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[aside postid='arts_13874000']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I was growing up—and I think still probably it’s the case now—in movies, getting women drunk to sleep with them, filling up their drink more than you’d fill your own, waiting at the end of the night to see who’s drunk at the club, girls waking up not knowing who’s in bed next to them—it was just comedy fodder,” Fennell says. “We live in a culture where this sort of stuff is normalized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennell got her start in television as an actor, then worked as the showrunner for the second season of\u003cem> Killing Eve. Promising Young Woman \u003c/em>is the first film she’s directed. The movie has been nominated for five Academy Awards, including best director and best original screenplay. 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Honestly, the volume, the sheer volume of these stories shows just how commonplace this stuff is. There’s nothing in this film that isn’t—and regrettably—incredibly normal and certainly was when I was growing up. And I think for anyone who thinks that these things weren’t horribly common, I think, probably never went to a party or a nightclub, or is kidding themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the character of Cassie\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a film about a woman who is trying to find a way forward in a very grief-stricken and angry way. And part of her journey, part of her means of coping is to present herself as incredibly functioning. Like a lot of addicts, I think, she is somewhat addicted to these nighttime excursions, which make her feel kind of fleetingly better. During the day, she wears a lot of pink. Her hair is always immaculate. Her nails are perfect—kind of whimsical pastels. She’s weaponized her femininity, not just in a kind of aggressive way, but as a defense. Like, she knows that people won’t ask too many questions of her if she hides in plain sight like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On why she wanted Cassie’s act of revenge to be scaring men rather than committing acts of violence \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think part of the film for me was taking a genre that I really love, which is the revenge thriller, and seeing if I could … use that structure, which we’re all so familiar with, but do something unexpected with it—and most importantly, do something that felt feasible to me and female, because I think so often in these kinds of films, and particularly when it pertains to violence, it is not feasible that a woman commits acts of violence against men in the night. It’s not a fair thing to expect. And I think this film is very clear about what happens if you were to try. I really started it by thinking: If I was going to go on a journey like this, what could I do? And if I couldn’t shoot a gun and I’m too unfit to kind of wrestle someone, what could I do to effect some kind of change or to punish people or frighten them? I could do what she does, which is scare them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On whether she sees a similarity between \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Killing Eve \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>and\u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong> Promising Young Woman,\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong> in terms of how they subvert expectations \u003c/strong>[aside postid='arts_13884214']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think, certainly, this sense of wickedness is something that it shares. Anything that gives you that laugh/gasp, sort of “No! Oh god. Yes!” is just always going to be such a fun space to be in. 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So that’s kind of the thing that was always interesting to me about Camilla, was that she’s actually very, very private. The Camilla that I was playing, there’s almost no footage, no photographs of her. … She was head girl of her school. She was incredibly popular. Everyone who’s met her from the research says she’s incredibly funny and kind and good fun, and I was just so interested in what happens to that kind of person when they get sucked into this world and then their biography is written for them by other people. I’m certainly not saying that having affairs is a good thing, but a lot of people do it, and it takes more than one person to do it, too. I went at it, to be honest, very much as a fiction. It’s just an amazingly genius drama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Thea Chaloner 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 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Emerald+Fennell%27s+%27Promising+Young+Woman%27+Doesn%27t+Let+Anyone+Off+The+Hook&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think, certainly, this sense of wickedness is something that it shares. Anything that gives you that laugh/gasp, sort of “No! Oh god. Yes!” is just always going to be such a fun space to be in. Absolutely, they’re both twists on genres, but I would say they’re both kind of quite different genres, and I’m always kind of quite careful not to make comparisons, just because I think also we do tend to make comparisons between female-led projects much more, just generally all of us as a kind of society. I do think of them as quite markedly different, but certainly, I think, they do share some sort of sense of macabre wickedness and a subversion of the feminine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On portraying Camilla Parker Bowles in the latest season of \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>The Crown \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I definitely don’t think of her as a villain. I think that increasingly what we’re realizing—and certainly on the show—is that anything that touches the royal family, anything that is part of that is so profoundly strange. It’s not like any other world. It’s not like any other family. The circumstances are just completely extraordinary. So that’s kind of the thing that was always interesting to me about Camilla, was that she’s actually very, very private. The Camilla that I was playing, there’s almost no footage, no photographs of her. … She was head girl of her school. She was incredibly popular. Everyone who’s met her from the research says she’s incredibly funny and kind and good fun, and I was just so interested in what happens to that kind of person when they get sucked into this world and then their biography is written for them by other people. I’m certainly not saying that having affairs is a good thing, but a lot of people do it, and it takes more than one person to do it, too. I went at it, to be honest, very much as a fiction. It’s just an amazingly genius drama.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'I Feel Like I'm an Olympian': Youn Yuh-jung on Her Historic Oscar Nomination",
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"content": "\u003cp>Youn Yuh-jung is an institution in Korean cinema. Her career spans five decades and includes starring roles in classic Korean films and famous TV dramas. Now, at 73, she has newfound fame in the U.S. for her role in the Oscar-nominated film \u003cem>Minari\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youn is nominated for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first South Korean woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has never happened in Korea, and I feel like I’m an Olympian competing for my country,” Youn tells NPR in a call from her home in Seoul. “It’s very stressful,” she says with a laugh. [aside postid='arts_13893138']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film \u003cem>Minari\u003c/em> centers around a Korean-American family that moves to rural Arkansas to start a new life on a farm. Youn plays Soonja, the grandmother who travels from South Korea to watch over her two young grandchildren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That character Soonja—she’s not a typical grandmother,” Youn says. Soonja is loving and lighthearted, but mischievous, too. She swears, watches pro wrestling, drinks Mountain Dew and shows her grandkids how to gamble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was a widow—a Korean War widow, a single mother and a working mother,” Youn says of her character. “She likes to have some fun because she’s been through a lot. She tries to comfort [her family].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soonja develops a special bond with her young grandson David, played by Alan Kim. But cultivating a relationship with him takes patience. In David’s mind, Soonja isn’t a “real” grandmother—she shares a room with him and never bakes him cookies. He accuses her of wearing men’s underwear. Soonja is unfazed. In one scene, she embraces him and looks into his eyes, saying, “Pretty boy, pretty boy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David interjects: “I’m not pretty, I’m good looking!” as he storms off into his bedroom. Soonja laughs, then turns back to the TV to watch the wrestling match.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ0gFidlro8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youn says the character Soonja holds a deeper meaning in her own life. While filming, she often thought about childhood memories of her great-grandmother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a heartbreaking story,” Youn says. “I was born in 1947, so I was maybe 3 when the Korean War started. And after the war, we didn’t have enough water, enough rice, nothing. My grandmother passed away during the wartime, and my great-grandmother happened to be alive until I was 9.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youn says her family had to ration supplies, and her great-grandmother would often re-use the family’s water. “To me, she was very dirty, or not hygienic. So, I didn’t like her at all. What a stupid thing [to think],” Youn says. “I didn’t like her because she’s not clean and she’d always say she’s not hungry. She would always skip lunch.” [aside postid='arts_13874634']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a child, Youn didn’t understand that her great-grandmother was skipping meals so her family could have more food. “I didn’t know that,” Youn says. “She never said, ‘I love you,’ but I realized, after I become 60 years old, all of a sudden I thought about my great-grandmother. Then I realized, ‘Oh, she was saving all the food and all the water for us. Every night, I prayed for her because I felt terrible,” she says. “I ask her for forgiveness, I was very ignorant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youn says she still lives with that guilt, but says playing the role of Soonja offered a chance to come to terms with her painful memories. “I really understood this script, deeply. It connected me. The script was very authentic and very real to me, and a very genuine story to me. It was very touching. So, I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it—without any condition.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27I+Feel+Like+I%27m+An+Olympian%27%3A+Youn+Yuh-jung+On+Her+Historic+Oscar+Nomination&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>Unfocused and overstuffed, the first four episodes of HBO’s \u003cem>The Nevers \u003c/em>provided to critics lack a sufficiently strong narrative backbone to support the surfeit of characters, subplots, themes and familiar storytelling tics thrown at the viewer. The series pairs all this tumult with a frustratingly incremental approach to disclosing What Is Really Going On; as a result, allegiances shift, plots twist and characters take actions for reasons we can only guess at—provided we’re willing to bother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those sudden reveals and reversals are meant to surprise and delight, of course. And maybe they would, if the show spent more energy attempting to get us invested in these characters and what happens to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the fourth episode, viewers who’ve paying close attention will have developed a working theory about Amalia True (Laura Donnelly), the leader of a rag-tag group of women in Victorian London who’ve been granted weird powers by a mysterious event. Amalia’s got the power to experience sudden ripples of the future, see. She’s also fond of the occasional donnybrook, and is an uncannily exceptional hand-to-hand fighter in a way that doesn’t seem connected to her particular power (her “turn,” in the show’s parlance). She’s also got a complicated past she doesn’t like to talk about, including a connection to another one of the “Touched” (others who acquired powers in the same event)—a murderous madwoman named Maladie (Amy Manson). Amalia’s taciturn about pretty much everything, in fact, except for her stated mission, which is to gather together the “Touched” (mostly women of lower station) at the orphanage she runs, so as to offer them protection from a populace growing increasingly hostile to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s more to it, and to her, and the conclusion of the fourth episode suggests that we’ll get to know Amalia’s whole deal in the two episodes that follow (HBO is dividing up \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em>‘ season into two six-episode chunks—the second of which has yet to be filmed, and does not yet have an air date). Potential viewers will have to make their own personal calculations to gauge their willingness to invest their time into a show so devoted to cultivating and perpetuating inessential mystery in lieu of clear storytelling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs-ODufnJ8Y\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not the only calculation they’ll have to make for themselves, either. \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em> was created by Joss Whedon; he wrote and directed the pilot, and directed the second episode as well. \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/ray-fisher-opens-up-about-justice-league-joss-whedon-and-warners-i-dont-believe-some-of-these-people-are-fit-for-leadership?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Actor Ray Fisher raised allegations about Whedon’s abusive behavior on the set of \u003cem>Justice League\u003c/em>; \u003cem>Buffy the Vampire Slayer\u003c/em>‘s Charisma Carpenter and others \u003c/a>have since added their voices to the mix. Whedon officially exited \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em> in November of last year; Philippa Goslett took over post-production and was named the series’ new showrunner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be interesting to see if the back half of this first season, which won’t involve Whedon, will be able to shake off the thick coating of familiar Whedony writerly tics weighing down these early episodes. To be clear, Whedon doesn’t own the patents on badass women, quippy dialogue, misogynistic villains, sudden character deaths, moony-yet-vicious serial killers or any of the other tropes that recur in his work. But as executed in \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em>, these factors slot too neatly into the well-worn grooves we’ve seen from him before. Easily the series’ most familiar, and most tiresome, component is Manson’s Maladie, who swings from giddy, throat-slicing malice to a childlike woundedness in precisely the way—using snippets of the same dialogue—that so many Whedon villains have done before her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The world-building, at least, is extensive, and it’s possible later episodes might benefit from having carved out so much narrative real estate, so many competing interests. But these early episodes are crowded with various factions and alliances whose motivations remain unclear; to accommodate them all, the series keeps checking in on them in scenes too brief to land with the weight they need to, and the series’ insistence on keeping its narrative cards so close to its vest means we often don’t know what we’re supposed to glean out of a given meeting or conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re willing to give \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em> a chance, it contains the potential to reward your patience, given the introduction of a clear and direct narrative infrastructure to help focus its—and our—attention. Whether that’ll happen, and if anyone will still be watching if it does, is anyone’s guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>The Nevers\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong> debuts on HBO at 9pmET on April 11.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27The+Nevers%27%3A+When+Steampunk+Gets+Foggy&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Unfocused and overstuffed, the first four episodes of HBO’s \u003cem>The Nevers \u003c/em>provided to critics lack a sufficiently strong narrative backbone to support the surfeit of characters, subplots, themes and familiar storytelling tics thrown at the viewer. The series pairs all this tumult with a frustratingly incremental approach to disclosing What Is Really Going On; as a result, allegiances shift, plots twist and characters take actions for reasons we can only guess at—provided we’re willing to bother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those sudden reveals and reversals are meant to surprise and delight, of course. And maybe they would, if the show spent more energy attempting to get us invested in these characters and what happens to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of the fourth episode, viewers who’ve paying close attention will have developed a working theory about Amalia True (Laura Donnelly), the leader of a rag-tag group of women in Victorian London who’ve been granted weird powers by a mysterious event. Amalia’s got the power to experience sudden ripples of the future, see. She’s also fond of the occasional donnybrook, and is an uncannily exceptional hand-to-hand fighter in a way that doesn’t seem connected to her particular power (her “turn,” in the show’s parlance). She’s also got a complicated past she doesn’t like to talk about, including a connection to another one of the “Touched” (others who acquired powers in the same event)—a murderous madwoman named Maladie (Amy Manson). Amalia’s taciturn about pretty much everything, in fact, except for her stated mission, which is to gather together the “Touched” (mostly women of lower station) at the orphanage she runs, so as to offer them protection from a populace growing increasingly hostile to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s more to it, and to her, and the conclusion of the fourth episode suggests that we’ll get to know Amalia’s whole deal in the two episodes that follow (HBO is dividing up \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em>‘ season into two six-episode chunks—the second of which has yet to be filmed, and does not yet have an air date). Potential viewers will have to make their own personal calculations to gauge their willingness to invest their time into a show so devoted to cultivating and perpetuating inessential mystery in lieu of clear storytelling.\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/gs-ODufnJ8Y'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/gs-ODufnJ8Y'\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>That’s not the only calculation they’ll have to make for themselves, either. \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em> was created by Joss Whedon; he wrote and directed the pilot, and directed the second episode as well. \u003ca href=\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/ray-fisher-opens-up-about-justice-league-joss-whedon-and-warners-i-dont-believe-some-of-these-people-are-fit-for-leadership?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Actor Ray Fisher raised allegations about Whedon’s abusive behavior on the set of \u003cem>Justice League\u003c/em>; \u003cem>Buffy the Vampire Slayer\u003c/em>‘s Charisma Carpenter and others \u003c/a>have since added their voices to the mix. Whedon officially exited \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em> in November of last year; Philippa Goslett took over post-production and was named the series’ new showrunner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It will be interesting to see if the back half of this first season, which won’t involve Whedon, will be able to shake off the thick coating of familiar Whedony writerly tics weighing down these early episodes. To be clear, Whedon doesn’t own the patents on badass women, quippy dialogue, misogynistic villains, sudden character deaths, moony-yet-vicious serial killers or any of the other tropes that recur in his work. But as executed in \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em>, these factors slot too neatly into the well-worn grooves we’ve seen from him before. Easily the series’ most familiar, and most tiresome, component is Manson’s Maladie, who swings from giddy, throat-slicing malice to a childlike woundedness in precisely the way—using snippets of the same dialogue—that so many Whedon villains have done before her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The world-building, at least, is extensive, and it’s possible later episodes might benefit from having carved out so much narrative real estate, so many competing interests. But these early episodes are crowded with various factions and alliances whose motivations remain unclear; to accommodate them all, the series keeps checking in on them in scenes too brief to land with the weight they need to, and the series’ insistence on keeping its narrative cards so close to its vest means we often don’t know what we’re supposed to glean out of a given meeting or conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re willing to give \u003cem>The Nevers\u003c/em> a chance, it contains the potential to reward your patience, given the introduction of a clear and direct narrative infrastructure to help focus its—and our—attention. Whether that’ll happen, and if anyone will still be watching if it does, is anyone’s guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>The Nevers\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong> debuts on HBO at 9pmET on April 11.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27The+Nevers%27%3A+When+Steampunk+Gets+Foggy&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Amazon's 'Them' is Drowning in Terror, Trauma and Too Many Ideas",
