studio 54,” he says. “You just stopped in your tracks. What is this? It sounded like no other record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer says they were going for a specific vibe in the studio. “When I went in to do it I had the sense that I was floating. And that’s what … we wanted to maintain, that floaty kind of — that elation that you feel when you’re in love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929375\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929375\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman and white bearded man sit behind the mixing desk of a recording studio. The walls are wood paneled. \" width=\"800\" height=\"593\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1020x755.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-768x569.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1536x1138.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer in the studio with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines and raised in Boston, Summer grew up singing in church. Later, she moved to Germany for a production of the musical \u003cem>Hair\u003c/em> and began making records. The film offers lots of performance footage and behind-the-scenes clips, recounting her fights with her record company, abusive lovers and the struggle to be recognized as more than just a disco queen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But perhaps because Summer held back from her family, the film rarely digs deeply into any aspect of her life before moving on. This is especially noticeable when Sudano asks her uncle Ric Gaines about allegations Summer was molested by a church pastor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became a defining moment in her life,” Gaines says. “It’s not easy when you don’t tell or [don’t] have the ability to tell people.” But it’s tough to see exactly how this incident defined her life, or at least why her brother believed it did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929376\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg\" alt=\"A Black womam sits at a piano, hands on keys, looking sullen.\" width=\"800\" height=\"968\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1020x1234.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-768x929.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1269x1536.jpg 1269w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer at her piano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A structure that feeds confusion\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The film’s structure doesn’t help. Subjects speaking about Summer’s life are often not shown talking on camera, so it’s difficult to know if you’re hearing an archival interview or something recorded for the film. And Sudano doesn’t reveal much about how she pulled the movie together, making it hard to judge why some elements are used the way they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even Summer’s death in 2012 from lung cancer is handled obliquely, with fleeting glimpses of what she went through. Such pivotal moments deserve a bit more detail; without them, the audience remains at a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who only know Summer through hits like “She Works Hard for the Money” and “Last Dance,” HBO’s film offers important context about her talent and lots of great performance footage. But like the artist herself, the film can also be maddeningly enigmatic, just when you want to know more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Love+to+You%2C+Donna+Summer%27+documents+the+disco+queen+%E2%80%94+but+at+a+distance&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ premieres on HBO on May 20, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The fantasy genre is known for its standard motifs — the magical elements derived from lore and history that turn up again and again whenever such tales are told.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spell books, dragons, mermaids, fairies and a magic circus all take on new life in the pages of these five enchanting tales hitting shelves in May and June.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Ink Blood Sister Scribe’ by Emma Törzs\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>You could say that sisters Joanna and Esther are estranged. They grew up together, hidden away with their family’s collection of magical books. Each book is a spell, written in blood. Now Joanna tends to the collection, alone and isolated. Esther fled years before when she found out she was endangering her family with her presence. Tired of living on the run, she decides to risk everything and remain at the Antarctic station where she spent the past year and finally began to put down roots. But almost immediately, magic catches up with her, putting her, Joanna, and their family’s books at risk. Soon they realize that the spells controlling their lives go back further and have much more complicated origins than they could have imagined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13654506']Confident, compassionate, and incredibly engrossing, \u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em> grabbed me with its first pages and put me completely under its spell — despite not being written in blood. Elements of many different genres entwine to form the cleverly paced narrative as we travel from Antarctic station thriller to new England murder mystery to the secret society intrigues of Europe’s magical elite. The characters are all delightfully warm in their own weird ways, despite being traumatized and frazzled, and the plot zigs and zags along with just the right amount of twists and reveals. \u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em> stands out as a stellar and original debut novel.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘To Shape a Dragon’s Breath’ by Moniquill Blackgoose\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Anequs has grown up on the Island of Masquapaug with her family, and would have happily stayed there forever. But when a dragon hatches among her people for the first time in recent memory, it chooses her to bond with. She soon finds out that the Anglish settlers who have colonized the lands around Masquapaug have rules about who can have dragons and how they must be trained to shape the dragon’s breath and hone its powers. With her community and her dragon under threat, she has no choice but to enrol at an Anglish school for dragoneers on the mainland. But it soon becomes clear that there are many people who want Anequs to fail, and she realizes that shaping her dragon’s breath and her own sense of self based on Anglish values could destroy everything she cares about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13819831']Magical schools have always been a staple of the fantasy genre, but these days, I find that it’s hard to read a boarding school setting without considering the inherent colonial undertones of such institutions, even when they’re imaginary. \u003cem>To Shape a Dragon’s Breath \u003c/em>cuts right to the chase and is \u003cem>about\u003c/em> that, offering a scathing rejection of the idea that there is one right way for a person to be educated. The idea that a creature like a dragon is also something that could be colonized, and that there is power in honoring Indigenous ways of knowledge keeping and working harmoniously with the forces of nature, rather than seeking to dominate them, is a brilliant approach that brings something truly current to the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To Shape a Dragon’s Breath\u003c/em> is also a very entertaining and fun read, full of loveable characters and intricate, original worldbuilding. I tore through it, caught up in an enthusiasm for dragons that I hadn’t experienced since I was a teenager obsessed with Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea and Anne McCaffrey’s Pern. I can only hope that there will be more stories set in this engaging new world.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘The Salt Grows Heavy’ by Cassandra Khaw\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In this story, a king takes a mermaid as a wife and their children are born with a ravenous hunger. The mermaid departs her former husband’s ravaged kingdom and travels the land with a strange but gentle plague doctor, seeking a new story — but it may prove to be even more harrowing than the one they left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This slip of a novella reads more like a poem or a fireside oration recited by some bard of old than it does like a traditional fantasy or horror novel. It is gory and grotesque, full of severed body parts and the sort of people who consume them. But it is also beautiful in its darkness; much like the mermaids of lore — before they were transformed into manatee-sweet, soft-haired sirens — it has teeth. Readers in the mood to savor a silver-tongued little nightmare will sink happily into its depths.