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"content": "\u003cp>The national tour of Broadway’s \u003cem>Tina — The Tina Turner Musical\u003c/em> makes its California debut this week, arriving as a poignant, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929587/tina-turner-rock-and-roll-icon-dies-at-83\">posthumous celebration\u003c/a> following the rock music icon’s death last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929587']\u003cem>Tina\u003c/em> opens in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on Wednesday, steps away from her Hollywood Walk of Fame star and where she recorded for Capitol Records. It plays there until July 9, followed by two weeks at Segerstrom Center the Arts in Costa Mesa and stops in San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose later this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have always wanted to put audiences in the room with her and it’s obviously going to have even more of a special meaning now that she is gone from us physically,” says Katori Hall, co-writer of the musical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But her energy, her spirit, obviously has been interwoven into our creative processes. And I pray that we’ll always be able to give every audience member a little piece of Tina when they come to the show.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930442\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930442\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507-800x483.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman, smiling broadly, dances wildly, arms raised in the air. She is wearing a gold tassled mini dress and has a line of gleeful backing dancers waving and clapping behind her.\" width=\"800\" height=\"483\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507-800x483.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507-1020x615.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507-768x463.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507-1536x926.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1444899941-scaled-e1686679496507.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naomi Rodgers plays Tina Turner in ’Tina — The Tina Turner Musical.’ Here, she performs a number at Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2022. \u003ccite>(Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Turner, who survived a horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with such hits as “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and “Better Be Good To Me,” died last month in Küsnacht near Zurich. She was 83.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California, the tour continues its multi-year national journey, visiting 37 more cities across North America next season. It has been touring regularly since fall 2022. There are also productions running on London’s West End, as well as in Sydney, Australia, and Stuttgart, Germany.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13897052']The musical traces the highs and lows of the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, including her hellish marriage scarred by domestic violence and the rise as a beloved solo artist with songs like “Private Dancer,” ″River Deep, Mountain High,” “The Best” and “Proud Mary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tina\u003c/em> captured 12 Tony nominations, including an eventual best actress winning trophy for Adrienne Warren in the title role. Hall wrote the book with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930441\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930441\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-800x572.jpg\" alt=\"A senior Black woman wearing red blouse and black pants warmly embraces a younger, smiling Black woman wearing white top and black pants. They are standing on a stage with the word Tina lit up behind them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-800x572.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-1020x729.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-1536x1098.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tina Turner and Adrienne Warren during the ‘TINA — The Tina Turner Musical’ photocall in London, October 2017. \u003ccite>(Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two actors share the role of Turner on the road — Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villanueva, each playing four of the eight performances a week. Also co-starring are Roderick Lawrence, Roz White, Carla R. Stewart and Lael Van Keuren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tour organizers realized by seeing Warren as Turner on Broadway that not just one actor could play the demanding role on the road, says Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13894392']“We saw how hard it is on the body. It’s the physicality, it’s the singing, but it’s also just the emotional heft every night one has to put upon their shoulders and go through, two hours plus of the life of Tina Turner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall recalls finding out that Turner had died when she woke up with messages flooding her phone. Her mind went back to the time when Turner attended \u003cem>Tina\u003c/em> on Broadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When she walked through the door, to see people get on their feet and give her a standing ovation, I was so grateful that she was able to feel that energy and feel that love on the American side of the pond before she passed,” says Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it was just a beautiful gift that we were able to give her in that moment and to be in the room breathing with her and witnessing that love just showering down from the balcony.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Tina — The Tina Turner Musical’ will be at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theater, Aug. 1—27, 2023 (\u003ca href=\"https://www.goldengatetheatresf.com/tina-turner-musical-tickets/\">tickets here\u003c/a>) and San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts, Aug. 29—Sept. 3, 2023 (\u003ca href=\"https://sanjosetheaters.org/calendar/#event=tina-the-tina-turner-musical-broadway-san-jose;instance=20230829000000?popup=1\">details here\u003c/a>).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The musical traces the highs and lows of the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, including her hellish marriage scarred by domestic violence and the rise as a beloved solo artist with songs like “Private Dancer,” ″River Deep, Mountain High,” “The Best” and “Proud Mary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tina\u003c/em> captured 12 Tony nominations, including an eventual best actress winning trophy for Adrienne Warren in the title role. Hall wrote the book with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930441\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930441\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-800x572.jpg\" alt=\"A senior Black woman wearing red blouse and black pants warmly embraces a younger, smiling Black woman wearing white top and black pants. They are standing on a stage with the word Tina lit up behind them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-800x572.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-1020x729.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406-1536x1098.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-862434658-scaled-e1686679054406.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tina Turner and Adrienne Warren during the ‘TINA — The Tina Turner Musical’ photocall in London, October 2017. \u003ccite>(Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Two actors share the role of Turner on the road — Naomi Rodgers and Zurin Villanueva, each playing four of the eight performances a week. Also co-starring are Roderick Lawrence, Roz White, Carla R. Stewart and Lael Van Keuren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tour organizers realized by seeing Warren as Turner on Broadway that not just one actor could play the demanding role on the road, says Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We saw how hard it is on the body. It’s the physicality, it’s the singing, but it’s also just the emotional heft every night one has to put upon their shoulders and go through, two hours plus of the life of Tina Turner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hall recalls finding out that Turner had died when she woke up with messages flooding her phone. Her mind went back to the time when Turner attended \u003cem>Tina\u003c/em> on Broadway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When she walked through the door, to see people get on their feet and give her a standing ovation, I was so grateful that she was able to feel that energy and feel that love on the American side of the pond before she passed,” says Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it was just a beautiful gift that we were able to give her in that moment and to be in the room breathing with her and witnessing that love just showering down from the balcony.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Tina — The Tina Turner Musical’ will be at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Theater, Aug. 1—27, 2023 (\u003ca href=\"https://www.goldengatetheatresf.com/tina-turner-musical-tickets/\">tickets here\u003c/a>) and San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts, Aug. 29—Sept. 3, 2023 (\u003ca href=\"https://sanjosetheaters.org/calendar/#event=tina-the-tina-turner-musical-broadway-san-jose;instance=20230829000000?popup=1\">details here\u003c/a>).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Janelle Monáe Wants You ... to Enter the ‘Pleasure’ Zone",
"headTitle": "Janelle Monáe Wants You … to Enter the ‘Pleasure’ Zone | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In the already uncomfortably hot summer of 2023, talk of pleasure can hit like a forbidden tonic, providing relief from a steady diet of grief, outrage and anxiety. Janelle Monáe’s new album \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> presents itself as both that stimulant and a guidebook, a compact compendium of fantasies and pep talks designed to encourage listeners to relax into the dopamine-rushed present tense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I could f*** me right here right now I would do that,” the singer-actor-conceptualist turned libertine lifestyle coach sings in “Water Slide,” a reggaefied mid-record romp that plays with swimming metaphors — \u003cem>backstroke, freestyle, surfing on the thing like it’s high tide \u003c/em>— to invoke a tipsy kind of arousal that lingers delightfully, requiring no release. A floating feeling, like being drawn into a swimming pool’s lazy river. Or like getting intimate without an end goal in mind, in a safe space with someone you love. “I could spend the whole day in it,” Monáe swoons, and by “it” she means pleasure itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag7Ul4U_dSI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Monáe’s world pleasure means some obvious things — material comfort, self-love, carefully maintained ties with intimates and an open-ended approach to alluring strangers. Musically, these values find expression in a certain cadence, that \u003cem>clavé \u003c/em>groove that unfolds the way sexual excitement does, slowing time down and speeding it up all at once. Monáe and her collaborators in the Wondaland Arts Society ground \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> in the complex yet accessible rhythms of \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/afrobeats-global-rise-1282575/\">Afrobeats\u003c/a> (some prefer Afropop), the diasporic dance music that shares sonic borders with global Latin pop and Caribbean riddims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929970']Afrobeats is the ground of much current mainstream pop, recasting hip-hop on the global stage in ways that are both historically minded — the presence of Nigerian scion\u003ca href=\"https://www.seunkuti.net/\"> Seun Kuti \u003c/a>and Egypt 80 on this album accomplish that goal — and \u003cem>au courant\u003c/em>. Monáe queers the trend with lyrics that celebrate same-sex encounters and polyamory and by filling \u003cem>Pleasure\u003c/em>‘s songs with quick turns, interludes and echoes, creating a sinuous inflorescence evocative of many women’s responsive patterns and the polymorphous attention blur of a friendly orgy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this sounds like a lot, Monáe and her collaborators make sure it goes down easy. \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> is just over 30 minutes long and its structure is clean and tight. Supposedly an autobiographical departure from her previous character-driven concept albums, this neat set still displays an actor’s sensibility. It unfolds in three acts, with a bold opening, a complicated middle and a pleasing denouement. But unlike her earlier Cindi Mayweather trilogy, with its hugely detailed world-building and heady ideas about power, race and humanity itself, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure \u003c/em>is contained, naturalistic and circular. It’s a round, a story that’s not linear but grounded in an ebb and flow, again like a woman’s sensuality — and in service of a utopian eroticism that runs on true mutual recognition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEaclTJZCKc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>True to her style and accommodating an instrument that’s more chameleonic than stunningly distinctive, Monáe puts on many voices throughout \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em>. The first four tracks are flexes, runway struts redolent of the ballroom (and, inevitably, Beyoncé’s \u003cem>Renaissance\u003c/em>). The dominant voice here is that of a haughty rapper who also likes to play. Monáe doesn’t walk, she floats; she’s on her champagne s***, phenomenal, so hot she’s \u003cem>haute\u003c/em>. This is the warm-up, the infusion of pride required to pursue pleasure without too much risk of being exploited. “I’m looking at a thousand versions of myself, and we’re all fine as f***,” Monáe spits over an avant-funk beat, ready to grab her besties and go on the prowl. Flipping a line from decadent \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZiISc7Ej84&t=90s\">\u003cem>Euphoria\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, she speaks up for seductiveness as a strength instead of a destabilizing element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13930122']Her excursions occupy the album’s middle and most interesting section, a set of mid-tempo grooves that turn inward to describe a queer experience of pleasure. An interlude featuring Saint Grace Jones murmuring in French sets up the section; then comes “Lipstick Lover,” the summery reggae single that hovers in the air like a throwaway while establishing Monáe’s all-important perspective. “I like lipstick on my neck,” Monáe chants in the chorus, not only making clear that she wants queer fun but pointing toward erogenous zones that unseat Afropop and hip-hop’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.teenvogue.com/story/afrobeats-industry-needs-to-confront-its-bias-against-female-artists\">phallocentric tendencies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more effective is “The Rush,” its half time dancehall riddim and airy harmonies sounding like what being turned on feels like, steadily yet sneakily intensifying on a wave of Monáe’s murmurs with extra strokes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/1180152530\">Amaarae\u003c/a> and Nia Long. “I get that \u003cem>feelin’\u003c/em>,” she repeats, redirecting her thought processes below her neck over a bed of what the credits