"headTitle": "Amazon’s ‘Them’ is Drowning in Terror, Trauma and Too Many Ideas | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Lately, everyone’s talking about trauma. Trauma in news form, trauma in essay form, trauma in Twitter thread form. In pop culture, creators are mining the depths of trauma both personal and historical in a variety of ways—documenting the testimonials of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969425823/allen-v-farrow-digs-deep-into-a-tale-of-celebrity-power-and-silence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">real-life victims\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/876348924/in-on-the-record-black-women-s-voices-get-a-needed-spotlight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shocking detail\u003c/a>; weaving harrowing experiences into \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/bojack-horseman-season-5-lisa-hanawalt-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fictional characters’ narratives\u003c/a>. In those fictional characterizations sometimes, the trauma is merely a plot point; at other times, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/01/21/958526533/the-agony-and-subversion-of-the-promising-young-woman-ending\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it \u003cem>is \u003c/em>the point\u003c/a>, or rather, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/07/871472968/i-may-destroy-you-is-hbo-s-new-unforgettable-unmissable-drama\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrestling with and processing of it\u003c/a> is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new Amazon series \u003cem>Them\u003c/em>, created by Little Marvin (Lena Waithe is one of the executive producers), has been billed as an anthology that “explores terror in America.” Terror, trauma … is there much difference between the two? Certainly not in this case, as the first season centers the Emorys, a Black family moving from rural North Carolina to the suburbs of East Compton, Calif., in 1953, back when East Compton was virtually all white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if you hadn’t already seen the much-discussed trailer, it would be easy enough to guess what said terror might entail based on that short description alone: Good ol’, mid-20th century American racism. (With a brief detour to the 19th century in a later episode.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More specifically, the terror/trauma depicted in \u003cem>Them \u003c/em>includes, but is not limited to: White characters spewing the N-word at Black people; white characters graphically assaulting, torturing, and (occasionally) murdering Black people; a creepy minstrel character rendered in blackface; filicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Of course\u003c/em>, the Emorys’ new neighbors in this cookie-cutter Pleasantville are the opposite of welcoming. Betty (Alison Pill)—a dissatisfied housewife who absolutely would have been front and center of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym8rdtq-KBE#t=01m10s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">angry white mob\u003c/a> that harassed the Little Rock Nine outside Central High School in Arkansas—leads the charge, rounding up the rest of the community to coordinate targeted attacks on the new family. Adding to these immediate threats is the fact that the Emorys—Lucky (Deborah Ayorinde), Henry (Ashley Thomas) and their daughters Ruby Lee (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Gracie Jean (Melody Hurd)—are already entering into this new environment carrying their own set of deeply unsettling emotional baggage. Because \u003cem>of course\u003c/em>; they are Black in America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL3Jz8fDgFI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Them\u003c/em> features an impressive array of filmmaking talent across 10 episodes, including Janicza Bravo (who’s directed, among other things, the excellent “Juneteenth” episode of \u003cem>Atlanta\u003c/em>) and notable horror director Ti West (\u003cem>The Innkeepers\u003c/em>). The performances are invigorating, particularly Ayorinde and Thomas, who are tasked with excavating the pain that comes from wounds both generational and directly personal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But baked into this production is the pesky, exhausting problem of “doing too much.” This is evident in the glut of needle-drops, many of them anachronistic, which clutter the storytelling and club the viewer over the head with their obviousness. When Lucky responds to one of Betty’s racist tirades by smacking her clear across the face (right after she politely asks little Gracie to hold her purse), James Brown’s electrifying “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=istJXUJJP0g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Payback\u003c/a>” kicks in for a hot second; yet the punctuation feels less like a triumphant nod to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCc99Gh-IEM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Foxy Brown\u003c/a> than it does a crass, intentional play for Black Twitter meme status. There are so many stylish music cues like this that early on it begins to seem as if the writers have relied on the likes of Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, and Isaac Hayes to do all of the heavy lifting to cover up the thin story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Them \u003c/em>is also drowning in terror and trauma, and little else. And that trauma and terror are so horrific, several episodes begin with content warnings of graphic violence. I’m not one who believes every piece of art depicting awful events needs such disclosure, but in this case, the producers made the correct choice; there are scenes involving Black pain and suffering so mortifying, I can imagine many viewers not being able to finish watching it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attention to the details of this suffering is chilling not necessarily because of what is depicted—there’s a time and place for such explicitness in the right creative hands—but because it’s depicted in service of a cynical mode of storytelling. Each of the Emorys are haunted by a demon corresponding to their individual life experiences, and through these spirits, one can see the makings of a potentially more interesting character study than what we’re given—a story using supernatural elements to tap into trauma within Black families with the richness and sharpness of a movie like Kasi Lemmons’ \u003cem>Eve’s Bayou\u003c/em> or, more recently, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYY0QJhlXjc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>His House\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the captivating haunted house tale about a South Sudanese refugee couple living in the U.K.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead it borrows from the playbook of last year’s unwieldly and exploitative \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/15/913246254/what-exactly-is-antebellum-trying-to-say\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Antebellum\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and shows like \u003cem>Westworld \u003c/em>and \u003cem>Lovecraft Country, \u003c/em>which favor slick convolution over coherent narrative choices\u003cem>. \u003c/em>There are So! Many! Ideas! And! Tones! being mashed up here, and to little effect. At one point the show diverts to a baffling hostage-in-a-bunker plotline for reasons that remain unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the full trailer for \u003cem>Them \u003c/em>dropped last month, the Twitter timeline was alit with commentary about how the show’s themes and aesthetic seemed to be \u003ca href=\"http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2021/3/23/us-against-them-amazon-series-roasted-as-ripoff-of-jordan-pe-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">biting from Jordan Peele\u003c/a>. Superficial similarities aside—the titles \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNCmb-4oXJA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Us\u003c/em>\u003c/a> vs. \u003cem>Them\u003c/em>; the casting of Shahadi Wright Joseph in both projects—such conclusions gloss over a few realities, such as the fact that Peele himself has always been vocal about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/article/get-out-oral-history-jordan-peele.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many films that inspired \u003cem>his own\u003c/em> work\u003c/a>. They also seem to misunderstand, or ignore, how genres fundamentally build upon and play with familiar elements and tropes. There’s as much standard horror stuff of the Stephen King variety in \u003cem>Them\u003c/em> as there is Peele’s influence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem, then, has less to do with parallels to \u003cem>Get Out \u003c/em>than the show’s inability to establish a reason to exist beyond the thesis of “Racism is terrorism, and it’s everywhere; in our entertainment, schools, workspaces, churches, homes.” It’s a fair starting point for telling a story (or teaching basic history), but it can’t be the \u003cem>only \u003c/em>point. By all means, wrestle with the real-life terrors that can come with Black homeownership, Black parenting, white women’s complicity in upholding racist infrastructure, and so on. But also bring more to the narrative in the way of inventive scares, characterization, or even, where appropriate, some levity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Them\u003c/em> suffers from the same predicament that has arisen in the wake of Black people becoming hashtags in death—the public knows far more about their last moments on Earth than all the moments that made up their life before. Viewers who make it through all 10 episodes will know plenty about how the Emorys have suffered and been traumatized, but they won’t come away with much else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Them \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>debuts on Amazon Prime on Friday, April 9.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Them%27%3A+The+Trauma%2C+The+Trauma&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Lately, everyone’s talking about trauma. Trauma in news form, trauma in essay form, trauma in Twitter thread form. In pop culture, creators are mining the depths of trauma both personal and historical in a variety of ways—documenting the testimonials of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/21/969425823/allen-v-farrow-digs-deep-into-a-tale-of-celebrity-power-and-silence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">real-life victims\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/876348924/in-on-the-record-black-women-s-voices-get-a-needed-spotlight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shocking detail\u003c/a>; weaving harrowing experiences into \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/bojack-horseman-season-5-lisa-hanawalt-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fictional characters’ narratives\u003c/a>. In those fictional characterizations sometimes, the trauma is merely a plot point; at other times, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/01/21/958526533/the-agony-and-subversion-of-the-promising-young-woman-ending\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it \u003cem>is \u003c/em>the point\u003c/a>, or rather, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/07/871472968/i-may-destroy-you-is-hbo-s-new-unforgettable-unmissable-drama\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrestling with and processing of it\u003c/a> is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new Amazon series \u003cem>Them\u003c/em>, created by Little Marvin (Lena Waithe is one of the executive producers), has been billed as an anthology that “explores terror in America.” Terror, trauma … is there much difference between the two? Certainly not in this case, as the first season centers the Emorys, a Black family moving from rural North Carolina to the suburbs of East Compton, Calif., in 1953, back when East Compton was virtually all white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if you hadn’t already seen the much-discussed trailer, it would be easy enough to guess what said terror might entail based on that short description alone: Good ol’, mid-20th century American racism. (With a brief detour to the 19th century in a later episode.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More specifically, the terror/trauma depicted in \u003cem>Them \u003c/em>includes, but is not limited to: White characters spewing the N-word at Black people; white characters graphically assaulting, torturing, and (occasionally) murdering Black people; a creepy minstrel character rendered in blackface; filicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Of course\u003c/em>, the Emorys’ new neighbors in this cookie-cutter Pleasantville are the opposite of welcoming. Betty (Alison Pill)—a dissatisfied housewife who absolutely would have been front and center of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym8rdtq-KBE#t=01m10s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">angry white mob\u003c/a> that harassed the Little Rock Nine outside Central High School in Arkansas—leads the charge, rounding up the rest of the community to coordinate targeted attacks on the new family. Adding to these immediate threats is the fact that the Emorys—Lucky (Deborah Ayorinde), Henry (Ashley Thomas) and their daughters Ruby Lee (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Gracie Jean (Melody Hurd)—are already entering into this new environment carrying their own set of deeply unsettling emotional baggage. Because \u003cem>of course\u003c/em>; they are Black in America.\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/WL3Jz8fDgFI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/WL3Jz8fDgFI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Them\u003c/em> features an impressive array of filmmaking talent across 10 episodes, including Janicza Bravo (who’s directed, among other things, the excellent “Juneteenth” episode of \u003cem>Atlanta\u003c/em>) and notable horror director Ti West (\u003cem>The Innkeepers\u003c/em>). The performances are invigorating, particularly Ayorinde and Thomas, who are tasked with excavating the pain that comes from wounds both generational and directly personal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But baked into this production is the pesky, exhausting problem of “doing too much.” This is evident in the glut of needle-drops, many of them anachronistic, which clutter the storytelling and club the viewer over the head with their obviousness. When Lucky responds to one of Betty’s racist tirades by smacking her clear across the face (right after she politely asks little Gracie to hold her purse), James Brown’s electrifying “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=istJXUJJP0g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Payback\u003c/a>” kicks in for a hot second; yet the punctuation feels less like a triumphant nod to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCc99Gh-IEM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Foxy Brown\u003c/a> than it does a crass, intentional play for Black Twitter meme status. There are so many stylish music cues like this that early on it begins to seem as if the writers have relied on the likes of Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, and Isaac Hayes to do all of the heavy lifting to cover up the thin story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Them \u003c/em>is also drowning in terror and trauma, and little else. And that trauma and terror are so horrific, several episodes begin with content warnings of graphic violence. I’m not one who believes every piece of art depicting awful events needs such disclosure, but in this case, the producers made the correct choice; there are scenes involving Black pain and suffering so mortifying, I can imagine many viewers not being able to finish watching it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attention to the details of this suffering is chilling not necessarily because of what is depicted—there’s a time and place for such explicitness in the right creative hands—but because it’s depicted in service of a cynical mode of storytelling. Each of the Emorys are haunted by a demon corresponding to their individual life experiences, and through these spirits, one can see the makings of a potentially more interesting character study than what we’re given—a story using supernatural elements to tap into trauma within Black families with the richness and sharpness of a movie like Kasi Lemmons’ \u003cem>Eve’s Bayou\u003c/em> or, more recently, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYY0QJhlXjc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>His House\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, the captivating haunted house tale about a South Sudanese refugee couple living in the U.K.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead it borrows from the playbook of last year’s unwieldly and exploitative \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/15/913246254/what-exactly-is-antebellum-trying-to-say\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Antebellum\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and shows like \u003cem>Westworld \u003c/em>and \u003cem>Lovecraft Country, \u003c/em>which favor slick convolution over coherent narrative choices\u003cem>. \u003c/em>There are So! Many! Ideas! And! Tones! being mashed up here, and to little effect. At one point the show diverts to a baffling hostage-in-a-bunker plotline for reasons that remain unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the full trailer for \u003cem>Them \u003c/em>dropped last month, the Twitter timeline was alit with commentary about how the show’s themes and aesthetic seemed to be \u003ca href=\"http://abcnewsradioonline.com/music-news/2021/3/23/us-against-them-amazon-series-roasted-as-ripoff-of-jordan-pe-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">biting from Jordan Peele\u003c/a>. Superficial similarities aside—the titles \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNCmb-4oXJA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Us\u003c/em>\u003c/a> vs. \u003cem>Them\u003c/em>; the casting of Shahadi Wright Joseph in both projects—such conclusions gloss over a few realities, such as the fact that Peele himself has always been vocal about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/article/get-out-oral-history-jordan-peele.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many films that inspired \u003cem>his own\u003c/em> work\u003c/a>. They also seem to misunderstand, or ignore, how genres fundamentally build upon and play with familiar elements and tropes. There’s as much standard horror stuff of the Stephen King variety in \u003cem>Them\u003c/em> as there is Peele’s influence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem, then, has less to do with parallels to \u003cem>Get Out \u003c/em>than the show’s inability to establish a reason to exist beyond the thesis of “Racism is terrorism, and it’s everywhere; in our entertainment, schools, workspaces, churches, homes.” It’s a fair starting point for telling a story (or teaching basic history), but it can’t be the \u003cem>only \u003c/em>point. By all means, wrestle with the real-life terrors that can come with Black homeownership, Black parenting, white women’s complicity in upholding racist infrastructure, and so on. But also bring more to the narrative in the way of inventive scares, characterization, or even, where appropriate, some levity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Them\u003c/em> suffers from the same predicament that has arisen in the wake of Black people becoming hashtags in death—the public knows far more about their last moments on Earth than all the moments that made up their life before. Viewers who make it through all 10 episodes will know plenty about how the Emorys have suffered and been traumatized, but they won’t come away with much else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Them \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong>debuts on Amazon Prime on Friday, April 9.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Them%27%3A+The+Trauma%2C+The+Trauma&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Dance Can Give Community': Twyla Tharp on Choreographing Through Lockdown",
"headTitle": "‘Dance Can Give Community’: Twyla Tharp on Choreographing Through Lockdown | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Neither the pandemic nor age can keep legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp from her work. During the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, Tharp, now 79, choreographed several dances through Zoom. One was with four dancers—each of whom was in a different time zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One dancer was in New York at noon. One dancer was on the West Coast before breakfast. One dancer was in Denmark five hours ahead, and one dancer was in St. Petersburg working through their dinner hour,” Tharp says. “Nothing was capable of keeping us from having community. And that’s what dance can give—dance can give community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the first time Tharp has worked in unusual conditions. In the 1960s, Tharp and her company of dancers performed in parks and malls, and on subway platforms and rooftops. “If it was kind of level, it was fair territory,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tharp went on to choreograph for Mikhail Baryshnikov, the Joffrey Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. She’s also collaborated with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/13/923258756/david-byrne-and-spike-lee-conjure-up-a-joyous-vision-of-american-utopia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Byrne \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15827020/billy-joel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billy Joel\u003c/a> on Broadway shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tharp is known for mixing ballet with other styles of dance: “I had always felt that one dancer should be able to dance across the line,” she says. “That is to say: When I started working in New York, you were either modern dancer, or you were a ballet dancer. I thought that was ridiculous, because I could be both a ballet dancer and a modern dancer, so shouldn’t everybody else be able to do that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tharp is the subject of \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/twyla-tharp-documentary/16724/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Twyla Moves,\u003c/em>\u003c/a> a new documentary by the PBS series, American Masters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYpeHbCEyCM\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview highlights \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On starting to dance as a small child\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started with music training both in piano and violin and percussion, and the dancing came after the fact. But on the other hand, my mother was a concert pianist and as a very tiny baby, I was going to her classes. And so I was always wiggling and then I could crawl and then I could sort of hop. So I’ve always been dancing to music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On what made her early choreography different from others \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think the first thing was to eliminate the idea of steps or styles—it was to get to fundamentals of movement. And we were looking for very common, [ordinary] shared modes of movement. By ordinary, I mean not extremely sophisticated in training folks might have, and then how could that be extended and become more challenging for us who had had the advantage of that kind of training. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was beginning, I wanted to go back to the very mechanics: You either start on the right side or the left side. You either coordinate in opposition to the forward moving leg or parallel to the forward moving legs. You’re either moving forwards or you’re moving backwards or laterally, side-to-side. All of these kinds of, really, engineering questions are [a] kind of launch point, because I didn’t want to take anything for granted. I wanted to feel as though my fundamentals were sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On performing dance without music \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music is much more comfortable for the general public than movement. I often say: Take one phrase of movement and put on happy music, [and] the audience thinks it’s a happy dance. Put on sad music and they’ll think it’s a sad dance, and the movement is exactly the same. So I wanted to try to see what the emotional resonance of movement was. What excited people? What was provocative? What would they register? Not all of those, but many visual questions were asked. And that wouldn’t have been possible with music, because music is so overpowering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On why she wanted to start an all-women dance company in 1966 \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think we knew there was a bias in the world of art across the board, whether it was music, painting, sculpture, literature [or] dance. And we wanted to fortify ourselves in such a way that we could put forth what we thought was our strongest suit. And our strongest suit was a lot of technique and a lot of incredible ensemble work, but also strong individual voices. … We all had singular qualities, and that was clearer if we were all women, than had a man been in the group, we would have been the women [and] he would … have been the man, and that would have become the distinctive, defining characteristic rather than the individual qualities of each human being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On wanting dancers with different body types in her company [aside postid='arts_13887871']\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to be inclusive, you need to have differentiation. So by having [different dancers who are] tall, short, classically trained, [without] classic training, [a] great athlete—all of these various qualities would redefine and give a three-dimensional quality to the work that obviously is lacking if there is a body type that is featured throughout the ensemble. One understands that need [for] fungibility in professional companies because if one dancer goes out, they want to be able to put another one in as directly and efficiently as possible and hopefully in the same costume. It’s all the bottom line, right? To me, that was not what dancing was about and it still isn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On choreographing men who didn’t want to be taught by a woman \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a very strong jumper. And I jumped higher, longer, than most of the men. So it was like, “OK, guys, let’s go.” That’s how I’ve basically always been able to work with men: through strength and by a kind of challenge. … But, you know, men can be very arrogant—we all can. … If they were given the opportunity to work around that bias, many of them would, and gratefully. I mean, you’ll see some male dancers in \u003cem>Deuce Coupe\u003c/em> … were doing kind of extraordinary things. I think they were glad to be asked to work in a different way, eventually. It took a little doing, perhaps. … A couple never came around, but that’s OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On what her body is capable of at age 79 \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This last year, with the pandemic and its disruptions in terms of routine, discipline, just ordinary day-to-day activities, the body doesn’t know itself at the moment. So I can’t tell you what I can ask it to do until I re-familiarize myself. And I’m in the process of doing that. … Whenever I’ve finished one of these big projects, I’m out of shape, and that’s just a given. So I’ve been in this position before, not at this age, but I know that it is a commitment to get back into shape. It’s not going to happen on its own accord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Seth Kelley 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 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Dance+Can+Give+Community%27%3A+Twyla+Tharp+On+Choreographing+Through+Lockdown&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Neither the pandemic nor age can keep legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp from her work. During the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, Tharp, now 79, choreographed several dances through Zoom. One was with four dancers—each of whom was in a different time zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One dancer was in New York at noon. One dancer was on the West Coast before breakfast. One dancer was in Denmark five hours ahead, and one dancer was in St. Petersburg working through their dinner hour,” Tharp says. “Nothing was capable of keeping us from having community. And that’s what dance can give—dance can give community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the first time Tharp has worked in unusual conditions. In the 1960s, Tharp and her company of dancers performed in parks and malls, and on subway platforms and rooftops. “If it was kind of level, it was fair territory,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tharp went on to choreograph for Mikhail Baryshnikov, the Joffrey Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. She’s also collaborated with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/10/13/923258756/david-byrne-and-spike-lee-conjure-up-a-joyous-vision-of-american-utopia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Byrne \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/artists/15827020/billy-joel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billy Joel\u003c/a> on Broadway shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tharp is known for mixing ballet with other styles of dance: “I had always felt that one dancer should be able to dance across the line,” she says. “That is to say: When I started working in New York, you were either modern dancer, or you were a ballet dancer. I thought that was ridiculous, because I could be both a ballet dancer and a modern dancer, so shouldn’t everybody else be able to do that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tharp is the subject of \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/twyla-tharp-documentary/16724/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Twyla Moves,\u003c/em>\u003c/a> a new documentary by the PBS series, American Masters.\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/pYpeHbCEyCM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pYpeHbCEyCM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview highlights \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On starting to dance as a small child\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started with music training both in piano and violin and percussion, and the dancing came after the fact. But on the other hand, my mother was a concert pianist and as a very tiny baby, I was going to her classes. And so I was always wiggling and then I could crawl and then I could sort of hop. So I’ve always been dancing to music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On what made her early choreography different from others \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think the first thing was to eliminate the idea of steps or styles—it was to get to fundamentals of movement. And we were looking for very common, [ordinary] shared modes of movement. By ordinary, I mean not extremely sophisticated in training folks might have, and then how could that be extended and become more challenging for us who had had the advantage of that kind of training. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was beginning, I wanted to go back to the very mechanics: You either start on the right side or the left side. You either coordinate in opposition to the forward moving leg or parallel to the forward moving legs. You’re either moving forwards or you’re moving backwards or laterally, side-to-side. All of these kinds of, really, engineering questions are [a] kind of launch point, because I didn’t want to take anything for granted. I wanted to feel as though my fundamentals were sound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On performing dance without music \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music is much more comfortable for the general public than movement. I often say: Take one phrase of movement and put on happy music, [and] the audience thinks it’s a happy dance. Put on sad music and they’ll think it’s a sad dance, and the movement is exactly the same. So I wanted to try to see what the emotional resonance of movement was. What excited people? What was provocative? What would they register? Not all of those, but many visual questions were asked. And that wouldn’t have been possible with music, because music is so overpowering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On why she wanted to start an all-women dance company in 1966 \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think we knew there was a bias in the world of art across the board, whether it was music, painting, sculpture, literature [or] dance. And we wanted to fortify ourselves in such a way that we could put forth what we thought was our strongest suit. And our strongest suit was a lot of technique and a lot of incredible ensemble work, but also strong individual voices. … We all had singular qualities, and that was clearer if we were all women, than had a man been in the group, we would have been the women [and] he would … have been the man, and that would have become the distinctive, defining characteristic rather than the individual qualities of each human being.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On wanting dancers with different body types in her company \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to be inclusive, you need to have differentiation. So by having [different dancers who are] tall, short, classically trained, [without] classic training, [a] great athlete—all of these various qualities would redefine and give a three-dimensional quality to the work that obviously is lacking if there is a body type that is featured throughout the ensemble. One understands that need [for] fungibility in professional companies because if one dancer goes out, they want to be able to put another one in as directly and efficiently as possible and hopefully in the same costume. It’s all the bottom line, right? To me, that was not what dancing was about and it still isn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On choreographing men who didn’t want to be taught by a woman \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a very strong jumper. And I jumped higher, longer, than most of the men. So it was like, “OK, guys, let’s go.” That’s how I’ve basically always been able to work with men: through strength and by a kind of challenge. … But, you know, men can be very arrogant—we all can. … If they were given the opportunity to work around that bias, many of them would, and gratefully. I mean, you’ll see some male dancers in \u003cem>Deuce Coupe\u003c/em> … were doing kind of extraordinary things. I think they were glad to be asked to work in a different way, eventually. It took a little doing, perhaps. … A couple never came around, but that’s OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On what her body is capable of at age 79 \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This last year, with the pandemic and its disruptions in terms of routine, discipline, just ordinary day-to-day activities, the body doesn’t know itself at the moment. So I can’t tell you what I can ask it to do until I re-familiarize myself. And I’m in the process of doing that. … Whenever I’ve finished one of these big projects, I’m out of shape, and that’s just a given. So I’ve been in this position before, not at this age, but I know that it is a commitment to get back into shape. It’s not going to happen on its own accord.\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 Seth Kelley 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 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Dance+Can+Give+Community%27%3A+Twyla+Tharp+On+Choreographing+Through+Lockdown&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The film \u003cem>Judas and the Black Messiah\u003c/em> has already made history at the Oscars. It’s the first Best Picture nominee with an all-Black producing team, which includes two Kings and a Coogler: Ryan Coogler, Shaka King and Charles D. King, who brings a new vision for Hollywood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King has always had an eye for spotting talent, and he knows diverse audiences are thirsty for their stories to be told in Hollywood. It’s why he created his own multiplatform company, called MACRO, “to focus on telling stories from and about people of color, ” he says. “There were just not enough of these types of movies.” [aside postid='arts_13892640']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King remembers the phone call he got from his good friend Ryan Coogler, whose superhero movie \u003cem>Black\u003c/em> \u003cem>Panther \u003c/em>was a hit. He says Coogler was ready to produce a film about a real life Black Panther leader. “He said, hey, there’s this incredible script written by Shaka King about Fred Hampton,” King recalls. “And I’d like to see if you and MACRO would be interested in collaborating on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were just blown away by the story,” he says, a story examining the work and life of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, and the FBI informant who infiltrated the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a producer, King helped develop the script for \u003cem>Judas and the Black Messiah\u003c/em>; he was on the set and he was intensely involved with the film’s release and marketing. Writer/director Shaka King says Charles King’s support was crucial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He committed 50 per cent of the budget before we even went out to a studio, which is incredibly rare, which also gave us just a certain level of autonomy,” says Shaka King. ” If he had put in less money, the studio would have had more control … I think one of the reasons [Charles] wanted to put up 50 per cent was because he wanted to make sure that I got to make the movie that I wanted to make, which was very generous of him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ivHf4ODMi4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King knows that representation matters. He was born in Harlem in 1969 and grew up in an Atlanta suburb, where his father was a pediatrician and his mother wrote novels and poetry. While studying political science at Vanderbilt, a friend suggested he become an entertainment lawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Growing up in Decatur, Georgia in a middle class family, I just didn’t know what an entertainment lawyer did,” he says. “But I watched this television show with my mother called \u003cem>L.A. Law\u003c/em>, and I remember there was this one Black character on the show played by Blair Underwood. He’s this charismatic African American attorney at the firm and he stood up for himself and he was just the man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King was inspired to study at Howard University School of Law. After graduating in 1997, he packed up a U-Haul truck and moved to Los Angeles with a few hundred dollars to his name. His ten-year plan to lead his own entertainment and media company began in the mailroom of the famed William Morris agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I looked at the agency world as as the perfect launching ground to get my feet wet, to build relationships, to understand the industry,” King says. [aside postid='arts_13892167']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even as a trainee in the mailroom, King brought in new clients, like hip-hop star Missy Elliot. He got to know the company’s CEO; he networked at conferences and wrote reports on cultural trends such as hip-hop, and on the viewing patterns and revenue potential of Black, Latino and Asian audiences. King moved up quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I got promoted, it was the first time in, I believe, 101 years, [for an] African American to go from the mailroom to film and television agent, at least in the Beverly Hills office,” says King. “I was very good at being an agent, and I broke tremendous ground. I became the first Black partner in the history of Hollywood when William Morris and Endeavor merged.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As an agent, King grew an impressive roster. Among his clients: Oprah, Janet Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Tyler Perry, who he signed before anyone else in Hollywood knew who he was. King introduced Perry to studio executives and got them to see Perry’s plays. King also helped set up a deal at Lionsgate for Perry’s first film, \u003cem>Diary of a Mad Black Woman\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone was like, oh, my God, I can’t believe this five million dollar movie made fifty million at box office and sold millions and millions and millions of DVDs,” he says. “And that was just the launch of this incredible franchise and business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King also helped Perry set up a new business model for syndicating TV projects, starting with \u003cem>Tyler Perry’s House of Payne\u003c/em>. With Perry’s lawyer, King structured what was called the “10-90” distribution deal, designed to maximize profitability: an arrangement where a network test runs ten episodes of a new television series. If it does well, the network then orders 90 more episodes and guarantees the entire 100-episode package will be sold for syndication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My nickname was 2005,” King recalls. That was the year, his fifth as an agent, he not only struck gold with Tyler Perry, but he also brought in filmmaker Craig Brewer, whose film \u003cem>Hustle and Flow\u003c/em> was a big seller at the Sundance Film Festival. King began repping the film’s star, Terrence Howard, who earned an Oscar nomination. And he began representing Prince.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King says as an African American man, he had to make ten times as many phone calls as his colleagues representing white movie stars and filmmakers. And he did a lot of educating about the value of diversity. [aside postid='arts_13819809']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The leaders at the top of William Morris and, frankly, the senior chairman level of a lot of the studios that I would interface with, they would usually get it,” King says. “A lot of times, you find it’s the people in the middle that are less visionary. And so, yeah, of course, there were moments where I would be discussing things or bringing up concepts and meetings and literally got laughed at. And then a few years later, I was running the meetings because I was generating ten times more revenue than they were.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, after nearly 20 years at William Morris, King took a leap of faith. He left the agency to create MACRO with his wife Stacey and a few partners. They launched a month before the #OscarsSoWhite movement began, and hit it out of the ballpark with the first film they produced, \u003cem>Fences\u003c/em>. The film’s star Denzel Washington earned an Oscar nomination, and co-star Viola Davis won Best Supporting Actress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj-ZYPVRQbc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Mary J. Blige was nominated for another MACRO film, \u003cem>Mudbound\u003c/em>. Since then, MACRO has produced other films, including \u003cem>Just Mercy\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Sorry to Bother You\u003c/em> and the series \u003cem>Gentefied\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Raising Dion\u003c/em>. Earlier this year, King’s company inked a first-look deal with Warner Brothers to develop and package features.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King says up to 70 per cent of his team leaders are women, and everyone at his company is encouraged to present ideas. He says MACRO’s mission is to present a new paradigm in the media landscape, to disrupt the way things have always been done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not just about building an entertainment and media brand that will be around for generations,” he says. “This is also about lifting culture. It’s about creating opportunity. It’s about making our world better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King says his empire in Hollywood has only just begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited for radio by Nina Gregory and adapted for the Web by Mandalit del Barco and Petra Mayer.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27This+Is+About+Lifting+Culture%2C%27+Says+History-Making+Producer+Charles+D.+King&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King remembers the phone call he got from his good friend Ryan Coogler, whose superhero movie \u003cem>Black\u003c/em> \u003cem>Panther \u003c/em>was a hit. He says Coogler was ready to produce a film about a real life Black Panther leader. “He said, hey, there’s this incredible script written by Shaka King about Fred Hampton,” King recalls. “And I’d like to see if you and MACRO would be interested in collaborating on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were just blown away by the story,” he says, a story examining the work and life of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, and the FBI informant who infiltrated the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a producer, King helped develop the script for \u003cem>Judas and the Black Messiah\u003c/em>; he was on the set and he was intensely involved with the film’s release and marketing. Writer/director Shaka King says Charles King’s support was crucial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He committed 50 per cent of the budget before we even went out to a studio, which is incredibly rare, which also gave us just a certain level of autonomy,” says Shaka King. ” If he had put in less money, the studio would have had more control … I think one of the reasons [Charles] wanted to put up 50 per cent was because he wanted to make sure that I got to make the movie that I wanted to make, which was very generous of him.”\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/6ivHf4ODMi4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/6ivHf4ODMi4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>King knows that representation matters. He was born in Harlem in 1969 and grew up in an Atlanta suburb, where his father was a pediatrician and his mother wrote novels and poetry. While studying political science at Vanderbilt, a friend suggested he become an entertainment lawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Growing up in Decatur, Georgia in a middle class family, I just didn’t know what an entertainment lawyer did,” he says. “But I watched this television show with my mother called \u003cem>L.A. Law\u003c/em>, and I remember there was this one Black character on the show played by Blair Underwood. He’s this charismatic African American attorney at the firm and he stood up for himself and he was just the man.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King was inspired to study at Howard University School of Law. After graduating in 1997, he packed up a U-Haul truck and moved to Los Angeles with a few hundred dollars to his name. His ten-year plan to lead his own entertainment and media company began in the mailroom of the famed William Morris agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I looked at the agency world as as the perfect launching ground to get my feet wet, to build relationships, to understand the industry,” King says. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited for radio by Nina Gregory and adapted for the Web by Mandalit del Barco and Petra Mayer.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27This+Is+About+Lifting+Culture%2C%27+Says+History-Making+Producer+Charles+D.+King&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Ruthless Ranking of the 25 Best Muppets, According to NPR Listeners",