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Mortal Follies’ by Alexis Hall\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This sapphic historical romance with a supernatural twist is narrated by none other than that shrewd and knavish sprite called Robin Goodfellow, servant of the fairy king. Or rather, former servant. Out of favor, our narrator is forced to live as a mortal and (ugh) make a living telling tales…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928174']In an England rife with little but powerful gods and spirits around every corner, a certain Miss Mitchelmore finds herself under the power of a curse that seeks to ruin her. Her ballgown dissolves into shreds around her, swarms of bees chase her into dangerous waterways — it’s clear that someone wishes her to meet with great, or even fatal, misfortune. Could it be the mysterious Lady Georgiana, whom everyone calls the Duke of Annadale, seeing as she (purportedly) murdered her own father and brothers via magical means in order to seize their estate? If the Duke is the cause of Miss Mitchelmore’s misfortunes, then she certainly ought not to be attracted to the prickly, impossible woman! But if the curse has some other source, it may be that the Duke is the only one who can help her be free of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexis Hall can always be counted on to deliver a sweet and compelling historical romance that explores the paths that queer people forged to find love in the past. \u003cem>Mortal Follies\u003c/em> definitely fits this brief, though it does stray a bit from the traditional romance framework, relying on the observations of its third-party narrator to tell us how the characters are feeling rather than delving directly into their thoughts. And while this conceit does keep both Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke at a bit more of a distance from the reader, Robin Goodfellow’s hilarious asides and grumbles more than make up for it. Also worth noting are the secondary characters, who are so compelling that I rather hope Hall intends to give several of them their own follow-up books — most especially Miss Mitchelmore’s best friend, Miss Bickle, who truly deserves some romantic escapades of her own. In the meantime, \u003cem>Mortal Follies\u003c/em> more than satisfies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘The First Bright Thing’ by J.R. Dawson\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When Windy Van Hooten’s Circus of the Fantasticals rolls into town, it is always with purpose. The management, lead by the Ringmaster, can see the future and even travel back and forth through time using powers called Sparks, which manifested in a chosen few in the wake of the Great War. Everyone in the circus is a Spark, and by performing for the right people on the right nights, they hope to set the world on a path to a better future. Because the Ringmaster knows that another war is coming, somehow even worse than the one that was meant to end all wars. And she also knows that another Spark circus is on their heels — one led by a man who once sought to dominate her with his power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13924682']Over the years, magical circus books have become a staple of the fantasy genre, and it can be difficult for a new example to really distinguish itself. \u003cem>The First Bright Thing’s\u003c/em> use of time travel and its characters’ dedication to shaping the future they hope for is where it shines. Themes of found family, faith, queerness, and free will weave in and out of the timelines along with the Ringmaster and her crew. The circus itself serves, as it often does, as a symbol of a place where the impossible becomes reality — and the power of that is the reason why circus stories will continue to enchant readers for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Caitlyn Paxson is a writer and performer. She is a regular reviewer for NPR Books and\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"http://www.quillandquire.com/\">Quill & Quire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=5+new+fantasy+novels+invigorate+old+tropes&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Confident, compassionate, and incredibly engrossing, \u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em> grabbed me with its first pages and put me completely under its spell — despite not being written in blood. Elements of many different genres entwine to form the cleverly paced narrative as we travel from Antarctic station thriller to new England murder mystery to the secret society intrigues of Europe’s magical elite. The characters are all delightfully warm in their own weird ways, despite being traumatized and frazzled, and the plot zigs and zags along with just the right amount of twists and reveals. \u003cem>Ink Blood Sister Scribe\u003c/em> stands out as a stellar and original debut novel.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘To Shape a Dragon’s Breath’ by Moniquill Blackgoose\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Anequs has grown up on the Island of Masquapaug with her family, and would have happily stayed there forever. But when a dragon hatches among her people for the first time in recent memory, it chooses her to bond with. She soon finds out that the Anglish settlers who have colonized the lands around Masquapaug have rules about who can have dragons and how they must be trained to shape the dragon’s breath and hone its powers. With her community and her dragon under threat, she has no choice but to enrol at an Anglish school for dragoneers on the mainland. But it soon becomes clear that there are many people who want Anequs to fail, and she realizes that shaping her dragon’s breath and her own sense of self based on Anglish values could destroy everything she cares about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Magical schools have always been a staple of the fantasy genre, but these days, I find that it’s hard to read a boarding school setting without considering the inherent colonial undertones of such institutions, even when they’re imaginary. \u003cem>To Shape a Dragon’s Breath \u003c/em>cuts right to the chase and is \u003cem>about\u003c/em> that, offering a scathing rejection of the idea that there is one right way for a person to be educated. The idea that a creature like a dragon is also something that could be colonized, and that there is power in honoring Indigenous ways of knowledge keeping and working harmoniously with the forces of nature, rather than seeking to dominate them, is a brilliant approach that brings something truly current to the genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>To Shape a Dragon’s Breath\u003c/em> is also a very entertaining and fun read, full of loveable characters and intricate, original worldbuilding. I tore through it, caught up in an enthusiasm for dragons that I hadn’t experienced since I was a teenager obsessed with Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea and Anne McCaffrey’s Pern. I can only hope that there will be more stories set in this engaging new world.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘The Salt Grows Heavy’ by Cassandra Khaw\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In this story, a king takes a mermaid as a wife and their children are born with a ravenous hunger. The mermaid departs her former husband’s ravaged kingdom and travels the land with a strange but gentle plague doctor, seeking a new story — but it may prove to be even more harrowing than the one they left behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This slip of a novella reads more like a poem or a fireside oration recited by some bard of old than it does like a traditional fantasy or horror novel. It is gory and grotesque, full of severed body parts and the sort of people who consume them. But it is also beautiful in its darkness; much like the mermaids of lore — before they were transformed into manatee-sweet, soft-haired sirens — it has teeth. Readers in the mood to savor a silver-tongued little nightmare will sink happily into its depths.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Mortal Follies’ by Alexis Hall\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This sapphic historical romance with a supernatural twist is narrated by none other than that shrewd and knavish sprite called Robin Goodfellow, servant of the fairy king. Or rather, former servant. Out of favor, our narrator is forced to live as a mortal and (ugh) make a living telling tales…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In an England rife with little but powerful gods and spirits around every corner, a certain Miss Mitchelmore finds herself under the power of a curse that seeks to ruin her. Her ballgown dissolves into shreds around her, swarms of bees chase her into dangerous waterways — it’s clear that someone wishes her to meet with great, or even fatal, misfortune. Could it be the mysterious Lady Georgiana, whom everyone calls the Duke of Annadale, seeing as she (purportedly) murdered her own father and brothers via magical means in order to seize their estate? If the Duke is the cause of Miss Mitchelmore’s misfortunes, then she certainly ought not to be attracted to the prickly, impossible woman! But if the curse has some other source, it may be that the Duke is the only one who can help her be free of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexis Hall can always be counted on to deliver a sweet and compelling historical romance that explores the paths that queer people forged to find love in the past. \u003cem>Mortal Follies\u003c/em> definitely fits this brief, though it does stray a bit from the traditional romance framework, relying on the observations of its third-party narrator to tell us how the characters are feeling rather than delving directly into their thoughts. And while this conceit does keep both Miss Mitchelmore and the Duke at a bit more of a distance from the reader, Robin Goodfellow’s hilarious asides and grumbles more than make up for it. Also worth noting are the secondary characters, who are so compelling that I rather hope Hall intends to give several of them their own follow-up books — most especially Miss Mitchelmore’s best friend, Miss Bickle, who truly deserves some romantic escapades of her own. In the meantime, \u003cem>Mortal Follies\u003c/em> more than satisfies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘The First Bright Thing’ by J.R. Dawson\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>When Windy Van Hooten’s Circus of the Fantasticals rolls into town, it is always with purpose. The management, lead by the Ringmaster, can see the future and even travel back and forth through time using powers called Sparks, which manifested in a chosen few in the wake of the Great War. Everyone in the circus is a Spark, and by performing for the right people on the right nights, they hope to set the world on a path to a better future. Because the Ringmaster knows that another war is coming, somehow even worse than the one that was meant to end all wars. And she also knows that another Spark circus is on their heels — one led by a man who once sought to dominate her with his power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Heaven Has a Bathrobe-Clad Receptionist Named Denise. She’s Helping TikTok Grieve",