describe as “percolating freaquencies.” Feeling becomes a way of thinking. Next comes “Water Slide,” its drenched metaphors accentuating the music’s body consciousness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jppx-EFJ818\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final turn in \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure \u003c/em>complicates pleasure by showing how it’s a two- (or three-) way street that can get a little bumpy. The insistence of “Know Better,” a lover’s plea built around densely multi-tracked vocals from Monáe and Nigerian crooner \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNbAu0IZhKQ\">Ckay\u003c/a>, reminds the listener that pleasure demands consent. That song drifts right into “Paid In Pleasure,” a sticky allegory that lets in some perversion, turning sex’s sometimes transactional nature into a fetish. (Monáe’s early mentor Prince would have enjoyed this one.) Our sensual hero recovers her wits on the final two tracks — the adorable ode to throupling “Only Have Eyes 42,” which quotes a doo wop classic to swathe polyamory in innocence, and the brief, tender “A Dry Red,” which shows that Monaé can do yearning as convincingly as she can pose or purr, and begins the album’s cycle of awakening, pursuit and connection again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13927403']For all its narrative flair, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> is actually more about making space than telling a story, and that’s why this album is more instantly beguiling than her previous releases, whose high concepts could result in a certain chilliness. Monáe has called this space an oasis, and its sheltering vibes are paramount. The album’s rollout, via a \u003cem>Rolling Stone \u003c/em>cover and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7S6wLP_vsY\">“Lipstick Lover” video\u003c/a>, has centered on Wondaland West, the communal Los Angeles manse where Monáe is housemother, with its party-ready courtyard that \u003cem>Rolling Stone\u003c/em>‘s Mankaprr Conteh \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/janelle-monae-the-age-of-pleasure-album-interview-1234736254/\">described\u003c/a> as “magnificent, with its tranquil pool in the center and troves of nooks, crannies, outdoor baths, and citrus trees” — an Eden where slipping away with a special someone is as possible as joining in on a group hug. During lockdown, in collaboration with the diasporic roving party Everyday People, Monáe began hosting gatherings. \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> reflects this communal experience, asserting that the only way pleasure can flower is in well-tended gardens where people can relax into themselves. For BIPOC and queer people, such places have often been difficult to find, and they are currently under siege. \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure \u003c/em>establishes its utopia to illuminate the need for more mundane versions of it to multiply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term “pleasure zone” has different meanings; it designates sensitive parts of the body, but also spaces where people can step outside the grind of their daily lives and play. Postmodern theory names certain characteristics of these spaces: They are sheltering, flexible and whimsical, allowing visitors to try on customarily unavailable modes of being. Access to such spaces has often been denied BIPOC and queer people; the history of the swimming pool, Monáe’s favorite metaphor, is stained with the blood of racist segregation. That’s why imagining — and creating — such oases matters so much, and why, for all its lightness, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> is profoundly political. As these songs move from Lagos polyrhythms to Atlanta \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXmqauitBkM\">hip-hop horns\u003c/a> to variations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au7W8tbSFtU\">earlier pop twists\u003c/a> on dance floor innovation like executive producer Diddy’s long-lost project Dirty Money, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> conjures a dream of frictionless fluidity where any fantasy might be pursued, any identity embraced, safely. The myriad images of water add to the feeling of escaping gravity — and it’s definitely pool water, teal blue and protected from dangerous undertows, where a leg can press against a thigh on a floatie with no danger of pulling anyone under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janelle Monáe’s supreme ability to contain herself, to meld with the roles she takes on, is her main strength and shortcoming as a performer. She has achieved much as an actress by disappearing into roles that \u003ca href=\"https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/janelle-monae-character-glass-onion-costumes\">require her to don disguises\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3FxDJz_HDg\">help others disguise themselves\u003c/a>, keep secrets and find power \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXz94_CRzAU\">on the margins\u003c/a>. Her music has sometimes lacked a strong charismatic center as she’s pursued different characters and plotlines. On \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> she experiments with a new role — that of her own fine self, alive in a body and eager to feel as much as she can. This allows her to put aside the highly dramatic expressiveness to which she’s not suited and instead dwell in that liquid experience of suggestiveness and seduction where gestures speak louder than words. Monáe still seems to resist intense emotions — heartache, for example, doesn’t surface anywhere here, and despite all the kissing and licking and offers to keep her lovers coming, she doesn’t hit any orgasmic notes herself. Instead, she and the Wondaland crew offer an alternative to all that: a wet dream of a better world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Janelle+Mon%C3%A1e+wants+you+...+to+enter+the+%27Pleasure%27+zone&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the already uncomfortably hot summer of 2023, talk of pleasure can hit like a forbidden tonic, providing relief from a steady diet of grief, outrage and anxiety. Janelle Monáe’s new album \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> presents itself as both that stimulant and a guidebook, a compact compendium of fantasies and pep talks designed to encourage listeners to relax into the dopamine-rushed present tense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I could f*** me right here right now I would do that,” the singer-actor-conceptualist turned libertine lifestyle coach sings in “Water Slide,” a reggaefied mid-record romp that plays with swimming metaphors — \u003cem>backstroke, freestyle, surfing on the thing like it’s high tide \u003c/em>— to invoke a tipsy kind of arousal that lingers delightfully, requiring no release. A floating feeling, like being drawn into a swimming pool’s lazy river. Or like getting intimate without an end goal in mind, in a safe space with someone you love. “I could spend the whole day in it,” Monáe swoons, and by “it” she means pleasure itself.\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/Ag7Ul4U_dSI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Ag7Ul4U_dSI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In Monáe’s world pleasure means some obvious things — material comfort, self-love, carefully maintained ties with intimates and an open-ended approach to alluring strangers. Musically, these values find expression in a certain cadence, that \u003cem>clavé \u003c/em>groove that unfolds the way sexual excitement does, slowing time down and speeding it up all at once. Monáe and her collaborators in the Wondaland Arts Society ground \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> in the complex yet accessible rhythms of \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/afrobeats-global-rise-1282575/\">Afrobeats\u003c/a> (some prefer Afropop), the diasporic dance music that shares sonic borders with global Latin pop and Caribbean riddims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Afrobeats is the ground of much current mainstream pop, recasting hip-hop on the global stage in ways that are both historically minded — the presence of Nigerian scion\u003ca href=\"https://www.seunkuti.net/\"> Seun Kuti \u003c/a>and Egypt 80 on this album accomplish that goal — and \u003cem>au courant\u003c/em>. Monáe queers the trend with lyrics that celebrate same-sex encounters and polyamory and by filling \u003cem>Pleasure\u003c/em>‘s songs with quick turns, interludes and echoes, creating a sinuous inflorescence evocative of many women’s responsive patterns and the polymorphous attention blur of a friendly orgy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this sounds like a lot, Monáe and her collaborators make sure it goes down easy. \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> is just over 30 minutes long and its structure is clean and tight. Supposedly an autobiographical departure from her previous character-driven concept albums, this neat set still displays an actor’s sensibility. It unfolds in three acts, with a bold opening, a complicated middle and a pleasing denouement. But unlike her earlier Cindi Mayweather trilogy, with its hugely detailed world-building and heady ideas about power, race and humanity itself, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure \u003c/em>is contained, naturalistic and circular. It’s a round, a story that’s not linear but grounded in an ebb and flow, again like a woman’s sensuality — and in service of a utopian eroticism that runs on true mutual recognition.\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/kEaclTJZCKc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/kEaclTJZCKc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>True to her style and accommodating an instrument that’s more chameleonic than stunningly distinctive, Monáe puts on many voices throughout \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em>. The first four tracks are flexes, runway struts redolent of the ballroom (and, inevitably, Beyoncé’s \u003cem>Renaissance\u003c/em>). The dominant voice here is that of a haughty rapper who also likes to play. Monáe doesn’t walk, she floats; she’s on her champagne s***, phenomenal, so hot she’s \u003cem>haute\u003c/em>. This is the warm-up, the infusion of pride required to pursue pleasure without too much risk of being exploited. “I’m looking at a thousand versions of myself, and we’re all fine as f***,” Monáe spits over an avant-funk beat, ready to grab her besties and go on the prowl. Flipping a line from decadent \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZiISc7Ej84&t=90s\">\u003cem>Euphoria\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, she speaks up for seductiveness as a strength instead of a destabilizing element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Her excursions occupy the album’s middle and most interesting section, a set of mid-tempo grooves that turn inward to describe a queer experience of pleasure. An interlude featuring Saint Grace Jones murmuring in French sets up the section; then comes “Lipstick Lover,” the summery reggae single that hovers in the air like a throwaway while establishing Monáe’s all-important perspective. “I like lipstick on my neck,” Monáe chants in the chorus, not only making clear that she wants queer fun but pointing toward erogenous zones that unseat Afropop and hip-hop’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.teenvogue.com/story/afrobeats-industry-needs-to-confront-its-bias-against-female-artists\">phallocentric tendencies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more effective is “The Rush,” its half time dancehall riddim and airy harmonies sounding like what being turned on feels like, steadily yet sneakily intensifying on a wave of Monáe’s murmurs with extra strokes from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/1180152530\">Amaarae\u003c/a> and Nia Long. “I get that \u003cem>feelin’\u003c/em>,” she repeats, redirecting her thought processes below her neck over a bed of what the credits describe as “percolating freaquencies.” Feeling becomes a way of thinking. Next comes “Water Slide,” its drenched metaphors accentuating the music’s body consciousness.\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/jppx-EFJ818'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/jppx-EFJ818'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The final turn in \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure \u003c/em>complicates pleasure by showing how it’s a two- (or three-) way street that can get a little bumpy. The insistence of “Know Better,” a lover’s plea built around densely multi-tracked vocals from Monáe and Nigerian crooner \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNbAu0IZhKQ\">Ckay\u003c/a>, reminds the listener that pleasure demands consent. That song drifts right into “Paid In Pleasure,” a sticky allegory that lets in some perversion, turning sex’s sometimes transactional nature into a fetish. (Monáe’s early mentor Prince would have enjoyed this one.) Our sensual hero recovers her wits on the final two tracks — the adorable ode to throupling “Only Have Eyes 42,” which quotes a doo wop classic to swathe polyamory in innocence, and the brief, tender “A Dry Red,” which shows that Monaé can do yearning as convincingly as she can pose or purr, and begins the album’s cycle of awakening, pursuit and connection again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For all its narrative flair, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> is actually more about making space than telling a story, and that’s why this album is more instantly beguiling than her previous releases, whose high concepts could result in a certain chilliness. Monáe has called this space an oasis, and its sheltering vibes are paramount. The album’s rollout, via a \u003cem>Rolling Stone \u003c/em>cover and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7S6wLP_vsY\">“Lipstick Lover” video\u003c/a>, has centered on Wondaland West, the communal Los Angeles manse where Monáe is housemother, with its party-ready courtyard that \u003cem>Rolling Stone\u003c/em>‘s Mankaprr Conteh \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/janelle-monae-the-age-of-pleasure-album-interview-1234736254/\">described\u003c/a> as “magnificent, with its tranquil pool in the center and troves of nooks, crannies, outdoor baths, and citrus trees” — an Eden where slipping away with a special someone is as possible as joining in on a group hug. During lockdown, in collaboration with the diasporic roving party Everyday People, Monáe began hosting gatherings. \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> reflects this communal experience, asserting that the only way pleasure can flower is in well-tended gardens where people can relax into themselves. For BIPOC and queer people, such places have often been difficult to find, and they are currently under siege. \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure \u003c/em>establishes its utopia to illuminate the need for more mundane versions of it to multiply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term “pleasure zone” has different meanings; it designates sensitive parts of the body, but also spaces where people can step outside the grind of their daily lives and play. Postmodern theory names certain characteristics of these spaces: They are sheltering, flexible and whimsical, allowing visitors to try on customarily unavailable modes of being. Access to such spaces has often been denied BIPOC and queer people; the history of the swimming pool, Monáe’s favorite metaphor, is stained with the blood of racist segregation. That’s why imagining — and creating — such oases matters so much, and why, for all its lightness, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> is profoundly political. As these songs move from Lagos polyrhythms to Atlanta \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXmqauitBkM\">hip-hop horns\u003c/a> to variations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au7W8tbSFtU\">earlier pop twists\u003c/a> on dance floor innovation like executive producer Diddy’s long-lost project Dirty Money, \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> conjures a dream of frictionless fluidity where any fantasy might be pursued, any identity embraced, safely. The myriad images of water add to the feeling of escaping gravity — and it’s definitely pool water, teal blue and protected from dangerous undertows, where a leg can press against a thigh on a floatie with no danger of pulling anyone under.