"headTitle": "A Ruthless Ranking of the 25 Best Muppets, According to NPR Listeners | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When we asked our trusty \u003cem>Pop Culture Happy Hour\u003c/em> listeners to vote for the Best Muppet, we knew they’d come through. Over 18,000 votes were cast; over 150 different Muppets received votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. Some brave, beautiful, misguided soul voted for \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKSGF4Ufso8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">H. Ross Parrot\u003c/a>. As \u003cem>Best \u003c/em>Muppet. That is a thing that happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someone else—you can always count on PCHH listeners to bring the deep, \u003cem>deep \u003c/em>cuts—cast a single vote for\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bfdaR4xMeU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Delbert the La Choy Dragon\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But naturally enough, votes accreted around the Muppets with greater notoriety. (Sorry, Ma Otter, it’s not your time.) On Friday’s episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour, we reveal the top ten vote-getters, so stop reading now if you want to listen and be surprised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, though, we’ll tick off your top 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We established some ground rules, of course. Which made our daily PCHH Zoom call a place where the thorniest philosophical questions of our time were pondered: Should Statler and Waldorf be considered separately, or as a pair? What about Bert and Ernie? Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s where we landed:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Any Muppet from any property or era was eligible, including \u003cem>The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street, Labyrinth\u003c/em>, etc.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>We counted all variations of a Muppet character in a group. Thus, Gonzo the Great and Gonzo from \u003cem>Muppet Babies\u003c/em> both count as Gonzo.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Some Muppets were counted as a set, like Statler and Waldorf.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Others were counted individually, most notably Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, as well as Bert and Ernie. The Fraggles of \u003cem>Fraggle Rock\u003c/em> were also counted individually.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>We disqualified other puppets that are NOT Muppets, including Yoda (he’s really, really not a Muppet, guys, look it up) and the cast of \u003cem>Avenue Q\u003c/em>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>We also disqualified human actors in Muppet movies, like Jason Segel, Tim Curry, Michael Caine, and Charles Grodin.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>So here they are, the Top 25 Best Muppets, according to the discerning, and impassioned, Pop Culture Happy Hour audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>25. Count von Count\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ultimate Order Muppet. Nice to see the Count showing up here, repping \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>(he’s one of only 10 \u003cem>Sesame Street\u003c/em> Muppets to make the top 25, surprisingly enough). (Justice for Prairie Dawn, by the way.) He always scared the hell out of me — I didn’t care for those bats forever flitting around his widow’s peak, or for his ability to call forth thunder and lightning—but if you were a kid prone to obsessive behavior, you likely saw, in his compulsion to apportion the chaotic world around him into neat, quantitative chunks, a kindred spirit. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>24. Dr. Teeth \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It pleases me that this talented musician, he of the brightly decorated tour bus and the funkiest and furriest band, made it onto the list. Honestly, it took a while for me, as a young person, to truly appreciate the groovy greatness of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (one of the great band names). There’s a way in which the group calls gently to hippies, cool cats, and maybe even (gasp) stoners, that doesn’t matter to little kids but is a little bit funny when you’re older. Plus, particularly in \u003cem>The Muppet Movie\u003c/em>, Dr. Teeth is a key part of the winking, knowing, audience-acknowledging part of Muppet lore. He leads the band. He provides the hot tunes. The doctor is always in. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>23. Bert \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His saddle shoes. His paperclip collection. His love of pigeons, and of the letter W. His bold, if defiantly out-of-step sartorial sensibility (a turtleneck under a v-neck? Why not?) His embrace of rules and order. His simultaneous fondness for, and exasperation with, his less uptight other half. Let’s face it—Bert was the very first nerd millions of us ever encountered. With a thunderbolt of recognition, we saw ourselves in his pained glares, heard ourselves in his monotone staccato laughter. He showed millions the path to fully embrace—nay, to positively \u003cem>exalt \u003c/em>in—our dorkiest, most basic selves. Other nerds in mass media would come later, of course. But he was our first. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biAMh-xdvJc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>22. Elmo \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elmo gets a bad rap for the same reasons Barney the Dinosaur did at the height of his fame: Parents find him overly cloying and oversaturated. Ground Zero for this animosity has to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/12/25/573365529/remembering-that-must-have-toy-from-past-christmases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tickle Me Elmo\u003c/a>, of course. By the mid-’90s, I had graduated from the streets of sesame to the green slime of Nickelodeon, so I was a bit too old to get wrapped up in the craze, but I have vivid memories of the parodies and news reports of grown adults fighting each other to get their hands on the toy. And for a time, I had to live with one of those bad boys, courtesy of my little sister. (It was just as annoying and creepy as a toy can get.) Then came The Takeover a.k.a. the recurring segment “Elmo’s World,” and this furry monster—who refers to himself in the third Muppet—became inescapable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet… here he is, sliding into the Top 25 on this list, presumably voted on by adults rather than 5-year-olds who wouldn’t know any better. There are two reasons for this, I think. For one, if you were a millennial like myself, you probably have fewer negative memories of him than those who were exasperated parents or childcare workers at the time of Peak Elmo. But also, in this era of social media, Elmo remains one of the\u003ca href=\"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/elmo-rise\"> most\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://giphy.com/search/elmo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> memeable\u003c/a> of all Muppets. In fact, he’s transcended \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>to become arguably\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TheDillonOne/status/1376323244828024837\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> at his best\u003c/a> in meme form. That’s gotta count for something, I guess! — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>21. Scooter \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A late-’70s shortstop whose batting average generally hovered around .200, Mario Mendoza provides the origin point for the term “The Mendoza Line,” which refers to that hazy boundary separating “just good enough to stay employed” from “not good enough.” From this moment forward, let that line be renamed “The Scooter Line,” which separates the great Muppets—your Ernies, your Sams the Eagle, your Snuffleupagii—from, well, Elmo. (Note: This analogy falls apart when you scroll further up, because Bert, Dr. Teeth, and the Count are all awesome.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seriously, how did Scooter come in at No. 21? \u003cem>Scooter\u003c/em>?! The guy who only got his job at The Muppet Theatre because his uncle J.P. Grosse owned the venue? The guy whose signature catchphrase involved the number of seconds before actual entertainment was to take place? Is it because Scooter’s glasses double as his actual eyeballs? Is \u003cem>that\u003c/em> how we’re measuring quality these days? \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>20. Snuffleupagus\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Painfully shy. Soulful and sweet. With an eyelash game that Bianca Del Rio would envy. Snuffy began life as Big Bird’s best friend, whom the adults of Sesame Street considered imaginary. This frustrated Big Bird, but in their defense, Snuffy did tend to ditch Big Bird, suddenly, repeatedly, like Big Bird was Commissioner Gordon and Snuffy some kind of fuzzy pachydermic Batman. Eventually, the folks at Children’s Television Workshop realized that having adults roll their eyes at Big Bird’s stories of Snuffy maybe wasn’t sending kids, you know, the \u003cem>best \u003c/em>message? On YouTube you can watch the moment, in 1985, when the adults finally see Snuffy, and it? Is weird. And not a little sinister: Big Bird and Elmo conspire to trap Snuffy, forcing him to stick around (trigger warning: Elmo abuse), and when the adults finally apologize to Big Bird for doubting him all these years, he’s … kind of a jerk about it. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BtemfoJ-WI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>19. Sweetums\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People sometimes forget about Sweetums, which is consistent with the way he’s left behind in \u003cem>The Muppet Movie \u003c/em>and has to chase the group all the way to Hollywood. All he wants is to be included! All he wants is to be in the movie! He’s fundamentally a big lug with a heart of gold, and he could also protect you in the event of a bar fight. It seems only right that he and Snuffy are next to each other on this list, because they’re both big and furry, but Sweetums, for all his might of body and mildness of soul, plays a unique role in Muppet World. He represents the idea of the benevolent super-monster: the scary thing that’s less scary once you look at it up close. — \u003cem>Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>18. Ernie \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quite simply, Ernie should be much higher than this. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh85R-S-dh8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rubber Duckie\u003c/a>“! “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIq8jLj5TzU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon\u003c/a>“! The\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pigcahytIH8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> innocent chaos\u003c/a> he wields upon the uptight Bert! He’s a wild one, but he’s also incredibly endearing; why else would Bert put up with this madness for so many years? Surely he’s earned enough \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>royalties at this point to be able to afford a studio apartment for himself, yet he knows—and we all know—that Ernie is a lovable sweetheart who just wants to enjoy life. #JusticeforErnie. — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>17. Sam the Eagle\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d have liked to see Sam roosting in a higher perch on this list, but apparently not all of us so deeply empathize with the big, dour lug. It’s not his politics we identify with, necessarily, nor his default moral outrage. No, some of us just respond to his whole vibe, which I will herewith attempt to distill to its essence: I never know what’s going on, and I never understand what anyone’s talking about, but if I did? I wouldn’t like it. —\u003cem> Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>16. Pepe the King Prawn \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some might scoff at the presence of Pepe on any list of Greatest Muppets. Not me, though I’m admittedly surprised this Spanish lothario was able to find his way into the Top 25, and above the likes of Bert and Ernie to boot. Maybe it’s all those years serving as the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPu841BmOs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spokes-shrimp\u003c/a>” for the fast-food chain Long John Silver’s? Or perhaps it’s because he was\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/culture/2015/11/pepe-the-king-prawn-on-the-muppets-is-the-best-part-of-the-disappointing-new-show-video.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> the best thing\u003c/a> about that ill-advised primetime sitcom \u003cem>The Muppets\u003c/em>? — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>15. Janice \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fer sure, yes, this ranking makes sense. I’m convinced we all wish we could be just a little bit like Janice: kind of aloof to everything going on around her, and thus eternally chill. — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRgNW1Xp-JI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>14. Big Bird \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a lot of us—especially if we were pre-Elmo kids—Big Bird was one of the founding Muppets of our minds, even though unlike most of the group, he walked around on two legs. There’s something about his name, Big Bird, that speaks profoundly to how sweet and simple the connection is between little kids and this naive, sometimes confused soul. He’s just this… really Big Bird. He walked a lot of kids through their first \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxlj4Tk83xQ&ab_channel=TVBumpersCommercials\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">experience with death\u003c/a> when Mr. Hooper died, and he eventually demonstrated that he had been right all along about his very real, very mammoth friend Snuffy. Trust in Big Bird. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>13. Oscar the Grouch \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of what happened on \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>was upbeat and colorful. So there’s something so delightfully rebellious and brilliant about the inclusion of a grungy, curmudgeonly green monster who literally lives in a garbage can and sings \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxgWHzMvXOY&ab_channel=SesameStreet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“I Love Trash.”\u003c/a> It’s great to show the power of hugs, but it might be just as important to underscore that not everyone is a hugger, and you can make a guy part of your community even though he doesn’t give you a lot to work with. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxgWHzMvXOY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>12. Rizzo the Rat \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I suspect that Rizzo landed this high—above Big Bird!—thanks to millennials whose Muppet references are more about the later films like \u003cem>Muppet Treasure Island \u003c/em>and \u003cem>The Muppet Christmas Carol\u003c/em> than they are about \u003cem>The Muppet Show\u003c/em>, where Rizzo showed up fairly late in the series run as the leader of a gang of rats running wild in the theater. Rizzo started out small but went on to pop up in several of the films, always retaining his identity as a somewhat sketchy but basically decent pal, especially to Gonzo. I’m not so much a Rizzo girl myself, but to all of you who are: I respect your dedication to this little rat. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>11. Cookie Monster\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amazing thing about Cookie Monster is that he never ate a cookie. All Cookie Monster does is mouth the cookie until it flies into pieces. What Cookie Monster is about is the \u003cem>desire\u003c/em> for the cookie. The \u003cem>passion\u003c/em> for the cookie. The \u003cem>thrill\u003c/em> of the cookie. In this way, Cookie Monster is a perfect encapsulation of the preschool id: hungry, needy, hyper, and eternally hopeful that this time, there will be a snack. He should really be in the top ten, you guys. Even if only for \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8mB6VsUHw&ab_channel=SesameStreet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“C Is For Cookie.”\u003c/a> — \u003cem>Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>10. Statler and Waldorf\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was inevitable so many would vote for this curmudgeonly duo because they represent the viewer’s id so explicitly.\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mreHiXkWB-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Why do they always come here\u003c/a>? I guess we’ll never know. But we are all Statler & Waldorf—sitting in that balcony while cracking wise at all those corny puns—and Statler & Waldorf are us. — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14njUwJUg1I\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>9. Swedish Chef \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many Muppets contain multitudes; Swedish Chef does not. He’s your classic Chaos Muppet—all \u003cem>hurr-guh-durr\u003c/em> and knives sticking into walls and fish flying to and fro, with human hands, no less, and without your romantic subplots or hazy origin stories or bittersweet pining for adventure and meaning. He’s the hilarious, Muppety, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1hL9cn7s0&ab_channel=TheGilsonStation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Bork! Bork! Bork!”\u003c/a> embodiment of what every little kid wants to be doing in the kitchen at all times. \u003cem>— Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>8. Miss Piggy\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who among the Muppets can say that they’ve been presented with an award for being a feminist trailblazer while being \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biyv8kmKwEE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interviewed by Gloria Steinem\u003c/a>? Heck, who among us \u003cem>humans \u003c/em>can say they’ve been so honored? Well, Miss Piggy can. Because she is the epitome of chutzpah, glamour, and narciss\u003cem>—\u003c/em>er, self-confidence. I truly hope this most fabulous swine doesn’t get wind of our list, because the last thing we’d want is an angry email (or\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkFHdbpVpC8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> karate chop\u003c/a>) from her publicist for not having ranked her higher. Piggy should at least crack the top five of Greatest Muppets, “\u003cem>moi\u003c/em>” who has given us one of culture’s most storied\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2DELDQAXT8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> on-again/off-again romances\u003c/a>; this\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbbNHyjgjw4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> amazingly awkward Larry King interview\u003c/a>; and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK52qGcpdzo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Snackersize\u003c/a>.” — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>7. Fozzie Bear \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fozzie Bear’s dreams of comedic greatness are unattainable, his optimism smacks of desperation and delusion, his jokes (such as they are) exist mostly to provide opportunities for Statler and Waldorf to perform windmill dunks at his expense, and his signature catchphrase (“wocka wocka wocka!”) is a tragic cry for validation. He’s all sweaty effort, all the time, in that way that so many of us get when we’re pursuing the acceptance of others. So how do you make Fozzie lovable without also making him… deeply sad?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The secret lies, at least in part, in the aforementioned optimism: Fozzie is a dreamer, and a sweetly soulful one at that. If you can’t be great, being liked is a hell of a consolation prize. \u003cem>— Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>6. Grover \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d have thought everyone’s lovable furry pal would have made the Top 5 easy, but this is still a perfectly respectable showing. What’s not to love? He’s cute and he knows it, but there’s so much more to him than that. He’s put in time in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIucCUyZF0g&ab_channel=SesameStreet\">food-service industry\u003c/a> (relatable!), he’s gotten his cardio in teaching us the difference between near and far (selfless!), and he’s also, not for nothing, a superhero. And if all that weren’t enough, his masterwork, \u003cem>The Monster at the End of This Book\u003c/em>, introduced successive generations to poststructuralist metanarrative; he’s a li’l fuzzy blue Michel Foucault, is what he is. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIucCUyZF0g\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. Rowlf\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The people have spoken; the people are wrong. Both of these things can be true. Come on, Rowlf in \u003cem>fifth \u003c/em>place? Below the jamoke at No. 4? The one-note placeholder at No. 3? Pshaw. Rowlf belongs atop this chart, bestriding it like a fuzzy brown floppy-eared Colossus, for several(!) manifold(!) \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/29/982279931/our-favorite-muppets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reasons I enumerated on our “Favorite Muppets” \u003c/a>episode, but essentially: He rejects and transcends the reductive Chaos Muppet/Order Muppet binary. He can often seem like the only adult in the room (and when Kermit is in said room, that’s saying something), but his vibe is different from that of the frog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where Kermit is always a real Dr. Buzzkill, a square, a narc, Rowlf is part of the game. He’s preternaturally chill; he can hang. Add that to the fact that \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ7nowJ87HU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with numbers like “You and I and George,” in which he mixes humorous stories with song\u003c/a>, he’s bringing cabaret to the children. That’s iconic, that’s queer energy; Rowlf is the best Muppet, hands down, paws up. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Beaker \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Yiddish words \u003cem>schlemiel\u003c/em> and \u003cem>schlimazel\u003c/em> aren’t just colorful language we remember from \u003cem>Laverne & Shirley\u003c/em> reruns; they’re also deeply useful phrases used to signify oafish incompetence and a tendency to encounter misfortune, respectively. The general device folks use to tell the words apart is that a schlemiel is the waiter spilling the soup in your lap (Grover, perhaps?) and a schlimazel is the unfortunate soul onto whom that soup is spilled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poor, pitiful, shrieking Beaker is \u003cem>The Muppet Show\u003c/em>‘s great schlimazel—and thus a vessel through which we could compartmentalize the most put-upon moments of our youth. We’d come home from a school day in which our lunch tray got knocked out of our hands, or maybe we racked ourselves sliding down that awful rope in gym class, and there was Beaker, embodying our awkwardness, our victimhood and our pain alongside Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, himself an avatar for an unfeeling God. \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Animal \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No Muppet captures pure Muppet-ness quite like Animal. The drummer for the Electric Mayhem is really just a skinny body topped with a head like a pink firework, the long hair (fur?) blossoming from his head above a single heavy, dark, fluttering eyebrow. All he has to work with is his giant mouth and that line of eyebrows, and yet you can tell when he’s happy or excited (which is usually) or disappointed (sometimes) or exhausted (he’s the Muppet most likely to pant). Given to phrases like “That’s my kind of woman” and “eat drums,” Animal can’t really be called a sophisticate. But perhaps his function is to remind us that there is a place for a pure, growling… well, animal. And if you’ve never seen him accompany \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_IpgKzy75E&ab_channel=till90s\">Rita Moreno’s rendition of “Fever,”\u003c/a> I have to tell you that you’re really missing out. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_IpgKzy75E\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Gonzo\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who’s ever felt like a weirdo or an “other”—or, to quote \u003cem>The Great Muppet Caper\u003c/em>, a “whatever”—knows where Gonzo is coming from, even if his own origin story has been circuitous and slow to unfold. A dapper Chaos Muppet capable of bearing serious emotional weight, Gonzo is an entertainer \u003cem>and\u003c/em> an artiste: an avant-garde daredevil whose act might cite poetry or shoot him out of a cannon, or somehow combine the two. He’s also, like our listeners’ No. 1 Muppet, a serious romantic leading man—just ask the chickens. \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Kermit\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, it’s hard—and uncouth—to rank our friends. But if one of your friends ran a hit TV show, starred in a string of successful movies, stormed the pop charts with a song \u003ca href=\"https://www.nme.com/news/music/library-of-congress-to-add-kermit-the-frogs-the-rainbow-connection-to-archives-of-important-recordings-2907621\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">so indelible\u003c/a> it just got named to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, and launched memes that came to signify everything from unbridled enthusiasm to \u003ca href=\"https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-the-kermit-sipping-tea-meme-a-history-of-this-muppets-shade-69015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">staying above the fray\u003c/a>, you’d be pretty psyched about that friend, no?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A model of spare and efficient design, Kermit the Frog is a wonder of unadorned expressiveness, with a face that can speak volumes and spark laughter through the simple clenching and curling of fingers. The guy has it all: He’s a leading man and lust object (to Miss Piggy, at least), an exasperated workhorse who toils to keep the lights on, an earnest striver who pines for a place in the world. He’s an avatar of gentle grace; of goodness; of weary bafflement. He’s our friend. \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13895141\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/1634675a_wide-484c99bff19d9c85263dab0f0b46a73539252fec-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Kermit the Frog in 'The Muppets Take Manhattan.' Kermit has been in a class of his own since many of us were itty bitty babies. Maybe even longer.