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"content": "\u003cp>If you ask anyone on TikTok what happens when you die, there’s a decent chance they’ll put it this way: You appear in a waiting room. You’re wearing a bathrobe. And you’re greeted not by St. Peter or Mother Mary, but by a gum-snapping, keyboard-clacking \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7210484666183404846\">New Yorker named Denise\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As heaven’s receptionist, Denise will hand you a welcome packet and ask what you want your ghost outfit to be. She’ll fill you in on heaven’s amenities (there’s a free margarita bar), and she’ll likely leave you with a little bit of gossip, lowering her voice to gripe about Paul Revere’s latest email (all caps, subject line: URGENT) or that time in the nail salon when Jackie Kennedy met Marilyn Monroe (“like two cats on a hot tin roof”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7210484666183404846\" data-video-id=\"7210484666183404846\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"greenscreen\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/greenscreen?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#greenscreen\u003c/a> there have been many requests for more footage of denise on the job. You go Denise \u003ca title=\"ghostoutfit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ghostoutfit?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#ghostoutfit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ Bossa nova that looks good in a cafe(976272) - MiYAMO\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Bossa-nova-that-looks-good-in-a-cafe-976272-6941084509500606466?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ Bossa nova that looks good in a cafe(976272) – MiYAMO\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>But for all her office-gal kvetching, Denise is a people person. When someone shows up in the waiting room with fear or confusion — having \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7218385592424336682\">died too young\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213123155471224107\">too soon\u003c/a> — it’s Denise who’s there to scoop them up in a hug and show them all of heaven’s silver linings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for the TikTokers watching along, she has become a tool for thinking through the afterlife — and for grieving those who’ve already made their way there.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The real Denise is a 26-year-old pageant queen\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Though arguably just as poignant as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801540105/a-goodbye-to-the-good-place\">\u003cem>The Good Place\u003c/em>\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1213570\">\u003cem>Field of Dreams\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the world of heaven’s reception is a low-fi, short-form experience. And like most TikTok series, it’s the imaginings of one person alone: Taryn Delanie Smith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929334\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A beautiful young woman of color stands on the red carpet of the Lincoln Center, wearing a white dress and a sash.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taryn Delanie Smith, pictured here at the opening of New York’s David Geffen Hall, entered the Miss New York pageant after she’d built a strong following on TikTok. \u003ccite>(Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Lincoln Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 26-year-old, better known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21\">@taryntino21\u003c/a>, considers herself first and foremost a content creator — she has gained 1.2 million TikTok followers in two years of posting. But she’s an offline celebrity in her own right as well, having been crowned 2022’s Miss New York and runner-up in the Miss America competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before Smith had any sort of platform, she herself was a receptionist, working long hours to pay her way through a master’s degree in international communication. It’s that experience that she pulls from to inform Denise’s character.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13893843']“I got promoted to the call center eventually, which was definitely not the promotion I thought it’d be,” Smith said in an interview with NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even heaven’s receptionist has to go through the same mundane daily dramas as any earthly office worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s the slew of entitled folks who think they deserve the Angel Premium Plus package but are short on the cost: 7,899 good deeds. But then there’s the creepy resident with red eyes who keeps abusing a downstairs pass to terrorize a suburban family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7234535523090533674\" data-video-id=\"7234535523090533674\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> So many tammy fans out here smh she IS trying to turn her ghoulish life around guys \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ It is a looped file of 3 minutes and 29 seconds.(1066513) - Clar Music\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/It-is-a-looped-file-of-3-minutes-and-29-seconds-1066513-6997857279706712065?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ It is a looped file of 3 minutes and 29 seconds.(1066513) – Clar Music\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003ch3>“Why can’t we just let women do it all?”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s these types of creative, world-building details that keep Smith’s audience so hooked. But like all great ideas, Denise’s character was born in the least grandiose of ways — as a stray thought in the shower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was standing there thinking, ‘If I die in a chicken suit, then I have to wear the chicken suit forever.’ Can you imagine a ghost coming to you in a chicken suit?” Smith said. “And I just couldn’t stop giggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hopped out of the shower and into a robe and towel, found the first stock image of heaven that came up on Google and made what she thought would be the stupidest video on the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the heaven’s receptionist videos have been viewed over 37 million times on Smith’s TikTok page, and at least 22 million times on other platforms. Smith gets recognized on the street as Denise more often than she does as Miss New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213844985483939115\" data-video-id=\"7213844985483939115\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> Someone in Michigan is having a horrible 2023 \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ 4 beat Jazz instrumental music. Live style. - Masanobu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/4-beat-Jazz-instrumental-music-Live-style-6817537371345520641?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ 4 beat Jazz instrumental music. Live style. – Masanobu\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Holding those dual identities might be incongruous in some minds, but for Smith, it just works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why can’t we just let women do it all? Just let them be their beautiful, silly, authentic selves,” she said. “I didn’t really think I’d be pushing the envelope just by being myself and being a beauty queen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13909111']The same authenticity that plays well with today’s Generation Z audiences helped her stand out onstage. Shunning \u003ca href=\"https://www.glamour.com/story/black-women-beauty-pageants-natural-hair\">archaic Black beauty standards\u003c/a>, Smith competed in Miss New York with her natural hair, a move that ultimately earned her \u003ca href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tiktok-comedian-taryn-delanie-smith-195837879.html\">more praise than criticism\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If anything, she said, she has faced more criticism for her comedy than her looks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For people that are fans of pageantry, they don’t get my TikTok characters. Some of them would be like, ‘I don’t get it. Why is she being so weird?’ And I’m not being weird. I’m having fun. I’m being silly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love for more adults to be able to release that inhibition, even if it’s just in private,” she said. “I think humans were meant to create things. We just get in our own way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>When Denise gets personal, the comments get real\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The more Smith shows up as her uninhibited self, the more the audience adopts the same mindset. If you’re not careful, the humor can chip away at the hardened edges of grief, revealing something soft and raw underneath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to kill the vibe,” one user \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7211276665647828267\">wrote in the comments section early on\u003c/a>, “but these make me so happy because I imagine someone sweet like you greeted my mom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without warning, Smith broke with the humor in her sixth Denise video. As the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” ran low in the background, she tenderly welcomed another commenter’s mother into heaven by name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No, it’s all right. Come forward. I know who you are. You’re Gerry, right?” \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213123155471224107\">Denise says as she looks up from her laptop\u003c/a>, her face full of sheer kindness. “You are so loved. I’m already getting prayer mail for you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213123155471224107\" data-video-id=\"7213123155471224107\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> Replying to @jennifertavernier13 for you and your mama ❤️ she absolutely qualified for angel premium plus btw! \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ Somewhere Over The Rainbow_What A Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Somewhere-Over-The-RainbowWhat-A-Wonderful-World-6981484589350455298?