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Janelle Monáe’s supreme ability to contain herself, to meld with the roles she takes on, is her main strength and shortcoming as a performer. She has achieved much as an actress by disappearing into roles that \u003ca href=\"https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/janelle-monae-character-glass-onion-costumes\">require her to don disguises\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3FxDJz_HDg\">help others disguise themselves\u003c/a>, keep secrets and find power \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXz94_CRzAU\">on the margins\u003c/a>. Her music has sometimes lacked a strong charismatic center as she’s pursued different characters and plotlines. On \u003cem>The Age of Pleasure\u003c/em> she experiments with a new role — that of her own fine self, alive in a body and eager to feel as much as she can. This allows her to put aside the highly dramatic expressiveness to which she’s not suited and instead dwell in that liquid experience of suggestiveness and seduction where gestures speak louder than words. Monáe still seems to resist intense emotions — heartache, for example, doesn’t surface anywhere here, and despite all the kissing and licking and offers to keep her lovers coming, she doesn’t hit any orgasmic notes herself. Instead, she and the Wondaland crew offer an alternative to all that: a wet dream of a better world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Janelle+Mon%C3%A1e+wants+you+...+to+enter+the+%27Pleasure%27+zone&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "In ‘Blue Jean,’ a Nuanced Picture of Life as a Lesbian in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain",
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"content": "\u003cp>A high school gym teacher grappling with her sexual identity is challenged on both a micro and macro level in 1988 England in \u003cem>Blue Jean\u003c/em>, a quietly complex portrait of compartmentalization and self-actualization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929913']In October 1987, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave a speech in which she bemoaned the state of education and said that “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.” This was just part of her critique of the state of education and the agenda of “extremist teachers” pushing “political slogans” and “anti-racist mathematics” who are cheating children out of a “sound start in life.” By May of 1988, a law was passed (Section 28) that would “prohibit the promotion of homosexuality” and would remain in effect in some form until 2003. Don’t worry if the law doesn’t sound familiar either — it was news to both the film’s director and star.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film, which opens in limited release Friday, is the assured directorial debut of Georgia Oakley, who focuses her script not on the women who went out to protest as the House of Lords debated Section 28, but on one who was still coming to terms with her own identity. Jean (Rosy McEwen) is not terribly political, and, like most teachers, keeps her private life to herself. But she’s also one whose livelihood and passion (teaching) would be directly threatened by the law. Her journey in the film is a human one — there are mistakes, deep regrets, and casualties — and it’s her flaws that make her relatable. She is not, in other words, exactly an inspirational hero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGGRNmIU7fc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the beginning, Jean leads a quiet life. She lives alone in an apartment and commutes to teach gym to high schoolers and coach the girls’ netball team. She loves her work and takes it seriously but keeps a distance from both the students and her fellow teachers, eating alone at lunch and declining persistent requests to go out for a pint after work. Some nights she meets up with her girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes), and a group of other lesbians at an underground bar. Unlike Jean, who is described as a deer in headlights, these other women are out and proud. When an older woman sneers at Jean and Viv eating together, Jean shrinks while Viv goes on the offensive. In the background, radio news broadcasts speak about the looming Section 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The message Jean takes from all of this is to hide. In her mind, this makes sense because teachers need to set boundaries with their students and co-workers. But then a new girl arrives at school, Lois (Lucy Halliday) who is also gay, and Jean’s meticulously segregated life starts to crumble — especially after Lois sees her out with Viv and friends, and Jean retreats further into herself. Is it her responsibility to look, protect or guide Lois through this aspect of her life? Jean will make a shocking decision before the end of the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930351\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-800x478.png\" alt=\"A woman with a shaved head and a blonde woman sit in a pub at a table, pints of beer in front of them. Two friends sit opposite them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-800x478.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-1020x610.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-768x459.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM.png 1512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kerrie Hayes, background left, and Rosy McEwen in a scene from ‘Blue Jean.’ \u003ccite>(Magnolia Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jean is both an introvert and a product of her environment — she doesn’t speak to her mother anymore and her more conservative, heterosexual sister’s attempts at supporting Jean mostly make her feel worse. She scolds Jean for exposing her 5-year-old son to Viv, even though she drops the kid off at her apartment without any warning. Jean is also scolded by Viv for telling her nephew that she’s “a friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13930047']Oakley has said she wanted to present a protagonist “without glamorization or misrepresentation,” inspired by filmmakers like Kelly Reichardt and Chantal Akerman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Blue Jean\u003c/em> is a perfect film to debut during Pride. It’s a reminder of the very recent past and the generational effects of institutionalized homophobia.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In October 1987, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher gave a speech in which she bemoaned the state of education and said that “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.” This was just part of her critique of the state of education and the agenda of “extremist teachers” pushing “political slogans” and “anti-racist mathematics” who are cheating children out of a “sound start in life.” By May of 1988, a law was passed (Section 28) that would “prohibit the promotion of homosexuality” and would remain in effect in some form until 2003. Don’t worry if the law doesn’t sound familiar either — it was news to both the film’s director and star.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film, which opens in limited release Friday, is the assured directorial debut of Georgia Oakley, who focuses her script not on the women who went out to protest as the House of Lords debated Section 28, but on one who was still coming to terms with her own identity. Jean (Rosy McEwen) is not terribly political, and, like most teachers, keeps her private life to herself. But she’s also one whose livelihood and passion (teaching) would be directly threatened by the law. Her journey in the film is a human one — there are mistakes, deep regrets, and casualties — and it’s her flaws that make her relatable. She is not, in other words, exactly an inspirational hero.\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/mGGRNmIU7fc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/mGGRNmIU7fc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>At the beginning, Jean leads a quiet life. She lives alone in an apartment and commutes to teach gym to high schoolers and coach the girls’ netball team. She loves her work and takes it seriously but keeps a distance from both the students and her fellow teachers, eating alone at lunch and declining persistent requests to go out for a pint after work. Some nights she meets up with her girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes), and a group of other lesbians at an underground bar. Unlike Jean, who is described as a deer in headlights, these other women are out and proud. When an older woman sneers at Jean and Viv eating together, Jean shrinks while Viv goes on the offensive. In the background, radio news broadcasts speak about the looming Section 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The message Jean takes from all of this is to hide. In her mind, this makes sense because teachers need to set boundaries with their students and co-workers. But then a new girl arrives at school, Lois (Lucy Halliday) who is also gay, and Jean’s meticulously segregated life starts to crumble — especially after Lois sees her out with Viv and friends, and Jean retreats further into herself. Is it her responsibility to look, protect or guide Lois through this aspect of her life? Jean will make a shocking decision before the end of the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930351\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-800x478.png\" alt=\"A woman with a shaved head and a blonde woman sit in a pub at a table, pints of beer in front of them. Two friends sit opposite them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-800x478.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-1020x610.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-160x96.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM-768x459.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-11.11.28-AM.png 1512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kerrie Hayes, background left, and Rosy McEwen in a scene from ‘Blue Jean.’ \u003ccite>(Magnolia Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jean is both an introvert and a product of her environment — she doesn’t speak to her mother anymore and her more conservative, heterosexual sister’s attempts at supporting Jean mostly make her feel worse. She scolds Jean for exposing her 5-year-old son to Viv, even though she drops the kid off at her apartment without any warning. Jean is also scolded by Viv for telling her nephew that she’s “a friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930280\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930280\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-800x1124.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of a graphic novel titled 'The Talk' features an illustration of a Black boy wearing a grey hoodie. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1124\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-800x1124.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-1020x1434.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-160x225.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-768x1080.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-1093x1536.jpg 1093w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784-1457x2048.jpg 1457w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/bell_custom-e04492cfa2bdfacc2d1d692703410d3b9267d784.jpg 1817w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">’The Talk’ by Darrin Bell. \u003ccite>(Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the prologue to Darrin Bell’s expansive debut graphic memoir, \u003cem>The Talk\u003c/em>, he illustrates, in comics, his memory of being six years old and coming face to face with a pack of snarling, snaggle-toothed dogs. The children around him kneel and hold out their hands to the terrifying animals, but in the moment young Bell can only freeze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929396']His wide eyes, drawn in simple cartoonish lines that seem nearly to jump off the page, enmesh readers in the scene. The child senses the dogs’ continued pursuit of him for weeks after, though his older brother, Steven, assures him he is just imagining the threat. At the conclusion to this prescient opening, the curly haired boy is drawn sitting safely on a school bus, riding away from what he most fears. He crouches over a piece of paper, red crayon in hand, as the adult Bell recounts of his young self, speaking in the present tense: “I draw the beast I know I saw.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bell’s galvanizing new work is all about those two interjecting words, “I know.” \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>explores the question of how people — in this case, a precocious, geeky, and artistic young man, the child of a white mother and Black father — know what they know. How can you make sense of the world around you when your lived experiences don’t match up with the conflicting things people around you, particularly adults, say or do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930289\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-800x1143.png\" alt=\"A page from 'The Talk' in which a young Black boy asks his mom why his new water pistol is green and doesn't look anything like a real gun.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1143\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-800x1143.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-160x229.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-768x1098.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM.png 834w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A page from ‘The Talk.’ \u003ccite>(Darrin Bell/ Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first chapter tracks another pivotal, horrifying moment from the same year in the boy’s young life. Bell’s mom holds off on buying her son a water gun for fear of the racialized violence that daily puts Black boys and men disproportionately at risk. When she finally succumbs to her young son’s pleas to join in on the children’s games he sees on the playground, the result, unbeknownst to her, is as disastrous as it is devastating. He is refilling his neon green water gun in a puddle on a street corner, imagining himself a heroic Luke Skywalker in hot pursuit, when a police officer descends on him. The incident stuns the child out of play and into paralysis, and he cannot talk about it for years after. That day, he goes home, dismisses his mother’s inquiries, and sits alone to draw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929802']\u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>goes on to trace decisive moments in the cartoonist’s childhood and adolescence as he navigates his way through Los Angeles and Berkeley in the 1980s and ’90s, and into his adult life as a successful professional, a husband and a father. It’s a portrait of an artist coming into his own — Bell is a Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist as well as the creator of a number of hugely popular syndicated comic strips, including \u003cem>Candorville.