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seen here in ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan,’ Kermit the Frog has been in a class of his own since many of us were itty bitty babies. Maybe even longer. \u003ccite>(Moviestore/Shutterstock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+Ruthless+Ranking+Of+The+25+Best+Muppets%2C+According+To+Listeners&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When we asked our trusty \u003cem>Pop Culture Happy Hour\u003c/em> listeners to vote for the Best Muppet, we knew they’d come through. Over 18,000 votes were cast; over 150 different Muppets received votes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. Some brave, beautiful, misguided soul voted for \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKSGF4Ufso8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">H. Ross Parrot\u003c/a>. As \u003cem>Best \u003c/em>Muppet. That is a thing that happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someone else—you can always count on PCHH listeners to bring the deep, \u003cem>deep \u003c/em>cuts—cast a single vote for\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bfdaR4xMeU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Delbert the La Choy Dragon\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But naturally enough, votes accreted around the Muppets with greater notoriety. (Sorry, Ma Otter, it’s not your time.) On Friday’s episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour, we reveal the top ten vote-getters, so stop reading now if you want to listen and be surprised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here, though, we’ll tick off your top 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We established some ground rules, of course. Which made our daily PCHH Zoom call a place where the thorniest philosophical questions of our time were pondered: Should Statler and Waldorf be considered separately, or as a pair? What about Bert and Ernie? Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s where we landed:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Any Muppet from any property or era was eligible, including \u003cem>The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street, Labyrinth\u003c/em>, etc.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>We counted all variations of a Muppet character in a group. Thus, Gonzo the Great and Gonzo from \u003cem>Muppet Babies\u003c/em> both count as Gonzo.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Some Muppets were counted as a set, like Statler and Waldorf.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Others were counted individually, most notably Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, as well as Bert and Ernie. The Fraggles of \u003cem>Fraggle Rock\u003c/em> were also counted individually.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>We disqualified other puppets that are NOT Muppets, including Yoda (he’s really, really not a Muppet, guys, look it up) and the cast of \u003cem>Avenue Q\u003c/em>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>We also disqualified human actors in Muppet movies, like Jason Segel, Tim Curry, Michael Caine, and Charles Grodin.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>So here they are, the Top 25 Best Muppets, according to the discerning, and impassioned, Pop Culture Happy Hour audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>25. Count von Count\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ultimate Order Muppet. Nice to see the Count showing up here, repping \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>(he’s one of only 10 \u003cem>Sesame Street\u003c/em> Muppets to make the top 25, surprisingly enough). (Justice for Prairie Dawn, by the way.) He always scared the hell out of me — I didn’t care for those bats forever flitting around his widow’s peak, or for his ability to call forth thunder and lightning—but if you were a kid prone to obsessive behavior, you likely saw, in his compulsion to apportion the chaotic world around him into neat, quantitative chunks, a kindred spirit. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>24. Dr. Teeth \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It pleases me that this talented musician, he of the brightly decorated tour bus and the funkiest and furriest band, made it onto the list. Honestly, it took a while for me, as a young person, to truly appreciate the groovy greatness of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (one of the great band names). There’s a way in which the group calls gently to hippies, cool cats, and maybe even (gasp) stoners, that doesn’t matter to little kids but is a little bit funny when you’re older. Plus, particularly in \u003cem>The Muppet Movie\u003c/em>, Dr. Teeth is a key part of the winking, knowing, audience-acknowledging part of Muppet lore. He leads the band. He provides the hot tunes. The doctor is always in. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>23. Bert \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His saddle shoes. His paperclip collection. His love of pigeons, and of the letter W. His bold, if defiantly out-of-step sartorial sensibility (a turtleneck under a v-neck? Why not?) His embrace of rules and order. His simultaneous fondness for, and exasperation with, his less uptight other half. Let’s face it—Bert was the very first nerd millions of us ever encountered. With a thunderbolt of recognition, we saw ourselves in his pained glares, heard ourselves in his monotone staccato laughter. He showed millions the path to fully embrace—nay, to positively \u003cem>exalt \u003c/em>in—our dorkiest, most basic selves. Other nerds in mass media would come later, of course. But he was our first. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\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/biAMh-xdvJc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/biAMh-xdvJc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>22. Elmo \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elmo gets a bad rap for the same reasons Barney the Dinosaur did at the height of his fame: Parents find him overly cloying and oversaturated. Ground Zero for this animosity has to be \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/12/25/573365529/remembering-that-must-have-toy-from-past-christmases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tickle Me Elmo\u003c/a>, of course. By the mid-’90s, I had graduated from the streets of sesame to the green slime of Nickelodeon, so I was a bit too old to get wrapped up in the craze, but I have vivid memories of the parodies and news reports of grown adults fighting each other to get their hands on the toy. And for a time, I had to live with one of those bad boys, courtesy of my little sister. (It was just as annoying and creepy as a toy can get.) Then came The Takeover a.k.a. the recurring segment “Elmo’s World,” and this furry monster—who refers to himself in the third Muppet—became inescapable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet… here he is, sliding into the Top 25 on this list, presumably voted on by adults rather than 5-year-olds who wouldn’t know any better. There are two reasons for this, I think. For one, if you were a millennial like myself, you probably have fewer negative memories of him than those who were exasperated parents or childcare workers at the time of Peak Elmo. But also, in this era of social media, Elmo remains one of the\u003ca href=\"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/elmo-rise\"> most\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://giphy.com/search/elmo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> memeable\u003c/a> of all Muppets. In fact, he’s transcended \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>to become arguably\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TheDillonOne/status/1376323244828024837\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> at his best\u003c/a> in meme form. That’s gotta count for something, I guess! — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>21. Scooter \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A late-’70s shortstop whose batting average generally hovered around .200, Mario Mendoza provides the origin point for the term “The Mendoza Line,” which refers to that hazy boundary separating “just good enough to stay employed” from “not good enough.” From this moment forward, let that line be renamed “The Scooter Line,” which separates the great Muppets—your Ernies, your Sams the Eagle, your Snuffleupagii—from, well, Elmo. (Note: This analogy falls apart when you scroll further up, because Bert, Dr. Teeth, and the Count are all awesome.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seriously, how did Scooter come in at No. 21? \u003cem>Scooter\u003c/em>?! The guy who only got his job at The Muppet Theatre because his uncle J.P. Grosse owned the venue? The guy whose signature catchphrase involved the number of seconds before actual entertainment was to take place? Is it because Scooter’s glasses double as his actual eyeballs? Is \u003cem>that\u003c/em> how we’re measuring quality these days? \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>20. Snuffleupagus\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Painfully shy. Soulful and sweet. With an eyelash game that Bianca Del Rio would envy. Snuffy began life as Big Bird’s best friend, whom the adults of Sesame Street considered imaginary. This frustrated Big Bird, but in their defense, Snuffy did tend to ditch Big Bird, suddenly, repeatedly, like Big Bird was Commissioner Gordon and Snuffy some kind of fuzzy pachydermic Batman. Eventually, the folks at Children’s Television Workshop realized that having adults roll their eyes at Big Bird’s stories of Snuffy maybe wasn’t sending kids, you know, the \u003cem>best \u003c/em>message? On YouTube you can watch the moment, in 1985, when the adults finally see Snuffy, and it? Is weird. And not a little sinister: Big Bird and Elmo conspire to trap Snuffy, forcing him to stick around (trigger warning: Elmo abuse), and when the adults finally apologize to Big Bird for doubting him all these years, he’s … kind of a jerk about it. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\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/_BtemfoJ-WI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/_BtemfoJ-WI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>19. Sweetums\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People sometimes forget about Sweetums, which is consistent with the way he’s left behind in \u003cem>The Muppet Movie \u003c/em>and has to chase the group all the way to Hollywood. All he wants is to be included! All he wants is to be in the movie! He’s fundamentally a big lug with a heart of gold, and he could also protect you in the event of a bar fight. It seems only right that he and Snuffy are next to each other on this list, because they’re both big and furry, but Sweetums, for all his might of body and mildness of soul, plays a unique role in Muppet World. He represents the idea of the benevolent super-monster: the scary thing that’s less scary once you look at it up close. — \u003cem>Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>18. Ernie \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quite simply, Ernie should be much higher than this. “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh85R-S-dh8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rubber Duckie\u003c/a>“! “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIq8jLj5TzU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon\u003c/a>“! The\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pigcahytIH8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> innocent chaos\u003c/a> he wields upon the uptight Bert! He’s a wild one, but he’s also incredibly endearing; why else would Bert put up with this madness for so many years? Surely he’s earned enough \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>royalties at this point to be able to afford a studio apartment for himself, yet he knows—and we all know—that Ernie is a lovable sweetheart who just wants to enjoy life. #JusticeforErnie. — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>17. Sam the Eagle\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d have liked to see Sam roosting in a higher perch on this list, but apparently not all of us so deeply empathize with the big, dour lug. It’s not his politics we identify with, necessarily, nor his default moral outrage. No, some of us just respond to his whole vibe, which I will herewith attempt to distill to its essence: I never know what’s going on, and I never understand what anyone’s talking about, but if I did? I wouldn’t like it. —\u003cem> Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>16. Pepe the King Prawn \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some might scoff at the presence of Pepe on any list of Greatest Muppets. Not me, though I’m admittedly surprised this Spanish lothario was able to find his way into the Top 25, and above the likes of Bert and Ernie to boot. Maybe it’s all those years serving as the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPu841BmOs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spokes-shrimp\u003c/a>” for the fast-food chain Long John Silver’s? Or perhaps it’s because he was\u003ca href=\"https://slate.com/culture/2015/11/pepe-the-king-prawn-on-the-muppets-is-the-best-part-of-the-disappointing-new-show-video.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> the best thing\u003c/a> about that ill-advised primetime sitcom \u003cem>The Muppets\u003c/em>? — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>15. Janice \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fer sure, yes, this ranking makes sense. I’m convinced we all wish we could be just a little bit like Janice: kind of aloof to everything going on around her, and thus eternally chill. — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\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/zRgNW1Xp-JI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/zRgNW1Xp-JI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>14. Big Bird \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a lot of us—especially if we were pre-Elmo kids—Big Bird was one of the founding Muppets of our minds, even though unlike most of the group, he walked around on two legs. There’s something about his name, Big Bird, that speaks profoundly to how sweet and simple the connection is between little kids and this naive, sometimes confused soul. He’s just this… really Big Bird. He walked a lot of kids through their first \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxlj4Tk83xQ&ab_channel=TVBumpersCommercials\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">experience with death\u003c/a> when Mr. Hooper died, and he eventually demonstrated that he had been right all along about his very real, very mammoth friend Snuffy. Trust in Big Bird. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>13. Oscar the Grouch \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of what happened on \u003cem>Sesame Street \u003c/em>was upbeat and colorful. So there’s something so delightfully rebellious and brilliant about the inclusion of a grungy, curmudgeonly green monster who literally lives in a garbage can and sings \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxgWHzMvXOY&ab_channel=SesameStreet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“I Love Trash.”\u003c/a> It’s great to show the power of hugs, but it might be just as important to underscore that not everyone is a hugger, and you can make a guy part of your community even though he doesn’t give you a lot to work with. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\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/rxgWHzMvXOY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/rxgWHzMvXOY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>12. Rizzo the Rat \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I suspect that Rizzo landed this high—above Big Bird!—thanks to millennials whose Muppet references are more about the later films like \u003cem>Muppet Treasure Island \u003c/em>and \u003cem>The Muppet Christmas Carol\u003c/em> than they are about \u003cem>The Muppet Show\u003c/em>, where Rizzo showed up fairly late in the series run as the leader of a gang of rats running wild in the theater. Rizzo started out small but went on to pop up in several of the films, always retaining his identity as a somewhat sketchy but basically decent pal, especially to Gonzo. I’m not so much a Rizzo girl myself, but to all of you who are: I respect your dedication to this little rat. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>11. Cookie Monster\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amazing thing about Cookie Monster is that he never ate a cookie. All Cookie Monster does is mouth the cookie until it flies into pieces. What Cookie Monster is about is the \u003cem>desire\u003c/em> for the cookie. The \u003cem>passion\u003c/em> for the cookie. The \u003cem>thrill\u003c/em> of the cookie. In this way, Cookie Monster is a perfect encapsulation of the preschool id: hungry, needy, hyper, and eternally hopeful that this time, there will be a snack. He should really be in the top ten, you guys. Even if only for \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8mB6VsUHw&ab_channel=SesameStreet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“C Is For Cookie.”\u003c/a> — \u003cem>Linda\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>10. Statler and Waldorf\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was inevitable so many would vote for this curmudgeonly duo because they represent the viewer’s id so explicitly.\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mreHiXkWB-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Why do they always come here\u003c/a>? I guess we’ll never know. But we are all Statler & Waldorf—sitting in that balcony while cracking wise at all those corny puns—and Statler & Waldorf are us. — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\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/14njUwJUg1I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/14njUwJUg1I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>9. Swedish Chef \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many Muppets contain multitudes; Swedish Chef does not. He’s your classic Chaos Muppet—all \u003cem>hurr-guh-durr\u003c/em> and knives sticking into walls and fish flying to and fro, with human hands, no less, and without your romantic subplots or hazy origin stories or bittersweet pining for adventure and meaning. He’s the hilarious, Muppety, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1hL9cn7s0&ab_channel=TheGilsonStation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“Bork! Bork! Bork!”\u003c/a> embodiment of what every little kid wants to be doing in the kitchen at all times. \u003cem>— Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>8. Miss Piggy\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who among the Muppets can say that they’ve been presented with an award for being a feminist trailblazer while being \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biyv8kmKwEE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interviewed by Gloria Steinem\u003c/a>? Heck, who among us \u003cem>humans \u003c/em>can say they’ve been so honored? Well, Miss Piggy can. Because she is the epitome of chutzpah, glamour, and narciss\u003cem>—\u003c/em>er, self-confidence. I truly hope this most fabulous swine doesn’t get wind of our list, because the last thing we’d want is an angry email (or\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkFHdbpVpC8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> karate chop\u003c/a>) from her publicist for not having ranked her higher. Piggy should at least crack the top five of Greatest Muppets, “\u003cem>moi\u003c/em>” who has given us one of culture’s most storied\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2DELDQAXT8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> on-again/off-again romances\u003c/a>; this\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbbNHyjgjw4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> amazingly awkward Larry King interview\u003c/a>; and “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK52qGcpdzo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Snackersize\u003c/a>.” — \u003cem>Aisha\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>7. Fozzie Bear \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fozzie Bear’s dreams of comedic greatness are unattainable, his optimism smacks of desperation and delusion, his jokes (such as they are) exist mostly to provide opportunities for Statler and Waldorf to perform windmill dunks at his expense, and his signature catchphrase (“wocka wocka wocka!”) is a tragic cry for validation. He’s all sweaty effort, all the time, in that way that so many of us get when we’re pursuing the acceptance of others. So how do you make Fozzie lovable without also making him… deeply sad?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The secret lies, at least in part, in the aforementioned optimism: Fozzie is a dreamer, and a sweetly soulful one at that. If you can’t be great, being liked is a hell of a consolation prize. \u003cem>— Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>6. Grover \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d have thought everyone’s lovable furry pal would have made the Top 5 easy, but this is still a perfectly respectable showing. What’s not to love? He’s cute and he knows it, but there’s so much more to him than that. He’s put in time in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIucCUyZF0g&ab_channel=SesameStreet\">food-service industry\u003c/a> (relatable!), he’s gotten his cardio in teaching us the difference between near and far (selfless!), and he’s also, not for nothing, a superhero. And if all that weren’t enough, his masterwork, \u003cem>The Monster at the End of This Book\u003c/em>, introduced successive generations to poststructuralist metanarrative; he’s a li’l fuzzy blue Michel Foucault, is what he is. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\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/sIucCUyZF0g'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/sIucCUyZF0g'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>5. Rowlf\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The people have spoken; the people are wrong. Both of these things can be true. Come on, Rowlf in \u003cem>fifth \u003c/em>place? Below the jamoke at No. 4? The one-note placeholder at No. 3? Pshaw. Rowlf belongs atop this chart, bestriding it like a fuzzy brown floppy-eared Colossus, for several(!) manifold(!) \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/03/29/982279931/our-favorite-muppets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reasons I enumerated on our “Favorite Muppets” \u003c/a>episode, but essentially: He rejects and transcends the reductive Chaos Muppet/Order Muppet binary. He can often seem like the only adult in the room (and when Kermit is in said room, that’s saying something), but his vibe is different from that of the frog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where Kermit is always a real Dr. Buzzkill, a square, a narc, Rowlf is part of the game. He’s preternaturally chill; he can hang. Add that to the fact that \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ7nowJ87HU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with numbers like “You and I and George,” in which he mixes humorous stories with song\u003c/a>, he’s bringing cabaret to the children. That’s iconic, that’s queer energy; Rowlf is the best Muppet, hands down, paws up. — \u003cem>Glen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4. Beaker \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Yiddish words \u003cem>schlemiel\u003c/em> and \u003cem>schlimazel\u003c/em> aren’t just colorful language we remember from \u003cem>Laverne & Shirley\u003c/em> reruns; they’re also deeply useful phrases used to signify oafish incompetence and a tendency to encounter misfortune, respectively. The general device folks use to tell the words apart is that a schlemiel is the waiter spilling the soup in your lap (Grover, perhaps?) and a schlimazel is the unfortunate soul onto whom that soup is spilled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poor, pitiful, shrieking Beaker is \u003cem>The Muppet Show\u003c/em>‘s great schlimazel—and thus a vessel through which we could compartmentalize the most put-upon moments of our youth. We’d come home from a school day in which our lunch tray got knocked out of our hands, or maybe we racked ourselves sliding down that awful rope in gym class, and there was Beaker, embodying our awkwardness, our victimhood and our pain alongside Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, himself an avatar for an unfeeling God. \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3. Animal \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No Muppet captures pure Muppet-ness quite like Animal. The drummer for the Electric Mayhem is really just a skinny body topped with a head like a pink firework, the long hair (fur?) blossoming from his head above a single heavy, dark, fluttering eyebrow. All he has to work with is his giant mouth and that line of eyebrows, and yet you can tell when he’s happy or excited (which is usually) or disappointed (sometimes) or exhausted (he’s the Muppet most likely to pant). Given to phrases like “That’s my kind of woman” and “eat drums,” Animal can’t really be called a sophisticate. But perhaps his function is to remind us that there is a place for a pure, growling… well, animal. And if you’ve never seen him accompany \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_IpgKzy75E&ab_channel=till90s\">Rita Moreno’s rendition of “Fever,”\u003c/a> I have to tell you that you’re really missing out. —\u003cem> Linda\u003c/em>\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/b_IpgKzy75E'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/b_IpgKzy75E'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2. Gonzo\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who’s ever felt like a weirdo or an “other”—or, to quote \u003cem>The Great Muppet Caper\u003c/em>, a “whatever”—knows where Gonzo is coming from, even if his own origin story has been circuitous and slow to unfold. A dapper Chaos Muppet capable of bearing serious emotional weight, Gonzo is an entertainer \u003cem>and\u003c/em> an artiste: an avant-garde daredevil whose act might cite poetry or shoot him out of a cannon, or somehow combine the two. He’s also, like our listeners’ No. 1 Muppet, a serious romantic leading man—just ask the chickens. \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1. Kermit\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look, it’s hard—and uncouth—to rank our friends. But if one of your friends ran a hit TV show, starred in a string of successful movies, stormed the pop charts with a song \u003ca href=\"https://www.nme.com/news/music/library-of-congress-to-add-kermit-the-frogs-the-rainbow-connection-to-archives-of-important-recordings-2907621\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">so indelible\u003c/a> it just got named to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, and launched memes that came to signify everything from unbridled enthusiasm to \u003ca href=\"https://www.bustle.com/p/what-is-the-kermit-sipping-tea-meme-a-history-of-this-muppets-shade-69015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">staying above the fray\u003c/a>, you’d be pretty psyched about that friend, no?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A model of spare and efficient design, Kermit the Frog is a wonder of unadorned expressiveness, with a face that can speak volumes and spark laughter through the simple clenching and curling of fingers. The guy has it all: He’s a leading man and lust object (to Miss Piggy, at least), an exasperated workhorse who toils to keep the lights on, an earnest striver who pines for a place in the world. He’s an avatar of gentle grace; of goodness; of weary bafflement. He’s our friend. \u003cem>—Stephen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13895141\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/1634675a_wide-484c99bff19d9c85263dab0f0b46a73539252fec-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Kermit the Frog in 'The Muppets Take Manhattan.' Kermit has been in a class of his own since many of us were itty bitty babies. Maybe even longer.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seen here in ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan,’ Kermit the Frog has been in a class of his own since many of us were itty bitty babies. Maybe even longer. \u003ccite>(Moviestore/Shutterstock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+Ruthless+Ranking+Of+The+25+Best+Muppets%2C+According+To+Listeners&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Hunter Biden's Memoir 'Beautiful Things' Seeks to Tell Just Where He's Been",
"headTitle": "Hunter Biden’s Memoir ‘Beautiful Things’ Seeks to Tell Just Where He’s Been | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When former President Donald Trump was still in office and holding rallies, he often shouted a question that provoked howls of raucous laughter from the crowd: “Where’s Hunter?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump was referring derisively to Hunter Biden, the son of the man who is now President Biden. \u003cem>Beautiful Things: A Memoir \u003c/em>is Hunter’s answer to Trump’s question. He wants to tell us where he is, where he has been, and what it has taken to get him from there to here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is at times a harrowing journey. Readers who make it all the way through may feel they have completed something of a 12-step rehab program themselves. The details at times make one feel exposed to something like degradation porn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894966\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894966\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-800x1192.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of 'Beautiful Things: A Memoir,' by Hunter Biden depicts the author as a toddler.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1192\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-800x1192.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-1020x1520.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-160x238.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-768x1144.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-1031x1536.jpg 1031w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-1375x2048.jpg 1375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617.jpg 1392w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Beautiful Things: A Memoir,’ by Hunter Biden. \u003ccite>(Gallery Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As has long been reported, the younger Biden is an alcoholic and a crack addict. Euphemisms about “alcohol and drug problems” do not apply here, as the memoirist himself makes clear from the opening pages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been so desperate for a drink that I couldn’t make the one-block walk between a liquor store and my apartment without uncapping the bottle to take a swig,” Biden writes. He also provides a how-to for cooking powder cocaine into crack in the kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After buying his first rock of crack cocaine in a public square in downtown Washington at the age of 18 and spending much of his education years drinking (“I could always drink five times as much as anyone”) Biden began his tour of rehab facilities while still in his early 30s. He has seen the inside of celebrity treatment centers in Mexico as well as in various parts of the U.S. The rehabs led to brief bouts of sobriety followed by relapses, each of which seemed to take him deeper into dependency. [aside postid='arts_13847716']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He acknowledges months spent drunk in a D.C. apartment and more months binging cocaine in hotel bungalows in Hollywood — while his father was either vice president or a candidate for president. Considering the time he spent high behind the wheel, it is amazing the author can still be alive to recount the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also addresses other elements of his life that have raised eyebrows or presented potential legal and political problems. He acknowledges DNA evidence that he fathered a child with a woman he does not remember having met. He acknowledges the fallout from his affair with the widow of his late brother, Beau, which took place after his brother’s death and after the widow retrieved him from a rehab center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he devotes a chapter to his relationship with Burisma, a natural gas company in Ukraine that was among his most lucrative gigs. For service on that company’s board of directors, the younger Biden was paid five figures each month. As he had no special expertise in gas or the political economics of Ukraine, that remuneration was always suspect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter Biden says he vetted Burisma with a reputable U.S. law firm and worked to help them comply with anti-corruption laws and related demands for transparency from the U.S. and the European Union. As for Burisma’s interest in Hunter’s family connection, he writes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“There’s no question my last name was a coveted credential. That has always been the case. Do you think if any of the Trump children ever tried to get a job outside their father’s business that his name wouldn’t figure into the calculation? My response has always been to work harder so that my accomplishments stand on their own.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Of course, Trump and his personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani spent much of 2019 and 2020 promoting the younger Biden’s relationship with Burisma as a corrupt bargain that involved the elder Biden—and that needed investigating. Those accusations, and Trump’s aggressive effort to induce Ukraine to investigate them, led to his first impeachment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trump and Giuliani did not stop there. Efforts to portray Hunter as a liability, even a disqualification for his father’s candidacy, continued right up to the election in November 2020. [aside postid='arts_13891604']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last gasp of Giuliani’s campaign against the Bidens featured a laptop supposedly obtained from sources that would document the younger Biden’s drug use and other offenses. The laptop story was discredited by U.S. intelligence and independent investigations by news organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the drug use, however, there could scarcely be a more damning account than Hunter Biden’s own in his memoir. Repeated attempts at intervention by his father and family fail to stop him. He is estranged from his wife, who divorces him and has custody of their daughters. With each relapse he descends another rung until he haunts a nocturnal underworld of addicts, dealers, ex-cons and con artists in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, in the final pages, it is the spring of 2019 and Hunter meets a South African filmmaker and activist named Melissa, who swiftly brings his life under control in ways Hunter himself never had. He stops drinking and smoking crack. The two, who married not long after meeting, now have a son, a toddler the nation saw onstage at the Biden victory celebration the Saturday after the election in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That little boy is named Beau, for Hunter’s older brother who died of a brain tumor in 2015. But by this point in the book, one knows the son could have no other name. Beau Biden is as much a character in this memoir as anyone, appearing in memories beginning with the night in 1972 when the boys are injured in a car crash that kills their mother and baby sister. They wake up next to each other in a hospital. Their shared memories of this loss bind them far more than even close brothers are usually bound. It is after Beau’s death that Hunter loses the will to fight the demons he has battled for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he meets Melissa, the first thing he tells us about her is that she has blue eyes like Beau’s. The last section of \u003cem>Beautiful Things \u003c/em>is a letter to Beau, and the title refers to a mantra the two had in the days they spent together near the end of Beau’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This memoir is surely a confession, but it seems to seek something other than conventional forgiveness—something other than sympathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is not an easy thing to be a senator’s son. It may be cushy at times and many doors may open. But Hunter Biden’s father was not just another senator. And while no one can doubt the love between the two, as amply demonstrated countless times, there is also a chasm between the hungers of the son and the trajectory of the teetotaler father. (Aware of stories about problem drinkers in the family tree, the elder Biden steered clear.) [aside postid='arts_13889820']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was not always easy being Beau Biden’s little brother, either. Popular and smart, Beau was president of his high school class each year while Hunter was changing schools a lot, looking for the right fit. He got into Georgetown University, but did a lot of drinking while a student. He got into Yale on a second try after adding a poem to his application. He tells us later he got a 172 on his LSAT (99th percentile) and clearly has a sense of his ability—both professional and artistic—that has never been fulfilled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, if it is not about forgiveness or sympathy, this memoir may be about making a stand. Making it clear the younger son, the black sheep of the Biden clan, wants to take whatever place on that victory stage he can occupy, as a son and a brother and the father of Beau Biden II, the new generation of hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Hunter+Biden%27s+Memoir+%27Beautiful+Things%27+Seeks+To+Tell+Just+Where+He%27s+Been+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When former President Donald Trump was still in office and holding rallies, he often shouted a question that provoked howls of raucous laughter from the crowd: “Where’s Hunter?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump was referring derisively to Hunter Biden, the son of the man who is now President Biden. \u003cem>Beautiful Things: A Memoir \u003c/em>is Hunter’s answer to Trump’s question. He wants to tell us where he is, where he has been, and what it has taken to get him from there to here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is at times a harrowing journey. Readers who make it all the way through may feel they have completed something of a 12-step rehab program themselves. The details at times make one feel exposed to something like degradation porn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894966\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894966\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-800x1192.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of 'Beautiful Things: A Memoir,' by Hunter Biden depicts the author as a toddler.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1192\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-800x1192.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-1020x1520.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-160x238.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-768x1144.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-1031x1536.jpg 1031w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617-1375x2048.jpg 1375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/biden_custom-f9690086c0cdc64e1168d78a0b1cfa503ec23617.jpg 1392w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Beautiful Things: A Memoir,’ by Hunter Biden. \u003ccite>(Gallery Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As has long been reported, the younger Biden is an alcoholic and a crack addict. Euphemisms about “alcohol and drug problems” do not apply here, as the memoirist himself makes clear from the opening pages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been so desperate for a drink that I couldn’t make the one-block walk between a liquor store and my apartment without uncapping the bottle to take a swig,” Biden writes. He also provides a how-to for cooking powder cocaine into crack in the kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After buying his first rock of crack cocaine in a public square in downtown Washington at the age of 18 and spending much of his education years drinking (“I could always drink five times as much as anyone”) Biden began his tour of rehab facilities while still in his early 30s. He has seen the inside of celebrity treatment centers in Mexico as well as in various parts of the U.S. The rehabs led to brief bouts of sobriety followed by relapses, each of which seemed to take him deeper into dependency. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He acknowledges months spent drunk in a D.C. apartment and more months binging cocaine in hotel bungalows in Hollywood — while his father was either vice president or a candidate for president. Considering the time he spent high behind the wheel, it is amazing the author can still be alive to recount the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also addresses other elements of his life that have raised eyebrows or presented potential legal and political problems. He acknowledges DNA evidence that he fathered a child with a woman he does not remember having met. He acknowledges the fallout from his affair with the widow of his late brother, Beau, which took place after his brother’s death and after the widow retrieved him from a rehab center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he devotes a chapter to his relationship with Burisma, a natural gas company in Ukraine that was among his most lucrative gigs. For service on that company’s board of directors, the younger Biden was paid five figures each month. As he had no special expertise in gas or the political economics of Ukraine, that remuneration was always suspect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hunter Biden says he vetted Burisma with a reputable U.S. law firm and worked to help them comply with anti-corruption laws and related demands for transparency from the U.S. and the European Union. As for Burisma’s interest in Hunter’s family connection, he writes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“There’s no question my last name was a coveted credential. That has always been the case. Do you think if any of the Trump children ever tried to get a job outside their father’s business that his name wouldn’t figure into the calculation? My response has always been to work harder so that my accomplishments stand on their own.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Of course, Trump and his personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani spent much of 2019 and 2020 promoting the younger Biden’s relationship with Burisma as a corrupt bargain that involved the elder Biden—and that needed investigating. Those accusations, and Trump’s aggressive effort to induce Ukraine to investigate them, led to his first impeachment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trump and Giuliani did not stop there. Efforts to portray Hunter as a liability, even a disqualification for his father’s candidacy, continued right up to the election in November 2020. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last gasp of Giuliani’s campaign against the Bidens featured a laptop supposedly obtained from sources that would document the younger Biden’s drug use and other offenses. The laptop story was discredited by U.S. intelligence and independent investigations by news organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the drug use, however, there could scarcely be a more damning account than Hunter Biden’s own in his memoir. Repeated attempts at intervention by his father and family fail to stop him. He is estranged from his wife, who divorces him and has custody of their daughters. With each relapse he descends another rung until he haunts a nocturnal underworld of addicts, dealers, ex-cons and con artists in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, in the final pages, it is the spring of 2019 and Hunter meets a South African filmmaker and activist named Melissa, who swiftly brings his life under control in ways Hunter himself never had. He stops drinking and smoking crack. The two, who married not long after meeting, now have a son, a toddler the nation saw onstage at the Biden victory celebration the Saturday after the election in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That little boy is named Beau, for Hunter’s older brother who died of a brain tumor in 2015. But by this point in the book, one knows the son could have no other name. Beau Biden is as much a character in this memoir as anyone, appearing in memories beginning with the night in 1972 when the boys are injured in a car crash that kills their mother and baby sister. They wake up next to each other in a hospital. Their shared memories of this loss bind them far more than even close brothers are usually bound. It is after Beau’s death that Hunter loses the will to fight the demons he has battled for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he meets Melissa, the first thing he tells us about her is that she has blue eyes like Beau’s. The last section of \u003cem>Beautiful Things \u003c/em>is a letter to Beau, and the title refers to a mantra the two had in the days they spent together near the end of Beau’s life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This memoir is surely a confession, but it seems to seek something other than conventional forgiveness—something other than sympathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is not an easy thing to be a senator’s son. It may be cushy at times and many doors may open. But Hunter Biden’s father was not just another senator. And while no one can doubt the love between the two, as amply demonstrated countless times, there is also a chasm between the hungers of the son and the trajectory of the teetotaler father. (Aware of stories about problem drinkers in the family tree, the elder Biden steered clear.) \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was not always easy being Beau Biden’s little brother, either. Popular and smart, Beau was president of his high school class each year while Hunter was changing schools a lot, looking for the right fit. He got into Georgetown University, but did a lot of drinking while a student. He got into Yale on a second try after adding a poem to his application. He tells us later he got a 172 on his LSAT (99th percentile) and clearly has a sense of his ability—both professional and artistic—that has never been fulfilled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, if it is not about forgiveness or sympathy, this memoir may be about making a stand. Making it clear the younger son, the black sheep of the Biden clan, wants to take whatever place on that victory stage he can occupy, as a son and a brother and the father of Beau Biden II, the new generation of hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Hunter+Biden%27s+Memoir+%27Beautiful+Things%27+Seeks+To+Tell+Just+Where+He%27s+Been+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Camping is an Adventure for All Americans in 'Fatima's Great Outdoors'",