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ Somewhere Over The Rainbow_What A Wonderful World – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For such a personal message, it had wide resonance. The video has racked up over 10,000 comments, many of them filled with heart emojis and stories about even more lost loved ones — people missing mothers also, coincidentally, named Gerry, but also lost babies, aunts, great-uncles, older brothers, younger sisters, grandparents, celebrity idols and beloved pets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13922668']Smith said she receives many, sometimes “hundreds,” of emails and comments every week requesting that she insert specific people into her videos. The stories are so touching that she can’t read them all because of how much she’ll cry. But some days she still tries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m actually very spiritual. I believe in this stuff. I’ve lost people that I talk to all the time,” she said. “Because love just doesn’t … it can’t go away. It’s too big. When you love somebody the way my mom loves me, the way I love my friends, it can’t be contained in this boring earthly body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Grief arises on TikTok the way it does in the real world: randomly\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In the real world, we carry a persistent expectation that our grief will expire. Funerals come and go. Bereavement leave ends. Friends stop asking how you’re doing out of fear of saying the wrong thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on TikTok, in what can often be an endless sea of noise and distraction, images of grief can arise randomly in the algorithm just as easily as reminders of your loved ones pop up uninvited as you move through the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference on the platform is that you’re often, by default, not alone in the experience. The video may be confessional, theatrical or didactic, but there’s a good chance it’s going to feature a human you can see and connect to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like each successive generation breaks a boundary when it comes to sharing grief,” said Megan Devine, a psychotherapist who studies grief and is the author of \u003cem>It’s OK That You’re Not OK.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On TikTok, you get rewarded for immediacy, which feeds into the sense of, ‘We should be talking about this more,'” Devine said. “It’s making big overwhelming issues digestible. … It’s safer to explore the edges of what we can tell the truth about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hashtag #Grief is among TikTok’s most popular, with over 9 billion individual posts. And even in that huge conversation, Smith’s videos about Denise manage to stand out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7232036504267164970\" data-video-id=\"7232036504267164970\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> Parts of this email were shared with permission from @Becca Darling ❤️ it took me awhile to be able to record this one without getting teary. Hugs becca. \u003ca title=\"grief\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/grief?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#grief\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Taryn Delanie🤠\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7232036530368318254?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Taryn Delanie🤠\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>[tiktok]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What she does so intuitively well is pair grief with a dose of playfulness, and also with secularity and spirituality, authenticity and vulnerability, the personal and the universal — all combining into a potent catharsis cocktail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13916203']But above all, “she’s speaking to the most human need: the need for connection,” Devine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully for Denise’s fans, Smith, too, is in it for the human connection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The only reason I do this is because of the collaborative nature of it,” she said, adding that she has found the most inspiration for the videos in the comments section. “As long as we’re still doing this together as a team, then I’m here for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Heaven+has+a+bathrobe-clad+receptionist+named+Denise.+She%27s+helping+TikTok+grieve&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you ask anyone on TikTok what happens when you die, there’s a decent chance they’ll put it this way: You appear in a waiting room. You’re wearing a bathrobe. And you’re greeted not by St. Peter or Mother Mary, but by a gum-snapping, keyboard-clacking \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7210484666183404846\">New Yorker named Denise\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As heaven’s receptionist, Denise will hand you a welcome packet and ask what you want your ghost outfit to be. She’ll fill you in on heaven’s amenities (there’s a free margarita bar), and she’ll likely leave you with a little bit of gossip, lowering her voice to gripe about Paul Revere’s latest email (all caps, subject line: URGENT) or that time in the nail salon when Jackie Kennedy met Marilyn Monroe (“like two cats on a hot tin roof”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7210484666183404846\" data-video-id=\"7210484666183404846\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"greenscreen\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/greenscreen?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#greenscreen\u003c/a> there have been many requests for more footage of denise on the job. You go Denise \u003ca title=\"ghostoutfit\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ghostoutfit?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#ghostoutfit\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ Bossa nova that looks good in a cafe(976272) - MiYAMO\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Bossa-nova-that-looks-good-in-a-cafe-976272-6941084509500606466?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ Bossa nova that looks good in a cafe(976272) – MiYAMO\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>But for all her office-gal kvetching, Denise is a people person. When someone shows up in the waiting room with fear or confusion — having \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7218385592424336682\">died too young\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213123155471224107\">too soon\u003c/a> — it’s Denise who’s there to scoop them up in a hug and show them all of heaven’s silver linings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for the TikTokers watching along, she has become a tool for thinking through the afterlife — and for grieving those who’ve already made their way there.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The real Denise is a 26-year-old pageant queen\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Though arguably just as poignant as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801540105/a-goodbye-to-the-good-place\">\u003cem>The Good Place\u003c/em>\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1213570\">\u003cem>Field of Dreams\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the world of heaven’s reception is a low-fi, short-form experience. And like most TikTok series, it’s the imaginings of one person alone: Taryn Delanie Smith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929334\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A beautiful young woman of color stands on the red carpet of the Lincoln Center, wearing a white dress and a sash.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/gettyimages-1436869743-684d86d413c78aba2bef24d3f13d895af6b06b65-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taryn Delanie Smith, pictured here at the opening of New York’s David Geffen Hall, entered the Miss New York pageant after she’d built a strong following on TikTok. \u003ccite>(Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Lincoln Center)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 26-year-old, better known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21\">@taryntino21\u003c/a>, considers herself first and foremost a content creator — she has gained 1.2 million TikTok followers in two years of posting. But she’s an offline celebrity in her own right as well, having been crowned 2022’s Miss New York and runner-up in the Miss America competition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But before Smith had any sort of platform, she herself was a receptionist, working long hours to pay her way through a master’s degree in international communication. It’s that experience that she pulls from to inform Denise’s character.