\u003c/em> Like Ta-Nehisi Coates’s \u003cem>Between the World and Me\u003c/em>, and Kwame Alexander’s more recent \u003cem>Why Fathers Cry at Night\u003c/em>, the book is in part premised on a parent’s desire to address hard subjects with his young children in mind. He wants not so much to explain how, or why, the world works as it does — though Bell’s imaginative, deeply thoughtful metaphors and analogies for racism and prejudice consistently pepper the book in trenchant ways. Instead readers might think of \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>in keeping with Bell’s description of editorial cartooning. Soon after he wins the Pulitzer for his work satirizing Trump and his political machinations, he narrates: “My son asks if I won for saying how to fix it. I tell him, no, I won for pointing out what’s broken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930290\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-800x768.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a Black man staring at his reflection in a window. Instead of himself, he sees Trayvon Martin.\" width=\"800\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-800x768.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-1020x979.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-160x154.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-768x737.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM.png 1292w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A page from ‘The Talk.’ \u003ccite>(Darrin Bell/ Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The book is visually stunning, and propulsive, with an absorbing narrative voice. Divided into almost two dozen chapters, its drawings fluctuate from the whimsically cartoonish to the delightfully painterly. The page layouts are complex and often surprising, with illustrations sometimes splitting at the seams to suggest confusion, or fluctuation. At other times single images swell across pages to convey the overwhelming atmosphere of a caustic memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929021']The subject matter is often difficult, as the book gathers episodes taken from years and years of micro and macro aggressions as experienced by the narrator. They are violent words and acts accrued from strangers as well as those who have known him over the years, from a school friend to a white female professor at Berkeley who baselessly accuses Bell of plagiarism at the very end of his senior year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite its weighty, multi-tiered approach — this is not, on multiple levels, an easy read — \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>is difficult to put down. Reminiscent of longform comics memoirs such as Alison Bechdel’s \u003cem>Fun Home \u003c/em>and Marjane Satrapi’s \u003cem>Persepolis\u003c/em>, stories about young writers and artists finding their ways through both personal and structural hardships and strife, this epic portrait of an artist is a masterpiece. Like the effects of an unduly perceptive editorial cartoon, \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>makes a penetrative, and lasting, impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930291\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930291\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-800x1069.png\" alt=\"An illustration depicts a close up view of an eyeball and eyelashes. Reflected in the eye is a Black man closely embracing an infant. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1069\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-800x1069.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-160x214.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-768x1026.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM.png 964w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">’The Talk’ by Darrin Bell. \u003ccite>(Darrin Bell/Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tahneer Oksman is a writer, teacher, and scholar specializing in memoir as well as graphic novels and comics. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27The+Talk%27+is+an+epic+portrait+of+an+artist+making+his+way+through+hardships&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>His wide eyes, drawn in simple cartoonish lines that seem nearly to jump off the page, enmesh readers in the scene. The child senses the dogs’ continued pursuit of him for weeks after, though his older brother, Steven, assures him he is just imagining the threat. At the conclusion to this prescient opening, the curly haired boy is drawn sitting safely on a school bus, riding away from what he most fears. He crouches over a piece of paper, red crayon in hand, as the adult Bell recounts of his young self, speaking in the present tense: “I draw the beast I know I saw.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bell’s galvanizing new work is all about those two interjecting words, “I know.” \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>explores the question of how people — in this case, a precocious, geeky, and artistic young man, the child of a white mother and Black father — know what they know. How can you make sense of the world around you when your lived experiences don’t match up with the conflicting things people around you, particularly adults, say or do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930289\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-800x1143.png\" alt=\"A page from 'The Talk' in which a young Black boy asks his mom why his new water pistol is green and doesn't look anything like a real gun.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1143\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-800x1143.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-160x229.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM-768x1098.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.10.31-AM.png 834w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A page from ‘The Talk.’ \u003ccite>(Darrin Bell/ Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The first chapter tracks another pivotal, horrifying moment from the same year in the boy’s young life. Bell’s mom holds off on buying her son a water gun for fear of the racialized violence that daily puts Black boys and men disproportionately at risk. When she finally succumbs to her young son’s pleas to join in on the children’s games he sees on the playground, the result, unbeknownst to her, is as disastrous as it is devastating. He is refilling his neon green water gun in a puddle on a street corner, imagining himself a heroic Luke Skywalker in hot pursuit, when a police officer descends on him. The incident stuns the child out of play and into paralysis, and he cannot talk about it for years after. That day, he goes home, dismisses his mother’s inquiries, and sits alone to draw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>goes on to trace decisive moments in the cartoonist’s childhood and adolescence as he navigates his way through Los Angeles and Berkeley in the 1980s and ’90s, and into his adult life as a successful professional, a husband and a father. It’s a portrait of an artist coming into his own — Bell is a Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist as well as the creator of a number of hugely popular syndicated comic strips, including \u003cem>Candorville.\u003c/em> Like Ta-Nehisi Coates’s \u003cem>Between the World and Me\u003c/em>, and Kwame Alexander’s more recent \u003cem>Why Fathers Cry at Night\u003c/em>, the book is in part premised on a parent’s desire to address hard subjects with his young children in mind. He wants not so much to explain how, or why, the world works as it does — though Bell’s imaginative, deeply thoughtful metaphors and analogies for racism and prejudice consistently pepper the book in trenchant ways. Instead readers might think of \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>in keeping with Bell’s description of editorial cartooning. Soon after he wins the Pulitzer for his work satirizing Trump and his political machinations, he narrates: “My son asks if I won for saying how to fix it. I tell him, no, I won for pointing out what’s broken.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930290\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-800x768.png\" alt=\"An illustration of a Black man staring at his reflection in a window. Instead of himself, he sees Trayvon Martin.\" width=\"800\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-800x768.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-1020x979.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-160x154.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM-768x737.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.13.33-AM.png 1292w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A page from ‘The Talk.’ \u003ccite>(Darrin Bell/ Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The book is visually stunning, and propulsive, with an absorbing narrative voice. Divided into almost two dozen chapters, its drawings fluctuate from the whimsically cartoonish to the delightfully painterly. The page layouts are complex and often surprising, with illustrations sometimes splitting at the seams to suggest confusion, or fluctuation. At other times single images swell across pages to convey the overwhelming atmosphere of a caustic memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The subject matter is often difficult, as the book gathers episodes taken from years and years of micro and macro aggressions as experienced by the narrator. They are violent words and acts accrued from strangers as well as those who have known him over the years, from a school friend to a white female professor at Berkeley who baselessly accuses Bell of plagiarism at the very end of his senior year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite its weighty, multi-tiered approach — this is not, on multiple levels, an easy read — \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>is difficult to put down. Reminiscent of longform comics memoirs such as Alison Bechdel’s \u003cem>Fun Home \u003c/em>and Marjane Satrapi’s \u003cem>Persepolis\u003c/em>, stories about young writers and artists finding their ways through both personal and structural hardships and strife, this epic portrait of an artist is a masterpiece. Like the effects of an unduly perceptive editorial cartoon, \u003cem>The Talk \u003c/em>makes a penetrative, and lasting, impression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930291\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930291\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-800x1069.png\" alt=\"An illustration depicts a close up view of an eyeball and eyelashes. Reflected in the eye is a Black man closely embracing an infant. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1069\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-800x1069.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-160x214.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM-768x1026.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-08-at-10.17.13-AM.png 964w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">’The Talk’ by Darrin Bell. \u003ccite>(Darrin Bell/Henry Holt & Co.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tahneer Oksman is a writer, teacher, and scholar specializing in memoir as well as graphic novels and comics. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27The+Talk%27+is+an+epic+portrait+of+an+artist+making+his+way+through+hardships&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Get a Loaded Origin Story — One That’s Worth the Crunch",
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"content": "\u003cp>Flamin’ Hot Cheetos get an origin story worthy of any Marvel superhero with Hulu’s totally engrossing \u003cem>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/em>. It’s the tale of how a struggling Mexican American janitor came up with the idea of adding spice to the cornmeal, forever saving after-school snacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is it true? Probably not. Don’t let that stop you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll wish \u003cem>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/em> was accurate because it’s a winning tale of perseverance, family love, proud heritage and blue-collar success, told with a wink, some Cheetos dust and a ton of love by Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it7sNRloq-A\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesse Garcia stars as Richard Montañez, a one-time Frito-Lay floor-sweeper in southern California who convinced his bosses to make a snack that celebrates the flavors of Mexico despite a seven-layer dip of skeptics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“New products take years to develop, cost millions to launch and they do not get created by blue-collar hoodlums, who probably can’t spell hoodlum,” our hero is told.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nevertheless, Montañez persists, cracking the Latino market and repairing his relationship with his abusive father along the way. “I’m the guy who helped bring the world the most popular snack it’s ever seen,” he says in a voice-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13913985']It’s an unlikely story, for sure. No, really. It’s unlikely. \u003cem>The Los Angeles Times\u003c/em> has published allegations that Montañez fabricated his role in the snack’s creation and Frito-Lay says he “was not involved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Longoria and the screenplay by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez — based on Montañez memoir — will have you cheering when the gnarled red snacks finally zip along on an assembly line and you’ll be ready to gleefully fist-bump Montañez, played understatedly but with deep soul by Garcia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is more than just a snack-version \u003cem>Rocky\u003c/em> story, with the filmmakers exploring the insecurity of factory shift workers, the stress of integrating into white culture, how hard it is for corporations to innovate and the ability to silence the voices in your head that urge you to quit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930230\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-800x497.png\" alt=\"A man sits slumped on a park bench absent-mindedly staring at the street corn in his right hand. Two small boys sit either side of him, also eating corn. \" width=\"800\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-800x497.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-1020x634.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-160x99.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-768x478.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM.png 1396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, Hunter Jones, Jesse Garcia and Brice Gonzalez in a scene from ‘Flamin’ Hot.’ \u003ccite>(Emily Aragones/Searchlight Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In one heartbreaking early scene, Montañez — so poor he waters down the milk for his kids and uses chewing gum to seal holes in their shoes — is wide-eyed at the Frito-Lay factory until he notices all the overcooked chips are tossed. “People are always trying to throw away the brown ones,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The filmmakers enliven their story with wonderful flights of fancy, like when we see Montañez lose it and beat up a manager with a mop after being called Paco. “Nah, just kidding,” he says in the voice over. ”What you think? It was my first week on the job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To show the passage of time during the Reagan administration, they’ve also cleverly got a man on the factory floor holding a box reading “1985,” the extruder pumps out “1986” and forklifts carrying boxes that read “1987” and “1988.