"headTitle": "Camping is an Adventure for All Americans in ‘Fatima’s Great Outdoors’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Fatima Khazi is having a hard time at school—she’s in a new country, in a new city, her classmates make fun of how she speaks, they wrinkle their noses at the way her food smells, and on top of all that, she isn’t doing well in her classes. But Fatima is thrilled to escape for the weekend and go camping with her family. [aside postid='arts_13891275']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ambreen Tariq’s new children’s book, \u003cem>Fatima’s Great Outdoors \u003c/em>is a story about an Indian immigrant family’s first time exploring the outdoors, and it’s as much a story about curiosity and adventure as it is about trying to assimilate as an immigrant in this country. Tariq says Fatima’s story is her own story. “Every moment in that book is real. Every snippet, every story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariq’s family moved from India to Minnesota during harsh winter months when she was just eight years old, and transitioning to a new life in a new country was challenging. She says she had a desire to fit in and be like everybody else. “I think this is a very universal immigrant feeling … And that really is Fatima’s experience.” While Fatima’s family might have sung Mohammad Rafi’s Hindi songs on the car ride to the campground, and eaten samosas along the way, Fatima makes her father promise that they will eat bacon for breakfast, “just like the other American families.” Tariq recalls begging her own parents to get beef bacon from the Halal butcher for their family camping trips growing up. “And yes, it was just a small thing when it comes to bacon … But for Fatima it’s a very big deal. It’s a moment where she feels like she’s doing it. She is actually camping like everybody else and enjoying it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894934\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-800x487.png\" alt=\"Tariq says that just like Fatima, she once asked her father for halal beef bacon so they could eat like other families on a camping trip.\" width=\"800\" height=\"487\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-800x487.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-1020x620.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-160x97.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-768x467.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-1536x934.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-1920x1168.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM.png 1996w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tariq says that just like Fatima, she once asked her father for halal beef bacon so they could eat like other families on a camping trip. \u003ccite>(Kokila)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tariq says that while nature is central to cultures throughout the world, “America has its own unique way of doing it. It’s very categorized.” According to the National Park Service’s most recent 10-year survey, \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americas-national-parks-face-existential-crisis-race/story?id=71528972\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">77 percent\u003c/a> of those who visited the country’s 419 national parks were white. A lack of diversity in outdoor spaces is one of the reasons Tariq was compelled to write this book and start an online community called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brownpeoplecamping/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brown People Camping\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894932\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13894932\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/whatsapp-image-2021-03-23-at-11.49.52-am_custom-c816efc87cc7a792c861f075d9aaf0a47af46dfc.jpe\" alt=\"A childhood photo of a young Ambreen inspired the creation of Fatima.\" width=\"200\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/whatsapp-image-2021-03-23-at-11.49.52-am_custom-c816efc87cc7a792c861f075d9aaf0a47af46dfc.jpe 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/whatsapp-image-2021-03-23-at-11.49.52-am_custom-c816efc87cc7a792c861f075d9aaf0a47af46dfc-160x156.jpe 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This photo of a young Ambreen inspired the creation of Fatima. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ambreen Tariq)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She says there are many complex reasons that America’s outdoor spaces are primarily occupied by white people, like financial barriers to acquiring gear and outdoor know-how. “But there’s also a very deep and dark history in this country around feeling confident and safe being in remote places.” She cited the fact that many national parks sit on\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/02/24/697028570/overcoming-a-long-bitter-relationship-grand-canyon-and-tribes-mark-centennial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> stolen Native American land\u003c/a>, or that Black people have\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/13/hiking-african-american-racism-nature\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> historically faced violence\u003c/a> in the woods. And for immigrants, she says, imagery like “Confederate flags and other things that happen in remote places” may signal that people of color aren’t safe or welcome in such places. “All of those reasons aside, this book is about saying, get out there, find your joy, find your safe space, build your community and do it the way you love it, because the outdoors is for everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariq says she hopes more children of all backgrounds get the chance to experience the outdoors as she did. “For me and for Fatima what happens in that shining little moment when they enter that campground, it is just about them being curious and having fun.” She says for children like herself who didn’t have a privileged upbringing, that exposure can be especially formative. “When we went camping, we used to rent bikes, we would ride around the campground, we would meet strangers, we would meet other little kids and become sudden friends. We would go swimming in the lake. That’s not what our life was like when we were latchkey kids, came home, let ourselves in, made dinner for ourselves. You know, ‘don’t ever open the door. Don’t talk to a stranger.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While having parents with multiple jobs meant growing up quickly, in many ways, camping was just the opposite for Tariq. She hopes \u003cem>Fatima’s Great Outdoors \u003c/em>encourages more families to engage with nature in a meaningful way. “Other immigrant kids, other kids in general, especially city kids, could benefit from [nature] so much because it opens up another part of your mind and heart. It allows you to be curious. And a type of confidence that’s not really allowed on a daily basis. And that changes someone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894929\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-800x971.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of 'Fatima's Great Outdoors,' by Ambreen Tariq and Stevie Lewis shows a family around a campfire.\" width=\"800\" height=\"971\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-800x971.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1020x1238.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-768x932.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1265x1536.jpg 1265w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1687x2048.jpg 1687w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1920x2331.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Fatima’s Great Outdoors,’ by Ambreen Tariq and Stevie Lewis. \u003ccite>(Kokila)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited for radio by Patrick Jarenwattananon and adapted for the Web by Jonaki Mehta and Petra Mayer.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Camping+Is+An+Adventure+For+All+Americans+In+%27Fatima%27s+Great+Outdoors%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fatima Khazi is having a hard time at school—she’s in a new country, in a new city, her classmates make fun of how she speaks, they wrinkle their noses at the way her food smells, and on top of all that, she isn’t doing well in her classes. But Fatima is thrilled to escape for the weekend and go camping with her family. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ambreen Tariq’s new children’s book, \u003cem>Fatima’s Great Outdoors \u003c/em>is a story about an Indian immigrant family’s first time exploring the outdoors, and it’s as much a story about curiosity and adventure as it is about trying to assimilate as an immigrant in this country. Tariq says Fatima’s story is her own story. “Every moment in that book is real. Every snippet, every story.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariq’s family moved from India to Minnesota during harsh winter months when she was just eight years old, and transitioning to a new life in a new country was challenging. She says she had a desire to fit in and be like everybody else. “I think this is a very universal immigrant feeling … And that really is Fatima’s experience.” While Fatima’s family might have sung Mohammad Rafi’s Hindi songs on the car ride to the campground, and eaten samosas along the way, Fatima makes her father promise that they will eat bacon for breakfast, “just like the other American families.” Tariq recalls begging her own parents to get beef bacon from the Halal butcher for their family camping trips growing up. “And yes, it was just a small thing when it comes to bacon … But for Fatima it’s a very big deal. It’s a moment where she feels like she’s doing it. She is actually camping like everybody else and enjoying it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894934\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894934\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-800x487.png\" alt=\"Tariq says that just like Fatima, she once asked her father for halal beef bacon so they could eat like other families on a camping trip.\" width=\"800\" height=\"487\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-800x487.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-1020x620.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-160x97.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-768x467.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-1536x934.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM-1920x1168.png 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-31-at-12.54.22-PM.png 1996w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tariq says that just like Fatima, she once asked her father for halal beef bacon so they could eat like other families on a camping trip. \u003ccite>(Kokila)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tariq says that while nature is central to cultures throughout the world, “America has its own unique way of doing it. It’s very categorized.” According to the National Park Service’s most recent 10-year survey, \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americas-national-parks-face-existential-crisis-race/story?id=71528972\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">77 percent\u003c/a> of those who visited the country’s 419 national parks were white. A lack of diversity in outdoor spaces is one of the reasons Tariq was compelled to write this book and start an online community called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brownpeoplecamping/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brown People Camping\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894932\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13894932\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/whatsapp-image-2021-03-23-at-11.49.52-am_custom-c816efc87cc7a792c861f075d9aaf0a47af46dfc.jpe\" alt=\"A childhood photo of a young Ambreen inspired the creation of Fatima.\" width=\"200\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/whatsapp-image-2021-03-23-at-11.49.52-am_custom-c816efc87cc7a792c861f075d9aaf0a47af46dfc.jpe 200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/whatsapp-image-2021-03-23-at-11.49.52-am_custom-c816efc87cc7a792c861f075d9aaf0a47af46dfc-160x156.jpe 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This photo of a young Ambreen inspired the creation of Fatima. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ambreen Tariq)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She says there are many complex reasons that America’s outdoor spaces are primarily occupied by white people, like financial barriers to acquiring gear and outdoor know-how. “But there’s also a very deep and dark history in this country around feeling confident and safe being in remote places.” She cited the fact that many national parks sit on\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/02/24/697028570/overcoming-a-long-bitter-relationship-grand-canyon-and-tribes-mark-centennial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> stolen Native American land\u003c/a>, or that Black people have\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/13/hiking-african-american-racism-nature\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> historically faced violence\u003c/a> in the woods. And for immigrants, she says, imagery like “Confederate flags and other things that happen in remote places” may signal that people of color aren’t safe or welcome in such places. “All of those reasons aside, this book is about saying, get out there, find your joy, find your safe space, build your community and do it the way you love it, because the outdoors is for everyone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tariq says she hopes more children of all backgrounds get the chance to experience the outdoors as she did. “For me and for Fatima what happens in that shining little moment when they enter that campground, it is just about them being curious and having fun.” She says for children like herself who didn’t have a privileged upbringing, that exposure can be especially formative. “When we went camping, we used to rent bikes, we would ride around the campground, we would meet strangers, we would meet other little kids and become sudden friends. We would go swimming in the lake. That’s not what our life was like when we were latchkey kids, came home, let ourselves in, made dinner for ourselves. You know, ‘don’t ever open the door. Don’t talk to a stranger.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While having parents with multiple jobs meant growing up quickly, in many ways, camping was just the opposite for Tariq. She hopes \u003cem>Fatima’s Great Outdoors \u003c/em>encourages more families to engage with nature in a meaningful way. “Other immigrant kids, other kids in general, especially city kids, could benefit from [nature] so much because it opens up another part of your mind and heart. It allows you to be curious. And a type of confidence that’s not really allowed on a daily basis. And that changes someone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894929\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-800x971.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of 'Fatima's Great Outdoors,' by Ambreen Tariq and Stevie Lewis shows a family around a campfire.\" width=\"800\" height=\"971\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-800x971.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1020x1238.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-768x932.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1265x1536.jpg 1265w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1687x2048.jpg 1687w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/9171pqz6-tl_custom-04b60b3730224b50ea36a48bb53f83f5daa7e3ca-1920x2331.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Fatima’s Great Outdoors,’ by Ambreen Tariq and Stevie Lewis. \u003ccite>(Kokila)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited for radio by Patrick Jarenwattananon and adapted for the Web by Jonaki Mehta and Petra Mayer.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Camping+Is+An+Adventure+For+All+Americans+In+%27Fatima%27s+Great+Outdoors%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Filmmakers Call Out PBS for a Lack of Diversity, Over-Reliance on Ken Burns",
"headTitle": "Filmmakers Call Out PBS for a Lack of Diversity, Over-Reliance on Ken Burns | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed onto a letter given to PBS executives, suggesting the service may provide an unfair level of support to white creators, facing a “systemic failure to fulfill (its) mandate for a diversity of voices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Titled “A Letter to PBS From Viewers Like Us,” the missive references Ken Burns, arguably one of PBS’ biggest non-fiction stars and creator of popular projects like \u003cem>Baseball, Jazz, The Civil War\u003c/em> and an upcoming six-hour program called \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894863/ken-burns-hemingway-docuseries-dives-into-the-writers-complicated-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hemingway\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> Citing data from the filmmaker’s website, it says Burns has created about 211 hours of programming for PBS over 40 years, through an exclusive relationship with the service that will last until at least 2022. [aside postid='arts_13894863']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such an arrangement leaves less room for filmmakers of color, who may struggle to gain similar funding or promotional support. And while PBS has created an initiative to elevate newly emerging filmmakers of color, such initiatives can also create a false narrative that non-white artists are predominantly lacking in experience, the text adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How many other ‘independent’ filmmakers have a decades-long exclusive relationship with a publicly-funded entity?” the text asks. “Public television supporting this level of uninvestigated privilege is troubling not just for us as filmmakers but as tax-paying Americans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter, sent to PBS President Paula Kerger and former ombudsman Michael Getler on Tuesday, was co-signed by several high-profile filmmakers—some of whom produce programs for PBS—including Oscar-nominated director Garrett Bradley (\u003cem>Time\u003c/em>), Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras (\u003cem>Citizenfour\u003c/em>) and Emmy winning editor and director Sam Pollard (\u003cem>MLK/FBI\u003c/em>). (Note: Getler died in 2018, and PBS now has a public editor, Ricardo Sandoval-Palos.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond Inclusion, a collective of non-fiction creators, executives and industry figures led by individuals who are Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), drafted the letter and collected the signatures. A version of it is available \u003ca href=\"https://www.bipocmakers.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on the group’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PBS has released a statement with data pushing back on the letter’s assertions, saying 35 percent of the 200 hours of non-fiction programming planned for primetime this year was produced by diverse filmmakers. According to a spokesman, over the past five years, PBS has aired 58 hours of programming from Burns and 74 hours of projects by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an African American scholar, director, executive producer and host of programs like \u003cem>The Black Church\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Finding Your Roots\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Kerger agrees that PBS should examine where its funding and resources are going to ensure that BIPOC filmmakers are being treated equitably. [aside postid='arts_13866441']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important moment for all of us to really take a hard look at what we’re doing and make sure that we are pursuing all opportunities,” says PBS’ president, adding that she hopes to meet with the group and discuss their concerns. “What is it going to take … particularly for those mid-career filmmakers, so there is a solid place (for them) in public broadcasting?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Complicating matters is the fragmented nature of PBS, where some shows are developed by affiliate stations, like the science program \u003cem>Nova\u003c/em>, which is produced by WGBH in Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter asks for data from PBS, including its staff diversity and figures over the past ten years for how many hours of non-fiction programming have been directed or produced by BIPOC filmmakers and how much funding has gone to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Grace Lee, a member of Beyond Inclusion who signed the letter, wrote about these issues in an attention-getting essay for the Ford Foundation that was \u003ca href=\"https://current.org/2020/10/to-truly-reflect-diversity-pbs-must-end-its-overreliance-on-ken-burns-as-americas-storyteller/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reprinted in \u003cem>Current \u003c/em>magazine\u003c/a>, noting, “PBS must end its overreliance on Ken Burns as ‘America’s storyteller.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Kerger was asked about the essay \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/ken-burns-pbs-diversity-d687d59a9c46584f0ed6f3364ac0ed0f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">at a press conference in February\u003c/a>, she struck a slightly different tone, saying she had to “respectfully disagree” with Lee’s piece. Earlier, she had cited PBS’ work with Black filmmakers like Gates and Emmy winning director Stanley Nelson (\u003cem>Freedom Riders, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool\u003c/em>); the reaction prompted members of the group to put together the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Lee, a producer for the PBS series \u003cem>Asian Americans\u003c/em>, says the issue reaches beyond any individual filmmaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not about Ken Burns, it’s about this public television system living up to its mandate,” she adds. “On \u003cem>Asian Americans\u003c/em>, we got five hours to tell 150 years of American history. Ernest Hemingway, one man, gets six hours of documentary in prime time … This kind of disparity is something that I wanted to call attention to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though his work appears regularly on PBS, Stanley Nelson signed the letter, hoping to help start a conversation that could help BIPOC documentarians. [aside postid='arts_13888079']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think PBS might be surprised themselves, if they start looking at what they’ve put into certain films and certain filmmakers,” says Nelson, who says he still has to occasionally remind white filmmakers he collaborates with to hire experienced Black technicians. “We have to be aware that race is a part of everything in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PBS is already touting several diversity-focused initiatives, including a program to support the next generation of “emerging” BIPOC filmmakers and a collaboration with Nelson to create a two-hour film for \u003cem>Nova\u003c/em> in 2022 on the impact of racism on the health of Black Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And how does Kerger feel, seeing filmmakers who often work with PBS co-sign a letter suggesting the service may shortchange filmmakers of color?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If people come together and feel this is a way to get attention around an issue, it’s OK,” she says. “The important thing, is we should sit down and really talk about what it’s going to take to move even more voices forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited for radio by Petra Mayer and adapted for the web by Petra Mayer and Eric Deggans.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Filmmakers+Call+Out+PBS+For+A+Lack+Of+Diversity%2C+Over-Reliance+On+Ken+Burns&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed onto a letter given to PBS executives, suggesting the service may provide an unfair level of support to white creators, facing a “systemic failure to fulfill (its) mandate for a diversity of voices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Titled “A Letter to PBS From Viewers Like Us,” the missive references Ken Burns, arguably one of PBS’ biggest non-fiction stars and creator of popular projects like \u003cem>Baseball, Jazz, The Civil War\u003c/em> and an upcoming six-hour program called \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894863/ken-burns-hemingway-docuseries-dives-into-the-writers-complicated-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hemingway\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> Citing data from the filmmaker’s website, it says Burns has created about 211 hours of programming for PBS over 40 years, through an exclusive relationship with the service that will last until at least 2022. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such an arrangement leaves less room for filmmakers of color, who may struggle to gain similar funding or promotional support. And while PBS has created an initiative to elevate newly emerging filmmakers of color, such initiatives can also create a false narrative that non-white artists are predominantly lacking in experience, the text adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How many other ‘independent’ filmmakers have a decades-long exclusive relationship with a publicly-funded entity?” the text asks. “Public television supporting this level of uninvestigated privilege is troubling not just for us as filmmakers but as tax-paying Americans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter, sent to PBS President Paula Kerger and former ombudsman Michael Getler on Tuesday, was co-signed by several high-profile filmmakers—some of whom produce programs for PBS—including Oscar-nominated director Garrett Bradley (\u003cem>Time\u003c/em>), Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras (\u003cem>Citizenfour\u003c/em>) and Emmy winning editor and director Sam Pollard (\u003cem>MLK/FBI\u003c/em>). (Note: Getler died in 2018, and PBS now has a public editor, Ricardo Sandoval-Palos.