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I got promoted to the call center eventually, which was definitely not the promotion I thought it’d be,” Smith said in an interview with NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even heaven’s receptionist has to go through the same mundane daily dramas as any earthly office worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s the slew of entitled folks who think they deserve the Angel Premium Plus package but are short on the cost: 7,899 good deeds. But then there’s the creepy resident with red eyes who keeps abusing a downstairs pass to terrorize a suburban family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7234535523090533674\" data-video-id=\"7234535523090533674\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> So many tammy fans out here smh she IS trying to turn her ghoulish life around guys \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ It is a looped file of 3 minutes and 29 seconds.(1066513) - Clar Music\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/It-is-a-looped-file-of-3-minutes-and-29-seconds-1066513-6997857279706712065?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ It is a looped file of 3 minutes and 29 seconds.(1066513) – Clar Music\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003ch3>“Why can’t we just let women do it all?”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It’s these types of creative, world-building details that keep Smith’s audience so hooked. But like all great ideas, Denise’s character was born in the least grandiose of ways — as a stray thought in the shower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was standing there thinking, ‘If I die in a chicken suit, then I have to wear the chicken suit forever.’ Can you imagine a ghost coming to you in a chicken suit?” Smith said. “And I just couldn’t stop giggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hopped out of the shower and into a robe and towel, found the first stock image of heaven that came up on Google and made what she thought would be the stupidest video on the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the heaven’s receptionist videos have been viewed over 37 million times on Smith’s TikTok page, and at least 22 million times on other platforms. Smith gets recognized on the street as Denise more often than she does as Miss New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213844985483939115\" data-video-id=\"7213844985483939115\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> Someone in Michigan is having a horrible 2023 \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ 4 beat Jazz instrumental music. Live style. - Masanobu\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/4-beat-Jazz-instrumental-music-Live-style-6817537371345520641?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ 4 beat Jazz instrumental music. Live style. – Masanobu\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Holding those dual identities might be incongruous in some minds, but for Smith, it just works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Why can’t we just let women do it all? Just let them be their beautiful, silly, authentic selves,” she said. “I didn’t really think I’d be pushing the envelope just by being myself and being a beauty queen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The same authenticity that plays well with today’s Generation Z audiences helped her stand out onstage. Shunning \u003ca href=\"https://www.glamour.com/story/black-women-beauty-pageants-natural-hair\">archaic Black beauty standards\u003c/a>, Smith competed in Miss New York with her natural hair, a move that ultimately earned her \u003ca href=\"https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tiktok-comedian-taryn-delanie-smith-195837879.html\">more praise than criticism\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If anything, she said, she has faced more criticism for her comedy than her looks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For people that are fans of pageantry, they don’t get my TikTok characters. Some of them would be like, ‘I don’t get it. Why is she being so weird?’ And I’m not being weird. I’m having fun. I’m being silly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would love for more adults to be able to release that inhibition, even if it’s just in private,” she said. “I think humans were meant to create things. We just get in our own way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>When Denise gets personal, the comments get real\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The more Smith shows up as her uninhibited self, the more the audience adopts the same mindset. If you’re not careful, the humor can chip away at the hardened edges of grief, revealing something soft and raw underneath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to kill the vibe,” one user \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7211276665647828267\">wrote in the comments section early on\u003c/a>, “but these make me so happy because I imagine someone sweet like you greeted my mom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without warning, Smith broke with the humor in her sixth Denise video. As the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” ran low in the background, she tenderly welcomed another commenter’s mother into heaven by name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No, it’s all right. Come forward. I know who you are. You’re Gerry, right?” \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213123155471224107\">Denise says as she looks up from her laptop\u003c/a>, her face full of sheer kindness. “You are so loved. I’m already getting prayer mail for you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7213123155471224107\" data-video-id=\"7213123155471224107\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> Replying to @jennifertavernier13 for you and your mama ❤️ she absolutely qualified for angel premium plus btw! \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ Somewhere Over The Rainbow_What A Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/Somewhere-Over-The-RainbowWhat-A-Wonderful-World-6981484589350455298?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ Somewhere Over The Rainbow_What A Wonderful World – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For such a personal message, it had wide resonance. The video has racked up over 10,000 comments, many of them filled with heart emojis and stories about even more lost loved ones — people missing mothers also, coincidentally, named Gerry, but also lost babies, aunts, great-uncles, older brothers, younger sisters, grandparents, celebrity idols and beloved pets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Smith said she receives many, sometimes “hundreds,” of emails and comments every week requesting that she insert specific people into her videos. The stories are so touching that she can’t read them all because of how much she’ll cry. But some days she still tries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m actually very spiritual. I believe in this stuff. I’ve lost people that I talk to all the time,” she said. “Because love just doesn’t … it can’t go away. It’s too big. When you love somebody the way my mom loves me, the way I love my friends, it can’t be contained in this boring earthly body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Grief arises on TikTok the way it does in the real world: randomly\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In the real world, we carry a persistent expectation that our grief will expire. Funerals come and go. Bereavement leave ends. Friends stop asking how you’re doing out of fear of saying the wrong thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on TikTok, in what can often be an endless sea of noise and distraction, images of grief can arise randomly in the algorithm just as easily as reminders of your loved ones pop up uninvited as you move through the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference on the platform is that you’re often, by default, not alone in the experience. The video may be confessional, theatrical or didactic, but there’s a good chance it’s going to feature a human you can see and connect to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like each successive generation breaks a boundary when it comes to sharing grief,” said Megan Devine, a psychotherapist who studies grief and is the author of \u003cem>It’s OK That You’re Not OK.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On TikTok, you get rewarded for immediacy, which feeds into the sense of, ‘We should be talking about this more,'” Devine said. “It’s making big overwhelming issues digestible. … It’s safer to explore the edges of what we can tell the truth about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hashtag #Grief is among TikTok’s most popular, with over 9 billion individual posts. And even in that huge conversation, Smith’s videos about Denise manage to stand out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px\" cite=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21/video/7232036504267164970\" data-video-id=\"7232036504267164970\">\n\u003csection>\u003ca title=\"@taryntino21\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/@taryntino21?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@taryntino21\u003c/a> Parts of this email were shared with permission from @Becca Darling ❤️ it took me awhile to be able to record this one without getting teary. Hugs becca. \u003ca title=\"grief\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/grief?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#grief\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"heaven\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/heaven?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#heaven\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"receptionist\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/receptionist?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#receptionist\u003c/a> \u003ca title=\"♬ original sound - Taryn Delanie🤠\" href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7232036530368318254?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">♬ original sound – Taryn Delanie🤠\u003c/a>\u003c/section>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What she does so intuitively well is pair grief with a dose of playfulness, and also with secularity and spirituality, authenticity and vulnerability, the personal and the universal — all combining into a potent catharsis cocktail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But above all, “she’s speaking to the most human need: the need for connection,” Devine said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully for Denise’s fans, Smith, too, is in it for the human connection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The only reason I do this is because of the collaborative nature of it,” she said, adding that she has found the most inspiration for the videos in the comments section. “As long as we’re still doing this together as a team, then I’m here for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Heaven+has+a+bathrobe-clad+receptionist+named+Denise.+She%27s+helping+TikTok+grieve&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "What Happened ‘The Night of the 12th’? A Murder Remains a Mystery in This French Film",