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929913']There are a few references to Frito-Lay scientists in the Midwest also working on a spicy flavor, but this is strictly a fist-in-the-air portrayal of Montañez alone, set to a soundtrack of Latin artists like Santana, Los Lobos and Ozomatli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His heroic arc is more than a little unbelievable, especially when he taps his former drug-dealing pals to start handing out free bags of chips like pushers, and for the many times he jumps up on a piece of factory equipment to deliver a \u003cem>Dead Poets Society\u003c/em>-like speech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dennis Haysbert as a gruff engineer, Annie Gonzalez as Montañez’s loving wife and Tony Shalhoub as the CEO of Frito-Lay all add welcome flavor notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the montages that really shine, like the moment in a park when Montañez, eating elote and watching everyone put hot sauce on their food, gets a vision of a spicy snack. “I had been searching for an answer. Or a door to open. And there it was all around me. It had been there the entire time,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930228\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-800x533.png\" alt=\"A small boy sits at a round dining table, a bowl of red snacks in front of him. As he bites into one, his parents and brother watch closely.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-800x533.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM.png 1430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brice Gonzalez, Annie Gonzalez, Jesse Garcia and Hunter Jones. \u003ccite>(Emily Aragones/ Searchlight Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There’s also the sequence when he and his family try every chile combo — poblano, pasilla, serrano, guajillo and habanero included — until they find the right formula, often hovering around their youngest kid as he samples a chip and gives them the green light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final product is credited with opening the door to cool new convenience store flavors and for U.S. corporations to finally respect the Latino market. That’s a lot of stuff to put in a bag of chips, even if it’s all made up. But it’s so fun to watch. It burns so good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Flamin’ Hot’ is out on June 9, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Flamin’ Hot Cheetos get an origin story worthy of any Marvel superhero with Hulu’s totally engrossing \u003cem>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/em>. It’s the tale of how a struggling Mexican American janitor came up with the idea of adding spice to the cornmeal, forever saving after-school snacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Is it true? Probably not. Don’t let that stop you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll wish \u003cem>Flamin’ Hot\u003c/em> was accurate because it’s a winning tale of perseverance, family love, proud heritage and blue-collar success, told with a wink, some Cheetos dust and a ton of love by Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut.\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/it7sNRloq-A'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/it7sNRloq-A'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Jesse Garcia stars as Richard Montañez, a one-time Frito-Lay floor-sweeper in southern California who convinced his bosses to make a snack that celebrates the flavors of Mexico despite a seven-layer dip of skeptics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s an unlikely story, for sure. No, really. It’s unlikely. \u003cem>The Los Angeles Times\u003c/em> has published allegations that Montañez fabricated his role in the snack’s creation and Frito-Lay says he “was not involved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Longoria and the screenplay by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez — based on Montañez memoir — will have you cheering when the gnarled red snacks finally zip along on an assembly line and you’ll be ready to gleefully fist-bump Montañez, played understatedly but with deep soul by Garcia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is more than just a snack-version \u003cem>Rocky\u003c/em> story, with the filmmakers exploring the insecurity of factory shift workers, the stress of integrating into white culture, how hard it is for corporations to innovate and the ability to silence the voices in your head that urge you to quit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930230\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-800x497.png\" alt=\"A man sits slumped on a park bench absent-mindedly staring at the street corn in his right hand. Two small boys sit either side of him, also eating corn. \" width=\"800\" height=\"497\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-800x497.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-1020x634.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-160x99.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM-768x478.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.48.47-AM.png 1396w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, Hunter Jones, Jesse Garcia and Brice Gonzalez in a scene from ‘Flamin’ Hot.’ \u003ccite>(Emily Aragones/Searchlight Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In one heartbreaking early scene, Montañez — so poor he waters down the milk for his kids and uses chewing gum to seal holes in their shoes — is wide-eyed at the Frito-Lay factory until he notices all the overcooked chips are tossed. “People are always trying to throw away the brown ones,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The filmmakers enliven their story with wonderful flights of fancy, like when we see Montañez lose it and beat up a manager with a mop after being called Paco. “Nah, just kidding,” he says in the voice over. ”What you think? It was my first week on the job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To show the passage of time during the Reagan administration, they’ve also cleverly got a man on the factory floor holding a box reading “1985,” the extruder pumps out “1986” and forklifts carrying boxes that read “1987” and “1988.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There are a few references to Frito-Lay scientists in the Midwest also working on a spicy flavor, but this is strictly a fist-in-the-air portrayal of Montañez alone, set to a soundtrack of Latin artists like Santana, Los Lobos and Ozomatli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His heroic arc is more than a little unbelievable, especially when he taps his former drug-dealing pals to start handing out free bags of chips like pushers, and for the many times he jumps up on a piece of factory equipment to deliver a \u003cem>Dead Poets Society\u003c/em>-like speech.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dennis Haysbert as a gruff engineer, Annie Gonzalez as Montañez’s loving wife and Tony Shalhoub as the CEO of Frito-Lay all add welcome flavor notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the montages that really shine, like the moment in a park when Montañez, eating elote and watching everyone put hot sauce on their food, gets a vision of a spicy snack. “I had been searching for an answer. Or a door to open. And there it was all around me. It had been there the entire time,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930228\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-800x533.png\" alt=\"A small boy sits at a round dining table, a bowl of red snacks in front of him. As he bites into one, his parents and brother watch closely.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-800x533.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-07-at-11.43.42-AM.png 1430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brice Gonzalez, Annie Gonzalez, Jesse Garcia and Hunter Jones. \u003ccite>(Emily Aragones/ Searchlight Pictures via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There’s also the sequence when he and his family try every chile combo — poblano, pasilla, serrano, guajillo and habanero included — until they find the right formula, often hovering around their youngest kid as he samples a chip and gives them the green light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final product is credited with opening the door to cool new convenience store flavors and for U.S. corporations to finally respect the Latino market. That’s a lot of stuff to put in a bag of chips, even if it’s all made up. But it’s so fun to watch. It burns so good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Flamin’ Hot’ is out on June 9, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Elliot Page Shares Struggles and Former Selves in Engaging New Memoir",
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"content": "\u003cp>Reading \u003cem>Pageboy,\u003c/em> Elliot Page’s memoir, I found myself hoping and praying that the world might treat queer kids with more kindness today than it did when the actor was growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dennis, what are you gonna do if Ellen’s a dyke?” Page recalls his grandmother asking his father, knowing full well that Page was in the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At six years old, when Page asked his mom if he could be a boy, she matter-of-factly responded: “No, hon, you can’t, you’re a girl … But you can do anything a boy can do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929913']That same conversation between parent and child might play out a little differently in the current climate, now that trans and gender non-conforming communities and issues are more visible than ever before. Then again, with legal attacks being waged on transgender rights across the country, perhaps it wouldn’t. What\u003cem> Pageboy\u003c/em> does very well over the course of its 29 chapters is hammer home the damage done — and the pain endured — by kids like Page who aren’t given the full support they need to be who they are from a young age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pageboy\u003c/em> flits back and forth in time, bouncing between various movie sets, awkward childhood moments and multiple relationships. The nonlinear structure can be dizzying (and not always successful), but if there is a theme that runs throughout the memoir, it’s of pain endured and survival fought for. And there is not a small amount of either here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Page describes navigating exploitation as a teen actor and being preyed on by multiple men and one woman on a variety of sets. He recounts his nerve-rattling experience with a stalker while just 16 years old. Turning 18, Page writes, didn’t improve his situation. Rather, it created “an unspoken permission slip I didn’t consent to” — a notion that won’t be lost on many girls and women reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930202\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930202\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-800x1236.jpg\" alt=\"A book cover showing a youthful transgender man wearing blue jeans and a white tank top, and sitting in front of a red backdrop.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1236\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-800x1236.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-1020x1576.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-160x247.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-768x1187.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-994x1536.jpg 994w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-1325x2048.jpg 1325w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-1920x2967.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-scaled.jpg 1656w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Pageboy’ by Elliot Page. \u003ccite>(Flatiron Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dotted throughout are also Page’s painful memories of homophobic attacks, starting in adolescence and running well past the point of fame. After coming out in 2014, for example, Page was accosted at a party by “one of the most famous actors in the world.” This man, drunk at the time, unfurled a torrent of abuse on Page, telling him that he wasn’t really attracted to women, he was “just afraid of men.” In one particularly disturbing moment, the actor told Page “I’m going to fuck you to make you realize you aren’t gay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13930106']It’s an enormous shame — and likely a legally prescribed one — that Page doesn’t name names here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The party incident is not the only time Page doesn’t point fingers as directly as I wish he could. Page writes extensively of a closeted actress that he met while making a movie together. They had a prolonged secret affair that ended in heartbreak for Page — a pain made worse by running into her at a party while she was on a date with a man. I would be lying if I said I didn’t go straight to IMDB to try and figure out which costar Page was describing. (I failed.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, it’s much easier to discern which “world-renowned photographer” once gave Page a hard time at a magazine shoot. Based on the clues in the story, it’s almost certainly about a \u003cem>Vanity Fair\u003c/em> shoot with Annie Liebovitz in which Page was forced to don a tight blue dress and red heels. Looking back at the photos now, it’s impossible not to notice \u003ca href=\"https://www.searchlightpictures.com/news/ellen-on-ew-and-vanity-fair-covers-kimya-on-abc/\">his defeated slump\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What makes reading all of the hardships in \u003cem>Pageboy\u003c/em> bearable are the passages celebrating the relief of slowly finding the strength and support to be his authentic self. Describing his coming out in 2014, Page’s newfound feeling of liberation screams out from the page. (“I had a burgeoning sense of ease in the world, a confidence … This time of firsts and newfound boldness was also, unsurprisingly perhaps, the most promiscuous period of my life.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, the relief after Page’s first gender-affirming surgery is blissful to read after so many sections about fear and the struggle to come out as transgender. “Mark picked me up after the three-or-so-hour procedure,” Page relays in the book’s penultimate chapter. “He took a photo of me … high as fuck, wearing a black compression vest, my nipples just removed and slapped back on. The smile on my face, in my eyes, the degree of contentment glowing off me, phew.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926077']\u003cem>Pageboy\u003c/em> is not always an easy read. But there is a blunt honesty in Page’s writing that makes this memoir an important testimony, especially for queer and gender non-conforming kids, that things can and do get better. In many ways, the most painful periods of Page’s life stand as a testament to what happens to people unable to live as they wish and love who they want. Having endured years in the public eye while closeted, and experienced homophobia since coming out, Page has an unflinching clarity about which one was worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d rather feel pain while living,” Page asserts in Chapter 8, “than hiding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amen to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Pageboy’ by Elliot Page is out now, via \u003ca href=\"https://www.flatironbooks.com/\">Flatiron Books\u003c/a>. Page will be appearing at San Francisco’s Sydney Goldstein Theater (275 Hayes St.) as part of the City Arts & Lectures series, on Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 7:30pm. A recording of the event will be broadcast on KQED on Aug. 6, 2023. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityarts.net/event/elliot-page/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Reading \u003cem>Pageboy,\u003c/em> Elliot Page’s memoir, I found myself hoping and praying that the world might treat queer kids with more kindness today than it did when the actor was growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dennis, what are you gonna do if Ellen’s a dyke?” Page recalls his grandmother asking his father, knowing full well that Page was in the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At six years old, when Page asked his mom if he could be a boy, she matter-of-factly responded: “No, hon, you can’t, you’re a girl … But you can do anything a boy can do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That same conversation between parent and child might play out a little differently in the current climate, now that trans and gender non-conforming communities and issues are more visible than ever before. Then again, with legal attacks being waged on transgender rights across the country, perhaps it wouldn’t. What\u003cem> Pageboy\u003c/em> does very well over the course of its 29 chapters is hammer home the damage done — and the pain endured — by kids like Page who aren’t given the full support they need to be who they are from a young age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pageboy\u003c/em> flits back and forth in time, bouncing between various movie sets, awkward childhood moments and multiple relationships. The nonlinear structure can be dizzying (and not always successful), but if there is a theme that runs throughout the memoir, it’s of pain endured and survival fought for. And there is not a small amount of either here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Page describes navigating exploitation as a teen actor and being preyed on by multiple men and one woman on a variety of sets. He recounts his nerve-rattling experience with a stalker while just 16 years old. Turning 18, Page writes, didn’t improve his situation. Rather, it created “an unspoken permission slip I didn’t consent to” — a notion that won’t be lost on many girls and women reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930202\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930202\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-800x1236.jpg\" alt=\"A book cover showing a youthful transgender man wearing blue jeans and a white tank top, and sitting in front of a red backdrop.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1236\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-800x1236.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-1020x1576.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-160x247.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-768x1187.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-994x1536.jpg 994w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-1325x2048.jpg 1325w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-1920x2967.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Elliot-Page-scaled.jpg 1656w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Pageboy’ by Elliot Page. \u003ccite>(Flatiron Books)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dotted throughout are also Page’s painful memories of homophobic attacks, starting in adolescence and running well past the point of fame. After coming out in 2014, for example, Page was accosted at a party by “one of the most famous actors in the world.” This man, drunk at the time, unfurled a torrent of abuse on Page, telling him that he wasn’t really attracted to women, he was “just afraid of men.” In one particularly disturbing moment, the actor told Page “I’m going to fuck you to make you realize you aren’t gay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It’s an enormous shame — and likely a legally prescribed one — that Page doesn’t name names here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The party incident is not the only time Page doesn’t point fingers as directly as I wish he could. Page writes extensively of a closeted actress that he met while making a movie together. They had a prolonged secret affair that ended in heartbreak for Page — a pain made worse by running into her at a party while she was on a date with a man. I would be lying if I said I didn’t go straight to IMDB to try and figure out which costar Page was describing. (I failed.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, it’s much easier to discern which “world-renowned photographer” once gave Page a hard time at a magazine shoot. Based on the clues in the story, it’s almost certainly about a \u003cem>Vanity Fair\u003c/em> shoot with Annie Liebovitz in which Page was forced to don a tight blue dress and red heels. Looking back at the photos now, it’s impossible not to notice \u003ca href=\"https://www.searchlightpictures.com/news/ellen-on-ew-and-vanity-fair-covers-kimya-on-abc/\">his defeated slump\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What makes reading all of the hardships in \u003cem>Pageboy\u003c/em> bearable are the passages celebrating the relief of slowly finding the strength and support to be his authentic self. Describing his coming out in 2014, Page’s newfound feeling of liberation screams out from the page. (“I had a burgeoning sense of ease in the world, a confidence … This time of firsts and newfound boldness was also, unsurprisingly perhaps, the most promiscuous period of my life.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, the relief after Page’s first gender-affirming surgery is blissful to read after so many sections about fear and the struggle to come out as transgender. “Mark picked me up after the three-or-so-hour procedure,” Page relays in the book’s penultimate chapter. “He took a photo of me … high as fuck, wearing a black compression vest, my nipples just removed and slapped back on. The smile on my face, in my eyes, the degree of contentment glowing off me, phew.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cem>Pageboy\u003c/em> is not always an easy read. But there is a blunt honesty in Page’s writing that makes this memoir an important testimony, especially for queer and gender non-conforming kids, that things can and do get better. In many ways, the most painful periods of Page’s life stand as a testament to what happens to people unable to live as they wish and love who they want. Having endured years in the public eye while closeted, and experienced homophobia since coming out, Page has an unflinching clarity about which one was worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d rather feel pain while living,” Page asserts in Chapter 8, “than hiding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amen to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Pageboy’ by Elliot Page is out now, via \u003ca href=\"https://www.flatironbooks.com/\">Flatiron Books\u003c/a>. Page will be appearing at San Francisco’s Sydney Goldstein Theater (275 Hayes St.) as part of the City Arts & Lectures series, on Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 7:30pm. A recording of the event will be broadcast on KQED on Aug. 6, 2023. \u003ca href=\"https://www.cityarts.net/event/elliot-page/\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Can't Hollywood Get Pop Stardom Right?",
"headTitle": "Why Can’t Hollywood Get Pop Stardom Right? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>These days, according to the parlance of stan armies, you’re either a “main pop girl,” or you’re not. Main pop girl-ism is nebulous, but, like pornography, you know it when you see it. She emerges into the spotlight according to album “eras” (what ancient civilizations once referred to as \u003cem>cycles\u003c/em>). At some point she has, via red carpet outfit or awards performance or interaction with paparazzi, minorly scandalized a nation. “Authenticity” is not a word that appears in her marketing plan. She can often \u003cem>actually dance\u003c/em>. Drag queens impersonate her, and rockists bicker over the number of writers credited to her hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13891785']She may or may not actually, by pure album sales or streaming numbers or radio plays, be \u003cem>popular\u003c/em>. The domination of her type peaked in the late 2000s to early 2010s, when the American charts were crowded with muscled, alpha entertainers like Britney, Christina, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Gaga etc. But there isn’t just one main pop girl; rather, it’s an \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/dua-lipa-pop-girl-energy-dazed-interview-1235335755/\">energy\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/charli-xcx-new-album-crash-alone-together-1297016/\">to embody\u003c/a> — fantasy aware it’s serving fantasy, Bush-era raunch. Music is just one part of her celebrity to consume, along with relationships cataloged in the press, her breakdowns and traumas (to which many documentaries are likely dedicated).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jocelyn, the superstar around whom the plot of the contentious \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/05/1180083160/tv-review-hbo-the-idol-premiere\">new HBO show \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>\u003c/a> swarms, has main pop girl energy. Played by Lily-Rose Depp, the singer is about to release a new single called “World Class Sinner” (the lyrics of which are about being a freak and not much else, and the quality of which wouldn’t earn a spot on Ava Max’s next record) and is still processing her mothers’ death from cancer. We meet her in the middle of a sexy photoshoot, hospital wristband still on her arm. When a compromising photo of Jocelyn leaks and becomes “the number one trending topic on Twitter,” her team leaps into damage control, worried about her suffering from another “psychotic break.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think what Britney and Jocelyn have gone through is really unique, but ultimately universal, you know?” one handler, played by Dan Levy, says. There’s a lot for Jocelyn to prove, from her ability to execute perfect choreography to the illusion of mental stamina (“prioritizing wellness,” one team member calls it). When a shady club-owner played by The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye comes into her life, she seems attracted to his honesty when so few people exercise it with her. “When you’re famous, everyone lies to you,” she tells him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVYUKxF0wMc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jocelyn’s suffering and alienation under the weight of her surveilled pop career feels all too familiar. She’s the young woman ensnared in the music industry machine, coached by handlers, every bit of her body lit flatteringly for the camera, her personality and humanity sanded down for the sake of the brand. You’ve seen her in film or television before. Take, for instance, Natalie Portman’s role as Celeste in 2018’s \u003cem>Vox Lux\u003c/em>, which follows the character as a teenager after she pens a proto-viral track following her survival of a school shooting in the early ’00s. Immediately, she’s signed by a team eager to capitalize on her trauma, whisked away to New York City, then Stockholm. Celeste transforms from innocent into self-destructive megastar, battling drug and alcohol abuse, sneering at journalists and riding fame so immense she can’t walk down the street without being accosted by fans dressed in her image.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMCYE9hKP68\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pressure cooker is similarly distressing for Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the star in 2014’s \u003cem>Beyond the Lights\u003c/em>, a singer in the image of early Rihanna or Ciara (though if she had it her way, she’d be the next Nina Simone.) Groomed for fame by an overbearing momager, Noni’s life is a cycle of producing indecipherable hits, topless photoshoots and a label-orchestrated romance. When she tries to jump off a balcony, she’s stopped by a cop (Nate Parker) and the two fall in love. As her handlers try to contain her image, tainted by her near-suicide, Noni ultimately strips down to her true self, the one who wants to write and perform her own music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rieoWn9BdrQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We see that careful industry transformation in reverse in 2018’s \u003cem>A Star is Born\u003c/em>, as Lady Gaga’s Ally becomes a lip-syncing, orange-haired pop singer, her husband Jackson (Bradley Cooper) disgusted by the artifice that creeps into her performances. It’s never quite clear whether Ally’s transformative choices were her own or that of her new handler, but the film positions the character’s makeover as an affront and a threat to the artistic and romantic bond between her and Jackson. And despite the fact that Ally’s songs, co-written by Gaga, \u003cem>were\u003c/em> bangers (they may have sounded intentionally dated but I won’t tolerate “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01nGbIaT4Wk\">Hair Body Face\u003c/a>” slander), the new Ally was positioned as a veneer over the “real” artist lurking still underneath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSbzyEJ8X9E\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s something exhausting about Hollywood’s copy-paste of the bubblegum star as the vessel through which all the industry’s worst impulses can be articulated or satirized. In Jocelyn’s case, her troubles also don’t feel in step with what’s demanded of mainstream music stars in 2023. The extreme, over-sexed artifice championed by her team hasn’t been en vogue these days among the tween audience I imagine her label is trying to court, who’d sooner find themselves in the lived-in songwriting of stars like Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzy McAlpine, SZA, Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_112407']There’s also the issue of what could erupt an artist’s career at Jocelyn’s level; pop stars cancel global tours \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/22/this-should-not-be-normalised-why-musicians-are-cancelling-tours-to-protect-their-mental-health\">to protect\u003c/a> their “mental health” regularly, after all, and many go so far as to make that mission a marketing angle or the central thesis of a new project. \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em> may bill itself as a project “from the gutters of Hollywood,” but have Jocelyn’s Hollywood peers ever been tamer? So removed from the glare of any \u003cem>TMZ \u003c/em>camera crew, you’re more likely to be inundated with pap photos of stars carting $14 Erewhon smoothies to pilates than sloppily stumbling out of a club at 4 a.m.? Dua Lipa is too busy \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/28/1094567222/in-dua-lipas-ever-expanding-world-theres-no-time-limit-and-theres-no-what-ifs\">podcasting\u003c/a>, anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t help but think about what on-screen depictions of messy music superstardom would look like if they turned their gaze away from pop girls like Jocelyn. The genres that soapy TV shows like \u003cem>Nashville \u003c/em>and \u003cem>Empire\u003c/em> first mined nearly a decade ago, country and hip-hop respectively, now indisputably produce America’s most popular music stars. Where is the show about the handling of an artist like Morgan Wallen? The country star was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/03/963664999/country-star-morgan-wallen-suspended-by-label-dropped-by-radio-cmt-after-using-s\">suspended by\u003c/a> his record label, pulled from radio rotation and banned from the CMA Awards after a video surfaced of him using a racial slur. And yet it only seemed to make him \u003cem>more\u003c/em> popular — album sales for his 2021 album \u003cem>Dangerous\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/arts/music/wallen-dangerous-billboard.html\">increased\u003c/a> after the scandal, and his most recent album \u003cem>One Thing at a Time\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/arts/music/morgan-wallen-one-thing-at-a-time-chart.html\">dominated\u003c/a> the charts for 12 straight weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we had to hold a contest for who actually embodies “main pop girl” spirit and chaos in the \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>-charting set, Drake might actually be closer to the title than any current popstress. Or even The Weeknd himself, who is positioned as a dorky, rat-tailed scumbag in \u003cem>The Idol \u003c/em>rather than a dark, sexy singer prone to debauchery (as he was, briefly stealing Howard Ratner’s girl, in his \u003cem>Uncut Gems\u003c/em> cameo).