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond Inclusion, a collective of non-fiction creators, executives and industry figures led by individuals who are Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), drafted the letter and collected the signatures. A version of it is available \u003ca href=\"https://www.bipocmakers.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on the group’s website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PBS has released a statement with data pushing back on the letter’s assertions, saying 35 percent of the 200 hours of non-fiction programming planned for primetime this year was produced by diverse filmmakers. According to a spokesman, over the past five years, PBS has aired 58 hours of programming from Burns and 74 hours of projects by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an African American scholar, director, executive producer and host of programs like \u003cem>The Black Church\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Finding Your Roots\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Kerger agrees that PBS should examine where its funding and resources are going to ensure that BIPOC filmmakers are being treated equitably. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an important moment for all of us to really take a hard look at what we’re doing and make sure that we are pursuing all opportunities,” says PBS’ president, adding that she hopes to meet with the group and discuss their concerns. “What is it going to take … particularly for those mid-career filmmakers, so there is a solid place (for them) in public broadcasting?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Complicating matters is the fragmented nature of PBS, where some shows are developed by affiliate stations, like the science program \u003cem>Nova\u003c/em>, which is produced by WGBH in Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter asks for data from PBS, including its staff diversity and figures over the past ten years for how many hours of non-fiction programming have been directed or produced by BIPOC filmmakers and how much funding has gone to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Filmmaker Grace Lee, a member of Beyond Inclusion who signed the letter, wrote about these issues in an attention-getting essay for the Ford Foundation that was \u003ca href=\"https://current.org/2020/10/to-truly-reflect-diversity-pbs-must-end-its-overreliance-on-ken-burns-as-americas-storyteller/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reprinted in \u003cem>Current \u003c/em>magazine\u003c/a>, noting, “PBS must end its overreliance on Ken Burns as ‘America’s storyteller.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Kerger was asked about the essay \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/ken-burns-pbs-diversity-d687d59a9c46584f0ed6f3364ac0ed0f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">at a press conference in February\u003c/a>, she struck a slightly different tone, saying she had to “respectfully disagree” with Lee’s piece. Earlier, she had cited PBS’ work with Black filmmakers like Gates and Emmy winning director Stanley Nelson (\u003cem>Freedom Riders, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool\u003c/em>); the reaction prompted members of the group to put together the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Lee, a producer for the PBS series \u003cem>Asian Americans\u003c/em>, says the issue reaches beyond any individual filmmaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not about Ken Burns, it’s about this public television system living up to its mandate,” she adds. “On \u003cem>Asian Americans\u003c/em>, we got five hours to tell 150 years of American history. Ernest Hemingway, one man, gets six hours of documentary in prime time … This kind of disparity is something that I wanted to call attention to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though his work appears regularly on PBS, Stanley Nelson signed the letter, hoping to help start a conversation that could help BIPOC documentarians. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think PBS might be surprised themselves, if they start looking at what they’ve put into certain films and certain filmmakers,” says Nelson, who says he still has to occasionally remind white filmmakers he collaborates with to hire experienced Black technicians. “We have to be aware that race is a part of everything in America.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PBS is already touting several diversity-focused initiatives, including a program to support the next generation of “emerging” BIPOC filmmakers and a collaboration with Nelson to create a two-hour film for \u003cem>Nova\u003c/em> in 2022 on the impact of racism on the health of Black Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And how does Kerger feel, seeing filmmakers who often work with PBS co-sign a letter suggesting the service may shortchange filmmakers of color?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If people come together and feel this is a way to get attention around an issue, it’s OK,” she says. “The important thing, is we should sit down and really talk about what it’s going to take to move even more voices forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited for radio by Petra Mayer and adapted for the web by Petra Mayer and Eric Deggans.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Filmmakers+Call+Out+PBS+For+A+Lack+Of+Diversity%2C+Over-Reliance+On+Ken+Burns&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Ken Burns' 'Hemingway' Docuseries Dives Into the Writer's Complicated Life",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em>, the latest PBS documentary series from Ken Burns and company, has several names attached who have become a sort of repertory group. Lynn Novick, Burns’ frequent co-director, is back. So is writer Geoffrey C. Ward, who helped make Burns a PBS phenomenon with the landmark non-fiction mini-series \u003cem>The Civil War\u003c/em>. And the narrator, who has lent his voice to so many past productions, is Peter Coyote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As always, Coyote calmly and clearly sets the table for everything to come—and why you might be interested. “The world saw him as a man’s man,” Coyote says, to quote one early example. “But all his life, he would privately be intrigued by the blurred lines between male and female, men and women. There were so many sides to him, the first of his four wives remembered, that he defied geometry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this new \u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em> documentary, the women around the author are as illuminating as the author himself. Each of his four wives has something revelatory to say—and these spouses are given voice by a quartet of wonderful actresses, who bring the women’s private letters and other writings to vivid life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2016/08/10/489464731/meryl-streep-embodies-the-pull-of-music-in-florence-foster-jenkins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meryl Streep\u003c/a> has the meatiest part as war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway’s third wife. Her dispatches during the Normandy invasion rivaled, and arguably exceeded, his own. But the other wives are given voice by Keri Russell, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/11/16/779719536/i-m-a-purist-mary-louise-parker-returns-to-broadway-for-a-new-challenge\">Mary-Louise Parker\u003c/a> and Patricia Clarkson. And Jeff Daniels supplies the voice of Ernest Hemingway, reading from his private letters as well as his published short stories and other writings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp7Lhdc4-vw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s so much to deal with regarding Hemingway. Professionally, there’s the way he wrote, what he wrote, and the impact his writing had on modern literature. Personally, there’s the relationships with women, the misogyny, the alcoholism, the depression—all of which found their way into his stories as well. [aside postid='arts_13866441']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new PBS biography doesn’t shy away from any of it. It doesn’t avoid or excuse Hemingway’s excesses and betrayals and failures. Instead it enhances our understanding of the man by probing deeply into both his life and his writings. And whenever Daniels reads from Hemingway, as Hemingway, he does so in an understated tone as unadorned as the writer’s own prose style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burns and Novick not only bring literary moments to life, using just the right sounds and images and voices, but also dive into Hemingway’s complicated personal life: The suicide of his father. The upbringing by his mother, who dressed him in girl’s clothes and encouraged his imagination. His experiences in several wars, and finding glory in such macho activities as hunting, deep-sea fishing and attending bullfights. From Paris to Spain, from Key West to Cuba, Ernest Hemingway lived in exotic locales during turbulent times—and wrote about all of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever you already know, or don’t know, about Ernest Hemingway and his work—and his life—the new PBS documentary \u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em> is certain to add more to that body of knowledge. And, very likely, it will make you reassess much of it. As a Ken Burns and company literary biography, \u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em> is even better than their previous documentary on Mark Twain. And my levels of praise don’t get much higher than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Ken+Burns%27+%27Hemingway%27+Docuseries+Dives+Into+The+Writer%27s+Complicated+Life+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em>, the latest PBS documentary series from Ken Burns and company, has several names attached who have become a sort of repertory group. Lynn Novick, Burns’ frequent co-director, is back. So is writer Geoffrey C. Ward, who helped make Burns a PBS phenomenon with the landmark non-fiction mini-series \u003cem>The Civil War\u003c/em>. And the narrator, who has lent his voice to so many past productions, is Peter Coyote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As always, Coyote calmly and clearly sets the table for everything to come—and why you might be interested. “The world saw him as a man’s man,” Coyote says, to quote one early example. “But all his life, he would privately be intrigued by the blurred lines between male and female, men and women. There were so many sides to him, the first of his four wives remembered, that he defied geometry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this new \u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em> documentary, the women around the author are as illuminating as the author himself. Each of his four wives has something revelatory to say—and these spouses are given voice by a quartet of wonderful actresses, who bring the women’s private letters and other writings to vivid life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2016/08/10/489464731/meryl-streep-embodies-the-pull-of-music-in-florence-foster-jenkins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meryl Streep\u003c/a> has the meatiest part as war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway’s third wife. Her dispatches during the Normandy invasion rivaled, and arguably exceeded, his own. But the other wives are given voice by Keri Russell, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/11/16/779719536/i-m-a-purist-mary-louise-parker-returns-to-broadway-for-a-new-challenge\">Mary-Louise Parker\u003c/a> and Patricia Clarkson. And Jeff Daniels supplies the voice of Ernest Hemingway, reading from his private letters as well as his published short stories and other writings.\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/sp7Lhdc4-vw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/sp7Lhdc4-vw'\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>There’s so much to deal with regarding Hemingway. Professionally, there’s the way he wrote, what he wrote, and the impact his writing had on modern literature. Personally, there’s the relationships with women, the misogyny, the alcoholism, the depression—all of which found their way into his stories as well. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new PBS biography doesn’t shy away from any of it. It doesn’t avoid or excuse Hemingway’s excesses and betrayals and failures. Instead it enhances our understanding of the man by probing deeply into both his life and his writings. And whenever Daniels reads from Hemingway, as Hemingway, he does so in an understated tone as unadorned as the writer’s own prose style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burns and Novick not only bring literary moments to life, using just the right sounds and images and voices, but also dive into Hemingway’s complicated personal life: The suicide of his father. The upbringing by his mother, who dressed him in girl’s clothes and encouraged his imagination. His experiences in several wars, and finding glory in such macho activities as hunting, deep-sea fishing and attending bullfights. From Paris to Spain, from Key West to Cuba, Ernest Hemingway lived in exotic locales during turbulent times—and wrote about all of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whatever you already know, or don’t know, about Ernest Hemingway and his work—and his life—the new PBS documentary \u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em> is certain to add more to that body of knowledge. And, very likely, it will make you reassess much of it. As a Ken Burns and company literary biography, \u003cem>Hemingway\u003c/em> is even better than their previous documentary on Mark Twain. And my levels of praise don’t get much higher than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Ken+Burns%27+%27Hemingway%27+Docuseries+Dives+Into+The+Writer%27s+Complicated+Life+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The HBO series \u003cem>Lovecraft Country\u003c/em> takes the real horrors of the Black experience in the 1950s and adds to it the supernatural terrors of the horror genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Series creator Misha Green says she sees the show—and the novel by Matt Ruff upon which it is based—as a chance to reclaim “the genre space for people of color and for people who had usually been left out of it.” [aside postid='arts_13884889']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Horror, which is my favorite genre, works best for me when there’s a metaphor,” Green says. “One of my themes I keep coming back to is: What are people willing to do for metaphorical and physical survival? And that’s always the stuff that scares me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One episode explores the theme of white privilege through the lens of Ruby, a Black woman who becomes white after taking a potion. After some discussion of what Ruby would do as a white woman, the writers decided that she would enjoy a mundane day at the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is really what part of the privilege of being white is: You get to live your life uninterrupted,” Green says. “A person of color in America has so many moments daily where they’re interrupted because of their skin color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We don’t know yet if there will be a second season of \u003cem>Lovecraft Country\u003c/em>, but if there is, Green knows what she’d call it: “This would be the title of it—\u003cem>Lovecraft Country: Supremacy\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEvK1Zwi9XY\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview highlights \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On why she loves horror \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just like to be scared. I think it’s also one of the reasons I feel like we go to drama in the first place, to live vicariously through something. So you get to live your fears on screen and then you go, “OK, I can tackle that, maybe.” You get a little braver in life. … When I was a kid, like watching \u003cem>It,\u003c/em> watching \u003cem>Alien\u003c/em>, watching those kinds of movies, I was like, “OK, I’m terrified. But now I feel a little braver.” Afterwards, I feel like I can go and tackle the real horrors a little bit more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Black representation in genre fiction \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel like one of my absolute favorites is the original \u003cem>Night of the Living Dead\u003c/em> and then \u003cem>The People Under the Stairs \u003c/em>[and]\u003cem> Candyman\u003c/em>. So there [were] spaces for Black horror, they just weren’t rampant. I feel like that’s all of Black art right now. People are like, “We’re in this huge renaissance!” and I’m like, “I remember in the ’90s I could go on TV and see more all-Black casts than I can see now.” So I feel like it’s always been there, but you have to seek it out. And the mainstream—definitely when it comes to horror, sci-fi and all of these genre fantasy spaces—are all white in a way. And so that was exciting to me, to have this kind of show that could jump to all the places and be like, “Yeah, we can be here and we don’t have to die first, guys.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On developing the sound for \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Lovecraft Country,\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong> which sources audio from different moments in culture, like a Nike Ad or the poem “Whitey on the Moon”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted to do something different than I had done on \u003cem>Underground\u003c/em> with sound. We used contemporary music on [the WGN America show] \u003cem>Underground\u003c/em> [which Green co-created] and it was very successful in kind of bringing the past into the present and I wanted to build on that. I want to come in with an audio viewpoint on the show. [aside postid='arts_13853443']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things that we were talking a lot about with the show was this idea of it being out of time, that they’re going and doing things, they’re going to space, they’re going back in the past, so how do we break that up? And then that idea of “scource” as we called it, which is source and score, came to me of using these pieces. I had been soaking in things like Beyoncé’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/04/26/475629479/close-to-home-a-conversation-about-beyonc-s-lemonade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Lemonade\u003c/em> \u003c/a>and \u003cem>I Am Not Your Negro\u003c/em>. And it was hearing those voices in those poems and [James] Baldwin’s voice. And I was going, “Oh, can we do that in \u003cem>Lovecraft Country\u003c/em>?” So that was kind of our big audio swing, was this idea of taking found footage audio and placing it wholesale over scenes and using it as [a] score.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On her priorities for developing her own writer’s room \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Diversity and younger writers, I think that it was important to me. It’s one of the things that I said to HBO is that I don’t want upper-level writers. They were really pushing upper-level writers, which was understandable, because it’s a very big, ambitious show, an intricate show. But for me, I was like, I want new voices. Hollywood is the biggest storytelling machine there is and we all live our lives through stories, so it is giving us a story on how to live our lives, and right now it’s a monolith of white men. And I think it’s very important to change that. So when I had my own room, I knew that it was not going to look like the rooms I had been in before and that it was going to be a struggle, too, because I think in a lot of rooms, the minority voices are not there to actually be heard. So figuring out how to encourage everybody to be like, “You have a platform here, speak up! Speak up! Let’s talk. Let’s figure it out.” [That] was also an interesting new turn for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Heidi Saman and Kayla Lattimore produced and edited the audio of this interview. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan adapted it for the Web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2021 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Lovecraft+Country%27+Creator+Aims+To+Reclaim+The+Horror+Genre+For+People+Of+Color+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Horror, which is my favorite genre, works best for me when there’s a metaphor,” Green says. “One of my themes I keep coming back to is: What are people willing to do for metaphorical and physical survival? And that’s always the stuff that scares me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One episode explores the theme of white privilege through the lens of Ruby, a Black woman who becomes white after taking a potion. After some discussion of what Ruby would do as a white woman, the writers decided that she would enjoy a mundane day at the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is really what part of the privilege of being white is: You get to live your life uninterrupted,” Green says. “A person of color in America has so many moments daily where they’re interrupted because of their skin color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We don’t know yet if there will be a second season of \u003cem>Lovecraft Country\u003c/em>, but if there is, Green knows what she’d call it: “This would be the title of it—\u003cem>Lovecraft Country: Supremacy\u003c/em>.”\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/eEvK1Zwi9XY'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/eEvK1Zwi9XY'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview highlights \u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On why she loves horror \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just like to be scared. I think it’s also one of the reasons I feel like we go to drama in the first place, to live vicariously through something. So you get to live your fears on screen and then you go, “OK, I can tackle that, maybe.” You get a little braver in life. … When I was a kid, like watching \u003cem>It,\u003c/em> watching \u003cem>Alien\u003c/em>, watching those kinds of movies, I was like, “OK, I’m terrified. But now I feel a little braver.” Afterwards, I feel like I can go and tackle the real horrors a little bit more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Black representation in genre fiction \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I feel like one of my absolute favorites is the original \u003cem>Night of the Living Dead\u003c/em> and then \u003cem>The People Under the Stairs \u003c/em>[and]\u003cem> Candyman\u003c/em>. So there [were] spaces for Black horror, they just weren’t rampant. I feel like that’s all of Black art right now. People are like, “We’re in this huge renaissance!” and I’m like, “I remember in the ’90s I could go on TV and see more all-Black casts than I can see now.” So I feel like it’s always been there, but you have to seek it out. And the mainstream—definitely when it comes to horror, sci-fi and all of these genre fantasy spaces—are all white in a way. And so that was exciting to me, to have this kind of show that could jump to all the places and be like, “Yeah, we can be here and we don’t have to die first, guys.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On developing the sound for \u003c/strong>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Lovecraft Country,\u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cstrong> which sources audio from different moments in culture, like a Nike Ad or the poem “Whitey on the Moon”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wanted to do something different than I had done on \u003cem>Underground\u003c/em> with sound. We used contemporary music on [the WGN America show] \u003cem>Underground\u003c/em> [which Green co-created] and it was very successful in kind of bringing the past into the present and I wanted to build on that. I want to come in with an audio viewpoint on the show. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"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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"soldout": {
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