"headTitle": "What Happened ‘The Night of the 12th’? A Murder Remains a Mystery in This French Film | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The world is a big, unruly, ambiguous place. Which helps explain the boundless appeal of murder mysteries. Whether it’s Hercule Poirot exercising his famous little grey brain cells or all those CSI teams extracting DNA samples, mysteries offer the reassurance of seeing the messy realities of life get sorted out. When the murderer is caught, we feel that order is, at least temporarily, restored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, in reality, things don’t always work out so happily. The reverberations of this fact rumble through \u003cem>The Night of the 12th\u003c/em>, a skillfully turned French crime picture that swept the César awards, the French version of the Oscars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Made by veteran director Dominik Moll, the movie is adapted from the work of Pauline Guéna who spent a year following members of the Paris police. Focusing on a single, real-life murder investigation she covers, Moll has created a film that keeps looking like the conventional police procedural that it actually isn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929046']The action has been transposed to the picturesque Alpine city of Grenoble, where a vibrant student named Clara is walking home one night when a faceless man steps out of the darkness and sets her on fire. As it happens, this takes place on the very day that a police officer named Yohan — played by a glum faced Bastien Bouillon — has taken over the local homicide squad. Along with his bearded older sidekick Marceau — terrifically played by Bouli Lanners — Yohan sets about doing what the police do in seemingly every cop show: examining the corpse, gathering forensic evidence, informing distraught loved-ones and questioning suspects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it happens there are a few, for Clara has had a series of sexual relationships with guys who weren’t really all that nice. These include a bartender who was cheating with her on his girlfriend, a rapper who has written a song about setting Clara on fire, and a convicted domestic abuser 20 years her senior. Yohan and his crew interrogate them all, but as time passes, Yohan grows increasingly haunted by his desire to bring Clara’s killer to justice. But we know something he doesn’t. You see, Moll has told us up front that 20% of French homicides never get solved, and that this case is one of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58s-pXvTQss\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, \u003cem>The Night of the 12th\u003c/em> belongs to the category of mysteries about the failure to solve a crime, a fascinating sub-genre that includes the great Sicilian police novels of Leonardo Sciascia, David Fincher’s film \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2007/03/02/7687059/obsession-drives-finchers-look-at-zodiac-killer\">\u003cem>Zodiac\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/12/10/785090210/parasite-director-bong-joon-ho-wanted-to-reflect-the-truth-of-current-times\">Bong Joon-ho\u003c/a>‘s \u003cem>Memories of Murder\u003c/em>, the best cop movie ever made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such stories replace the familiar satisfaction of seeing the murder solved with an exploration of the personal costs of failing to do so — guilt, obsession and a rending sense of futility, embodied in this film by Yohan, a dry, monk-like figure who constantly pedals his bike in furious circles around the local velodrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928883']Yohan’s not the only one with a feeling of futility. You sense the incessant grind of police work in all the members of his team, from the gallows humor with which they face the latest grisly sight to their reasonable complaints about broken equipment and endless paperwork. “We fight evil by writing reports,” says Marceau, a sensitive man who wanted to teach French literature but wound up as a cop who quotes the poet Verlaine and dreams of a different life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What makes this particular investigation so difficult is that, Yohan thinks, “Something is amiss between men and women.” Without ever hammering away at it, the story is a study in misogyny. Marked by sexual attitudes that run from contempt to crazed infatuation, any one of the suspects could’ve murdered Clara, who was killed, says her friend Nanie, simply because she was a girl. The suspects’ outlook finds an echo in the the joky, hypermasculine homicide squad, one of whom suggests that it’s not surprising that a young woman who keeps hooking up with bad boys might wind up getting killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, \u003cem>The Night of the 12th\u003c/em> is merely a solid movie not a great one, but it shows that French cinema — which has tended to lag in awareness about race and gender — is catching up with the ideas of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1131500833/me-too-harvey-weinstein-anniversary\">#MeToo\u003c/a> era. It suggests that what makes this murder case especially interesting is not whodunnit, but the sexual politics underlying the crime and the investigation. As the first female detective in Yohan’s division tells him, “Isn’t it weird that most crimes are committed by men and mostly men are supposed to solve them?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+happened+%27The+Night+of+the+12th%27%3F+A+murder+remains+a+mystery+in+this+French+film&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The world is a big, unruly, ambiguous place. Which helps explain the boundless appeal of murder mysteries. Whether it’s Hercule Poirot exercising his famous little grey brain cells or all those CSI teams extracting DNA samples, mysteries offer the reassurance of seeing the messy realities of life get sorted out. When the murderer is caught, we feel that order is, at least temporarily, restored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, in reality, things don’t always work out so happily. The reverberations of this fact rumble through \u003cem>The Night of the 12th\u003c/em>, a skillfully turned French crime picture that swept the César awards, the French version of the Oscars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Made by veteran director Dominik Moll, the movie is adapted from the work of Pauline Guéna who spent a year following members of the Paris police. Focusing on a single, real-life murder investigation she covers, Moll has created a film that keeps looking like the conventional police procedural that it actually isn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The action has been transposed to the picturesque Alpine city of Grenoble, where a vibrant student named Clara is walking home one night when a faceless man steps out of the darkness and sets her on fire. As it happens, this takes place on the very day that a police officer named Yohan — played by a glum faced Bastien Bouillon — has taken over the local homicide squad. Along with his bearded older sidekick Marceau — terrifically played by Bouli Lanners — Yohan sets about doing what the police do in seemingly every cop show: examining the corpse, gathering forensic evidence, informing distraught loved-ones and questioning suspects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it happens there are a few, for Clara has had a series of sexual relationships with guys who weren’t really all that nice. These include a bartender who was cheating with her on his girlfriend, a rapper who has written a song about setting Clara on fire, and a convicted domestic abuser 20 years her senior. Yohan and his crew interrogate them all, but as time passes, Yohan grows increasingly haunted by his desire to bring Clara’s killer to justice. But we know something he doesn’t. You see, Moll has told us up front that 20% of French homicides never get solved, and that this case is one of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/58s-pXvTQss'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/58s-pXvTQss'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Indeed, \u003cem>The Night of the 12th\u003c/em> belongs to the category of mysteries about the failure to solve a crime, a fascinating sub-genre that includes the great Sicilian police novels of Leonardo Sciascia, David Fincher’s film \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2007/03/02/7687059/obsession-drives-finchers-look-at-zodiac-killer\">\u003cem>Zodiac\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/12/10/785090210/parasite-director-bong-joon-ho-wanted-to-reflect-the-truth-of-current-times\">Bong Joon-ho\u003c/a>‘s \u003cem>Memories of Murder\u003c/em>, the best cop movie ever made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such stories replace the familiar