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is also a wealth of stories worth telling about the music industry’s predations and unspoken rules beyond the cliched respectability web in which Jocelyn and her fictional pop girl brethren are often caught. I’m reminded of the hip-hop drama \u003cem>Atlanta\u003c/em>, its episodes grounded in Donald Glover’s experiences with the music industry. That show depicted the way a local scene could become a viral, global export, and the co-option of hip-hop’s stories and aesthetics by white companies and benefactors Earn and Paper Boi mingle with. An early scene in which the two of them visit a Spotify-type company and witness a rapper dancing atop a table for an audience of white start-up office workers, or episodes like the final season’s “Born 2 Die” in which the concept of the “YWA” (“Young White Avatar”) is introduced as a pathway for Paper Boi out of music-making, feel far more cutting than \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>‘s goofy jabs at publicists trying to control a star’s X-rated photo being leaked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13909218']Of course, a more holistic on-screen depiction of the music industry’s careful narrative-building around its stars may not be nearly as titillating to someone like Levinson, whose \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/22/1082288241/unlocking-the-sensory-overload-of-euphoria#:~:text=Press-,Unlocking%20the%20sensory%20overload%20of%20'Euphoria'%20%3A%20Pop%20Culture%20Happy,violence%2C%20and%20so%20much%20more.\">body of work\u003c/a> thrives on titillation. \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>‘s first episode isn’t about the music industry, so much as it is about carefully maintaining a certain strain of celebrity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pop music is the ultimate Trojan Horse,” Tesfaye’s character Tedros tells Jocelyn. “You get people to dance. You get people to sing along.” The issue is that \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>‘s thin conception of what pop music sounds like (not to mention the femininity Jocelyn is selling), wouldn’t actually be as popular in today’s landscape as the show’s world makes it out to be. That a character \u003cem>within\u003c/em> the show has to evoke Britney Spears as Jocelyn’s spiritual counterpart confirms Levinson’s dated ideas about stardom and the pop music that facilitates it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Modern pop music \u003cem>can\u003c/em> be a Trojan Horse for transgressive or revolutionary ideas — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/12/10/786451710/billie-eilish-is-the-class-of-2019s-weird-achiever\">about identity\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/28/1068323960/lil-nas-x-pop-revolutionary\">about sex\u003c/a>, about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/04/26/475629479/close-to-home-a-conversation-about-beyonc-s-lemonade\">real hardship and trauma\u003c/a>. But \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em> is yet another project about a fictional star that swerves past reality in favor of a focus on trappings of a fame that feels chained to a bygone era, one where main pop girls reigned supreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Why+can%27t+Hollywood+get+pop+stardom+right%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>These days, according to the parlance of stan armies, you’re either a “main pop girl,” or you’re not. Main pop girl-ism is nebulous, but, like pornography, you know it when you see it. She emerges into the spotlight according to album “eras” (what ancient civilizations once referred to as \u003cem>cycles\u003c/em>). At some point she has, via red carpet outfit or awards performance or interaction with paparazzi, minorly scandalized a nation. “Authenticity” is not a word that appears in her marketing plan. She can often \u003cem>actually dance\u003c/em>. Drag queens impersonate her, and rockists bicker over the number of writers credited to her hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She may or may not actually, by pure album sales or streaming numbers or radio plays, be \u003cem>popular\u003c/em>. The domination of her type peaked in the late 2000s to early 2010s, when the American charts were crowded with muscled, alpha entertainers like Britney, Christina, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Gaga etc. But there isn’t just one main pop girl; rather, it’s an \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/dua-lipa-pop-girl-energy-dazed-interview-1235335755/\">energy\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/charli-xcx-new-album-crash-alone-together-1297016/\">to embody\u003c/a> — fantasy aware it’s serving fantasy, Bush-era raunch. Music is just one part of her celebrity to consume, along with relationships cataloged in the press, her breakdowns and traumas (to which many documentaries are likely dedicated).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jocelyn, the superstar around whom the plot of the contentious \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/05/1180083160/tv-review-hbo-the-idol-premiere\">new HBO show \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>\u003c/a> swarms, has main pop girl energy. Played by Lily-Rose Depp, the singer is about to release a new single called “World Class Sinner” (the lyrics of which are about being a freak and not much else, and the quality of which wouldn’t earn a spot on Ava Max’s next record) and is still processing her mothers’ death from cancer. We meet her in the middle of a sexy photoshoot, hospital wristband still on her arm. When a compromising photo of Jocelyn leaks and becomes “the number one trending topic on Twitter,” her team leaps into damage control, worried about her suffering from another “psychotic break.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think what Britney and Jocelyn have gone through is really unique, but ultimately universal, you know?” one handler, played by Dan Levy, says. There’s a lot for Jocelyn to prove, from her ability to execute perfect choreography to the illusion of mental stamina (“prioritizing wellness,” one team member calls it). When a shady club-owner played by The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye comes into her life, she seems attracted to his honesty when so few people exercise it with her. “When you’re famous, everyone lies to you,” she tells 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/xVYUKxF0wMc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/xVYUKxF0wMc'\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>Jocelyn’s suffering and alienation under the weight of her surveilled pop career feels all too familiar. She’s the young woman ensnared in the music industry machine, coached by handlers, every bit of her body lit flatteringly for the camera, her personality and humanity sanded down for the sake of the brand. You’ve seen her in film or television before. Take, for instance, Natalie Portman’s role as Celeste in 2018’s \u003cem>Vox Lux\u003c/em>, which follows the character as a teenager after she pens a proto-viral track following her survival of a school shooting in the early ’00s. Immediately, she’s signed by a team eager to capitalize on her trauma, whisked away to New York City, then Stockholm. Celeste transforms from innocent into self-destructive megastar, battling drug and alcohol abuse, sneering at journalists and riding fame so immense she can’t walk down the street without being accosted by fans dressed in her image.\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/fMCYE9hKP68'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/fMCYE9hKP68'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The pressure cooker is similarly distressing for Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the star in 2014’s \u003cem>Beyond the Lights\u003c/em>, a singer in the image of early Rihanna or Ciara (though if she had it her way, she’d be the next Nina Simone.) Groomed for fame by an overbearing momager, Noni’s life is a cycle of producing indecipherable hits, topless photoshoots and a label-orchestrated romance. When she tries to jump off a balcony, she’s stopped by a cop (Nate Parker) and the two fall in love. As her handlers try to contain her image, tainted by her near-suicide, Noni ultimately strips down to her true self, the one who wants to write and perform her own music.\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/rieoWn9BdrQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/rieoWn9BdrQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>We see that careful industry transformation in reverse in 2018’s \u003cem>A Star is Born\u003c/em>, as Lady Gaga’s Ally becomes a lip-syncing, orange-haired pop singer, her husband Jackson (Bradley Cooper) disgusted by the artifice that creeps into her performances. It’s never quite clear whether Ally’s transformative choices were her own or that of her new handler, but the film positions the character’s makeover as an affront and a threat to the artistic and romantic bond between her and Jackson. And despite the fact that Ally’s songs, co-written by Gaga, \u003cem>were\u003c/em> bangers (they may have sounded intentionally dated but I won’t tolerate “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01nGbIaT4Wk\">Hair Body Face\u003c/a>” slander), the new Ally was positioned as a veneer over the “real” artist lurking still underneath.\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/nSbzyEJ8X9E'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/nSbzyEJ8X9E'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s something exhausting about Hollywood’s copy-paste of the bubblegum star as the vessel through which all the industry’s worst impulses can be articulated or satirized. In Jocelyn’s case, her troubles also don’t feel in step with what’s demanded of mainstream music stars in 2023. The extreme, over-sexed artifice championed by her team hasn’t been en vogue these days among the tween audience I imagine her label is trying to court, who’d sooner find themselves in the lived-in songwriting of stars like Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzy McAlpine, SZA, Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There’s also the issue of what could erupt an artist’s career at Jocelyn’s level; pop stars cancel global tours \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/22/this-should-not-be-normalised-why-musicians-are-cancelling-tours-to-protect-their-mental-health\">to protect\u003c/a> their “mental health” regularly, after all, and many go so far as to make that mission a marketing angle or the central thesis of a new project. \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em> may bill itself as a project “from the gutters of Hollywood,” but have Jocelyn’s Hollywood peers ever been tamer? So removed from the glare of any \u003cem>TMZ \u003c/em>camera crew, you’re more likely to be inundated with pap photos of stars carting $14 Erewhon smoothies to pilates than sloppily stumbling out of a club at 4 a.m.? Dua Lipa is too busy \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/28/1094567222/in-dua-lipas-ever-expanding-world-theres-no-time-limit-and-theres-no-what-ifs\">podcasting\u003c/a>, anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I can’t help but think about what on-screen depictions of messy music superstardom would look like if they turned their gaze away from pop girls like Jocelyn. The genres that soapy TV shows like \u003cem>Nashville \u003c/em>and \u003cem>Empire\u003c/em> first mined nearly a decade ago, country and hip-hop respectively, now indisputably produce America’s most popular music stars. Where is the show about the handling of an artist like Morgan Wallen? The country star was \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/03/963664999/country-star-morgan-wallen-suspended-by-label-dropped-by-radio-cmt-after-using-s\">suspended by\u003c/a> his record label, pulled from radio rotation and banned from the CMA Awards after a video surfaced of him using a racial slur. And yet it only seemed to make him \u003cem>more\u003c/em> popular — album sales for his 2021 album \u003cem>Dangerous\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/arts/music/wallen-dangerous-billboard.html\">increased\u003c/a> after the scandal, and his most recent album \u003cem>One Thing at a Time\u003c/em> \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/arts/music/morgan-wallen-one-thing-at-a-time-chart.html\">dominated\u003c/a> the charts for 12 straight weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we had to hold a contest for who actually embodies “main pop girl” spirit and chaos in the \u003cem>Billboard\u003c/em>-charting set, Drake might actually be closer to the title than any current popstress. Or even The Weeknd himself, who is positioned as a dorky, rat-tailed scumbag in \u003cem>The Idol \u003c/em>rather than a dark, sexy singer prone to debauchery (as he was, briefly stealing Howard Ratner’s girl, in his \u003cem>Uncut Gems\u003c/em> cameo).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is also a wealth of stories worth telling about the music industry’s predations and unspoken rules beyond the cliched respectability web in which Jocelyn and her fictional pop girl brethren are often caught. I’m reminded of the hip-hop drama \u003cem>Atlanta\u003c/em>, its episodes grounded in Donald Glover’s experiences with the music industry. That show depicted the way a local scene could become a viral, global export, and the co-option of hip-hop’s stories and aesthetics by white companies and benefactors Earn and Paper Boi mingle with. An early scene in which the two of them visit a Spotify-type company and witness a rapper dancing atop a table for an audience of white start-up office workers, or episodes like the final season’s “Born 2 Die” in which the concept of the “YWA” (“Young White Avatar”) is introduced as a pathway for Paper Boi out of music-making, feel far more cutting than \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>‘s goofy jabs at publicists trying to control a star’s X-rated photo being leaked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Of course, a more holistic on-screen depiction of the music industry’s careful narrative-building around its stars may not be nearly as titillating to someone like Levinson, whose \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/02/22/1082288241/unlocking-the-sensory-overload-of-euphoria#:~:text=Press-,Unlocking%20the%20sensory%20overload%20of%20'Euphoria'%20%3A%20Pop%20Culture%20Happy,violence%2C%20and%20so%20much%20more.