satisfaction of seeing the murder solved with an exploration of the personal costs of failing to do so — guilt, obsession and a rending sense of futility, embodied in this film by Yohan, a dry, monk-like figure who constantly pedals his bike in furious circles around the local velodrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Yohan’s not the only one with a feeling of futility. You sense the incessant grind of police work in all the members of his team, from the gallows humor with which they face the latest grisly sight to their reasonable complaints about broken equipment and endless paperwork. “We fight evil by writing reports,” says Marceau, a sensitive man who wanted to teach French literature but wound up as a cop who quotes the poet Verlaine and dreams of a different life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What makes this particular investigation so difficult is that, Yohan thinks, “Something is amiss between men and women.” Without ever hammering away at it, the story is a study in misogyny. Marked by sexual attitudes that run from contempt to crazed infatuation, any one of the suspects could’ve murdered Clara, who was killed, says her friend Nanie, simply because she was a girl. The suspects’ outlook finds an echo in the the joky, hypermasculine homicide squad, one of whom suggests that it’s not surprising that a young woman who keeps hooking up with bad boys might wind up getting killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, \u003cem>The Night of the 12th\u003c/em> is merely a solid movie not a great one, but it shows that French cinema — which has tended to lag in awareness about race and gender — is catching up with the ideas of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1131500833/me-too-harvey-weinstein-anniversary\">#MeToo\u003c/a> era. It suggests that what makes this murder case especially interesting is not whodunnit, but the sexual politics underlying the crime and the investigation. As the first female detective in Yohan’s division tells him, “Isn’t it weird that most crimes are committed by men and mostly men are supposed to solve them?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+happened+%27The+Night+of+the+12th%27%3F+A+murder+remains+a+mystery+in+this+French+film&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "When Art You Love Was Made by ‘Monsters’: A Critic Lays Out the ‘Fan’s Dilemma’",
"headTitle": "When Art You Love Was Made by ‘Monsters’: A Critic Lays Out the ‘Fan’s Dilemma’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928975\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-800x1184.jpg\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a shirtless man standing on a beach wearing a horned mask.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-800x1184.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-1020x1510.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-160x237.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-768x1137.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-1038x1536.jpg 1038w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba.jpg 1206w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma,’ by Claire Dederer. \u003ccite>(Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last month, I gave a talk at a conference in honor of the late writer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2007/11/10/15573385/norman-mailer-author-and-social-critic-dies-at-84\">Norman Mailer\u003c/a>. When I mentioned this conference in class to my Georgetown students, a couple of them blurted out, “But, he stabbed his wife.” I could feel the mood in that classroom shifting: The students seemed puzzled, disappointed even. What was I doing speaking at a conference in honor of a man capable of such an act?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='forum_2010101892940']The situation was reversed at the conference itself: When I confessed in my talk that, much as I revere Mailer’s nonfiction writing, I was just as glad never to have met him, some audience members were taken aback, offended on Mailer’s behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Mailer’s writing had always been as bad as his \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/10/26/240289747/norman-mailer-warts-and-all-in-a-double-life\">sporadic behavior\u003c/a> there would be no problem. But as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892940/can-you-love-the-art-of-a-person-you-loathe\">Claire Dederer\u003c/a> points out in her superb new book, \u003cem>Monsters\u003c/em>, the problem arises when great art is made by men who’ve done bad things: men like Picasso, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/30/982637327/ken-burns-hemingway-docuseries-dives-into-the-writers-complicated-life\">Hemingway\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/07/18/1112004834/polanski-sex-case-sentencing\">Roman Polanski\u003c/a>, Miles Davis, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/03/06/812687472/after-woody-allens-memoir-was-signed-book-publisher-s-employees-walk-out\">Woody Allen\u003c/a> and, yes, Mailer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do we put blinders on and just focus on the work? Do geniuses, as Dederer asks, get a “hall pass” for their behavior? Or, do we “cancel” the art of men — and some women — who’ve done “monstrous” things?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hope that Dederer herself doesn’t turn out to be a monster because I flat-out admire her book and want to share it with my students. As a thinker, Dederer is smart, informed, nuanced and very funny. She started out as a film critic and credits Pauline Kael as a model for grounding her judgments in her own subjectivity, her own emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13923921']The subtitle of \u003cem>Monsters \u003c/em>is \u003cem>A Fan’s Dilemma\u003c/em>: the dilemma being still loving, say, the music of Wagner or \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/699995484/michael-jackson-a-quarter-century-of-sexual-abuse-allegations\">Michael Jackson\u003c/a>; still being caught up in movies like \u003cem>Chinatown\u003c/em> or maybe even \u003cem>Manhattan\u003c/em>. In short, Dederer wants to dive deep into the murk of being “unwilling to give up the work [of art you love], and [yet, also being] unwilling to look away from the stain [of the monster who created it].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1131500833/me-too-harvey-weinstein-anniversary\">#MeToo \u003c/a>movement propels this exploration but so, too, does our own social media, biography-saturated moment: “When I was young,” Dederer writes, “it was hard to find information about artists whose work I loved. Record albums and books appeared before us as if they had arrived after hurtling through space’s black reaches, unmoored from all context.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, however, “[w]e turn on \u003cem>Seinfeld\u003c/em>, and whether we want to or not, we think of Michael Richard’s racist rant … Biography used to be something you sought out, yearned for, actively pursued. Now it falls on your head all day long.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe you can hear in those quotes how alive Dederer’s own critical language is. She also frequently flings open the door of the stuffy seminar room, so to speak, to take her readers along on field trips: There’s a swank dinner in New York with an intimidating “man of letters” who, she says, likes to play the part, “ironically but not — ties and blazers and low-key misogyny and brown alcohol in a tumbler.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she expresses distaste for Allen’s \u003cem>Manhattan \u003c/em>normalizing a middle-aged man in a relationship with a 17-year-old he tells her to “Get over it. You really need to judge it strictly on aesthetics.” Dederer confesses to finding herself put off-balance in that conversation, doubting herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928256']We also march through a Picasso show at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the company of Dederer and her children. At the time, she says they “possessed the fierce moral sense to be found in teenagers and maniacs, [and] were starting to look a bit nettled” at the exhibit’s disclosures of Picasso’s abusive treatment of the women in his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So where does all this walking and talking and thinking and reacting get us on the issues of monsters and their art? Still in the murk, perhaps, but maybe buoyed up a bit by a sharp question Dederer tosses out in the middle of her book:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>What if criticism involves trusting our feelings — not just about the crime, which we deplore, but about the work we love.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do that we’ll have to think \u003cem>and \u003c/em>feel with much greater urgency and, yet, more care than we are currently doing. As Dederer suggests — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2011/11/03/140824540/a-critic-to-remember-pauline-kael-at-the-movies\">Pauline Kael \u003c/a>famously did — we should go ahead and lose it at the movies and then think hard about what we’ve lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=When+art+you+love+was+made+by+%27Monsters%27%3A+A+critic+lays+out+the+%27Fan%27s+Dilemma%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928975\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-800x1184.jpg\" alt=\"A book cover depicting a shirtless man standing on a beach wearing a horned mask.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-800x1184.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-1020x1510.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-160x237.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-768x1137.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba-1038x1536.jpg 1038w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/9780525655114_custom-6207346a1004c379f66a37b2236d641be08625ba.jpg 1206w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma,’ by Claire Dederer. \u003ccite>(Penguin Random House)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last month, I gave a talk at a conference in honor of the late writer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2007/11/10/15573385/norman-mailer-author-and-social-critic-dies-at-84\">Norman Mailer\u003c/a>. When I mentioned this conference in class to my Georgetown students, a couple of them blurted out, “But, he stabbed his wife.” I could feel the mood in that classroom shifting: The students seemed puzzled, disappointed even. What was I doing speaking at a conference in honor of a man capable of such an act?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The situation was reversed at the conference itself: When I confessed in my talk that, much as I revere Mailer’s nonfiction writing, I was just as glad never to have met him, some audience members were taken aback, offended on Mailer’s behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Mailer’s writing had always been as bad as his \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2013/10/26/240289747/norman-mailer-warts-and-all-in-a-double-life\">sporadic behavior\u003c/a> there would be no problem. But as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892940/can-you-love-the-art-of-a-person-you-loathe\">Claire Dederer\u003c/a> points out in her superb new book, \u003cem>Monsters\u003c/em>, the problem arises when great art is made by men who’ve done bad things: men like Picasso, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/30/982637327/ken-burns-hemingway-docuseries-dives-into-the-writers-complicated-life\">Hemingway\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/07/18/1112004834/polanski-sex-case-sentencing\">Roman Polanski\u003c/a>, Miles Davis, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/03/06/812687472/after-woody-allens-memoir-was-signed-book-publisher-s-employees-walk-out\">Woody Allen\u003c/a> and, yes, Mailer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do we put blinders on and just focus on the work? Do geniuses, as Dederer asks, get a “hall pass” for their behavior? Or, do we “cancel” the art of men — and some women — who’ve done “monstrous” things?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hope that Dederer herself doesn’t turn out to be a monster because I flat-out admire her book and want to share it with my students. As a thinker, Dederer is smart, informed, nuanced and very funny. She started out as a film critic and credits Pauline Kael as a model for grounding her judgments in her own subjectivity, her own emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The subtitle of \u003cem>Monsters \u003c/em>is \u003cem>A Fan’s Dilemma\u003c/em>: the dilemma being still loving, say, the music of Wagner or \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/699995484/michael-jackson-a-quarter-century-of-sexual-abuse-allegations\">Michael Jackson\u003c/a>; still being caught up in movies like \u003cem>Chinatown\u003c/em> or maybe even \u003cem>Manhattan\u003c/em>. In short, Dederer wants to dive deep into the murk of being “unwilling to give up the work [of art you love], and [yet, also being] unwilling to look away from the stain [of the monster who created it].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1131500833/me-too-harvey-weinstein-anniversary\">#MeToo \u003c/a>movement propels this exploration but so, too, does our own social media, biography-saturated moment: “When I was young,” Dederer writes, “it was hard to find information about artists whose work I loved. Record albums and books appeared before us as if they had arrived after hurtling through space’s black reaches, unmoored from all context.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, however, “[w]e turn on \u003cem>Seinfeld\u003c/em>, and whether we want to or not, we think of Michael Richard’s racist rant … Biography used to be something you sought out, yearned for, actively pursued. Now it falls on your head all day long.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe you can hear in those quotes how alive Dederer’s own critical language is. She also frequently flings open the door of the stuffy seminar room, so to speak, to take her readers along on field trips: There’s a swank dinner in New York with an intimidating “man of letters” who, she says, likes to play the part, “ironically but not — ties and blazers and low-key misogyny and brown alcohol in a tumbler.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she expresses distaste for Allen’s \u003cem>Manhattan \u003c/em>normalizing a middle-aged man in a relationship with a 17-year-old he tells her to “Get over it. You really need to judge it strictly on aesthetics.” Dederer confesses to finding herself put off-balance in that conversation, doubting herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We also march through a Picasso show at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the company of Dederer and her children. At the time, she says they “possessed the fierce moral sense to be found in teenagers and maniacs, [and] were starting to look a bit nettled” at the exhibit’s disclosures of Picasso’s abusive treatment of the women in his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So where does all this walking and talking and thinking and reacting get us on the issues of monsters and their art? Still in the murk, perhaps, but maybe buoyed up a bit by a sharp question Dederer tosses out in the middle of her book:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>What if criticism involves trusting our feelings — not just about the crime, which we deplore, but about the work we love.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To do that we’ll have to think \u003cem>and \u003c/em>feel with much greater urgency and, yet, more care than we are currently doing. As Dederer suggests — and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2011/11/03/140824540/a-critic-to-remember-pauline-kael-at-the-movies\">Pauline Kael \u003c/a>famously did — we should go ahead and lose it at the movies and then think hard about what we’ve lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=When+art+you+love+was+made+by+%27Monsters%27%3A+A+critic+lays+out+the+%27Fan%27s+Dilemma%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Sesame Street’ Introduces TJ, the Show’s First Filipino American Muppet",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928932\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13928932\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-800x1278.jpg\" alt=\"A brown muppet with brown hair and purple nose smiles and waves. He is wearing a yellow and brown hoodie.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-800x1278.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-1020x1630.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-160x256.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-768x1227.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-961x1536.jpg 961w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601-1282x2048.jpg 1282w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/sesame_tj-edit_custom-ea1d42d6b7b614975075659b24f5d6f09de5b601.jpg 1408w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">TJ is the first Filipino muppet on ‘Sesame Street.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sesame Workshop. Photographer: John Barrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sesame Street\u003c/em> has debuted TJ, its first Filipino muppet. TJ joins Ji-Young, the show’s first Asian American character, who was introduced in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/20/1057684571/puppeteer-discusses-the-newest-character-on-sesame-street\">special Thanksgiving episode\u003c/a> in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbjL8fNM1vE&ab_channel=SesameStreet\">segment of the children’s TV show\u003c/a>, TJ spends time with fellow muppets Ji-Young and Grover, and actor Kal Penn, who discusses the word of the day: confidence. “Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities, or in the abilities of others,” Penn explains.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pbjL8fNM1vE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pbjL8fNM1vE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>TJ then talks about his growing confidence while learning Tagalog, one of the main languages spoken in the Philippines. “I’m confident because I can always ask my \u003cem>lola\u003c/em> for help when I don’t know a word,” he says, using the Tagalog term for grandmother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Filipino American animator Bobby Pontillas collaborated with puppeteer Louis Mitchell to create the muppet. On Instagram, Pontillas shared concept artwork for the character, who he said was inspired by Max and Mateo, the children of lifelong friends. TJ is played by voice actor and puppeteer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr9MhK5OPLP/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D\">Yinan Shentu\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Rosemary Espina Palacios, Sesame Workshop’s director of talent outreach, inclusion and content development, also posted on Instagram about TJ’s debut, saying that his arrival came “just in time for API Heritage Month to show the range in our diaspora.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that she personally felt the topic of confidence could help “unravel the model minority stereotype.” The model minority is a persistent myth about Asian Americans’ collective, monolithic success. The stereotype ignores disparities within specific Asian ethnic groups and minimizes the role racism plays in the struggles of other minority groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Sesame+Street%27+introduces+TJ%2C+the+show%27s+first+Filipino+American+muppet&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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