\">body of work\u003c/a> thrives on titillation. \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>‘s first episode isn’t about the music industry, so much as it is about carefully maintaining a certain strain of celebrity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pop music is the ultimate Trojan Horse,” Tesfaye’s character Tedros tells Jocelyn. “You get people to dance. You get people to sing along.” The issue is that \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em>‘s thin conception of what pop music sounds like (not to mention the femininity Jocelyn is selling), wouldn’t actually be as popular in today’s landscape as the show’s world makes it out to be. That a character \u003cem>within\u003c/em> the show has to evoke Britney Spears as Jocelyn’s spiritual counterpart confirms Levinson’s dated ideas about stardom and the pop music that facilitates it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Modern pop music \u003cem>can\u003c/em> be a Trojan Horse for transgressive or revolutionary ideas — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/12/10/786451710/billie-eilish-is-the-class-of-2019s-weird-achiever\">about identity\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/28/1068323960/lil-nas-x-pop-revolutionary\">about sex\u003c/a>, about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/04/26/475629479/close-to-home-a-conversation-about-beyonc-s-lemonade\">real hardship and trauma\u003c/a>. But \u003cem>The Idol\u003c/em> is yet another project about a fictional star that swerves past reality in favor of a focus on trappings of a fame that feels chained to a bygone era, one where main pop girls reigned supreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Why+can%27t+Hollywood+get+pop+stardom+right%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Most Frequently Performed Plays and Musicals in High Schools This Year",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Educational Theatre Association has released its top-10 lists of plays and musicals performed in high schools during the 2022-2023 school year. More than 2,300 public and private high school teachers across the U.S. participated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em> topped the list of full-length musicals, followed by \u003cem>Mamma Mia!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The No. 1 full length play was \u003cem>Clue,\u003c/em> followed by \u003cem>Puffs. \u003c/em>Disney’s\u003cem> Frozen JR\u003c/em> held the top spot among short musicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And \u003cem>10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse \u003c/em>tied with \u003cem>Check Please \u003c/em>for the most popular short play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see the \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/2023-play-survey-reveals-most-popular-high-school-shows\">full list here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/\">EdTA\u003c/a> calls the survey a “snapshot” of both what’s popular with high school theater departments and “the educational climate.” Eighty five percent of respondents reported being, “at least somewhat concerned about censorship” and 67% said that, “censorship concerns” are influencing their selections for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Changing tastes and values reflected in the Play Survey\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Katona, executive director of EdTA, believes \u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em>‘s popularity, “has a lot to do with our students love of the Netflix show \u003cem>Wednesday\u003c/em>.” Another hit this year: \u003cem>The SpongeBob Musical. \u003c/em>“It’s got a lot of music from a lot of different lyricists and musicians, so the students in the schools are really enjoying that one, too\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the first year\u003cem> Mean Girls: High School Version\u003c/em> has been licensed to schools and it jumped to the #10 spot of full-length musicals. It helps that the musical based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/04/06/599813454/on-broadway-they-wear-pink-mean-girls-is-now-a-musical\">Tina Fey’s popular movie\u003c/a> had a successful Broadway run not too long ago, and that the cast is largely female. High school theatre programs often attract more girls than boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='education_536534']The annual Play Survey began in 1938. NPR’s Education Desk did an eye-opening \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2019/07/31/427138970/the-most-popular-high-school-plays-and-musicals\">analysis\u003c/a> of how high school plays have tracked over the survey’s 85 year history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/13/967600332/returning-to-our-town-why-the-play-still-hits-home-after-80-years\">\u003cem>Our Town\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>for example\u003cem>, \u003c/em>was consistently among the top 10 plays “by decade,” from the 1940s-2010s. In the last two surveys, Thornton Wilder’s eternal classic held the number 10 spot but didn’t make the list this year. Katona says high school drama departments are “diversifying their repertoires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Schools have really made an effort to bring in different playwrights and have different representation of voices on their stages,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Stymied over censorship concerns\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With school boards and local governments \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1160731547/spelling-bee-high-school-theater\">cancelling\u003c/a> theater productions and banning books, the EdTA survey also found that drama teachers are nervous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg\" alt=\"A young man sits on the edge of a fake fountain on stage, with a young women resting her head on him. They are dressed in 18th century costume.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1202\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1364x2048.jpg 1364w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1920x2884.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-scaled.jpg 1704w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erik Martinez and Shelby Brown in New Albany High School’s production of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in New Albany, Ind. The show tied for fifth place (with ‘The Little Mermaid’) in the full-length musical category. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Teachers know that they need to be smart about what they’re putting on their stages,” says Katona, “They’re making choices that will allow them to keep their theater programs.” She adds, “Theater has always been a safe space for a lot of our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danny Issa teaches theater at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Va. While he says, while he always involves students in the play selection process, he also makes sure school officials are well aware of content that some might find inappropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928405']“The arts in general are in such a precarious position at all times. Are we going to have funding? Are we going to be able to make it through another season?” Issa reflects. “Just a single complaint from a parent can have a show pulled.” That includes losing, “all the money that you’ve pumped into a production.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Issa’s concerns did not stop him — and lots of other high school theater teachers — from staging \u003cem>Almost, Maine, \u003c/em>a play about love and relationships that includes gay characters\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite facing challenges in \u003ca href=\"https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/canceled-show-prompts-outcry/article_d52c9763-7814-5c6e-b7c0-e93de9fecbf5.html\">Michigan\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wfae.org/arts-culture/2015-01-13/almost-maine-goes-on-without-school-support\">North Carolina\u003c/a> in recent years, \u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> held the No. 6 spot on this year’s list of full-length plays.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>High school theater programs are “rebounding from the pandemic”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Culture wars aside, the Play Survey found that, on average, attendance is up and theater programs are ramping up production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The average audience size across all performances in a school season increased 13 percent over last year to 1,967,” EdTA writes in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930077\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930077\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png\" alt=\"A girl stands on a table in the center of a stage. Around her, other teens are gathered and mid-dance routine. 'Welcome to the Lion's Den' is projected above them on the stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1536x987.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM.png 1646w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Mean Girls: High School Version’ made its debut on the list this year in the full-length musical category. Above, a production at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Coming out of the pandemic, I think everyone was really excited to just be able to see theater again,” says Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='news_11947769']Washington-Liberty High School’s musical — \u003cem>The Prom\u003c/em> — sold more than $10,000 in tickets, up more than $4,000 from last year’s musical, according to Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> also did well\u003cem>. “\u003c/em>We ended up opening our balcony in the auditorium,” Issa says. “Just because of the sheer number of people that showed up for closing night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> versions of this story were edited by Rose Friedman and adapted to \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> by Beth Novey.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+were+the+most+frequently+performed+plays+and+musicals+in+high+schools+this+year&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "‘The Addams Family,’ ‘Mamma Mia!’ and ‘Frozen JR’ were among the most popular shows, according to a new survey.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Educational Theatre Association has released its top-10 lists of plays and musicals performed in high schools during the 2022-2023 school year. More than 2,300 public and private high school teachers across the U.S. participated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em> topped the list of full-length musicals, followed by \u003cem>Mamma Mia!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The No. 1 full length play was \u003cem>Clue,\u003c/em> followed by \u003cem>Puffs. \u003c/em>Disney’s\u003cem> Frozen JR\u003c/em> held the top spot among short musicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And \u003cem>10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse \u003c/em>tied with \u003cem>Check Please \u003c/em>for the most popular short play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can see the \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/2023-play-survey-reveals-most-popular-high-school-shows\">full list here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://schooltheatre.org/\">EdTA\u003c/a> calls the survey a “snapshot” of both what’s popular with high school theater departments and “the educational climate.” Eighty five percent of respondents reported being, “at least somewhat concerned about censorship” and 67% said that, “censorship concerns” are influencing their selections for next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Changing tastes and values reflected in the Play Survey\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Katona, executive director of EdTA, believes \u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em>‘s popularity, “has a lot to do with our students love of the Netflix show \u003cem>Wednesday\u003c/em>.” Another hit this year: \u003cem>The SpongeBob Musical. \u003c/em>“It’s got a lot of music from a lot of different lyricists and musicians, so the students in the schools are really enjoying that one, too\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the first year\u003cem> Mean Girls: High School Version\u003c/em> has been licensed to schools and it jumped to the #10 spot of full-length musicals. It helps that the musical based on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/04/06/599813454/on-broadway-they-wear-pink-mean-girls-is-now-a-musical\">Tina Fey’s popular movie\u003c/a> had a successful Broadway run not too long ago, and that the cast is largely female. High school theatre programs often attract more girls than boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The annual Play Survey began in 1938. NPR’s Education Desk did an eye-opening \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2019/07/31/427138970/the-most-popular-high-school-plays-and-musicals\">analysis\u003c/a> of how high school plays have tracked over the survey’s 85 year history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/02/13/967600332/returning-to-our-town-why-the-play-still-hits-home-after-80-years\">\u003cem>Our Town\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, \u003c/em>for example\u003cem>, \u003c/em>was consistently among the top 10 plays “by decade,” from the 1940s-2010s. In the last two surveys, Thornton Wilder’s eternal classic held the number 10 spot but didn’t make the list this year. Katona says high school drama departments are “diversifying their repertoires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Schools have really made an effort to bring in different playwrights and have different representation of voices on their stages,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Stymied over censorship concerns\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With school boards and local governments \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1160731547/spelling-bee-high-school-theater\">cancelling\u003c/a> theater productions and banning books, the EdTA survey also found that drama teachers are nervous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930074\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg\" alt=\"A young man sits on the edge of a fake fountain on stage, with a young women resting her head on him. They are dressed in 18th century costume.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1202\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-800x1202.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1020x1532.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-768x1154.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1023x1536.jpg 1023w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1364x2048.jpg 1364w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-1920x2884.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/batb-thurs-283_enl-6230905e3bbe9394e482a55585f9aa1ac477e8ac-scaled.jpg 1704w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erik Martinez and Shelby Brown in New Albany High School’s production of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in New Albany, Ind. The show tied for fifth place (with ‘The Little Mermaid’) in the full-length musical category. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Teachers know that they need to be smart about what they’re putting on their stages,” says Katona, “They’re making choices that will allow them to keep their theater programs.” She adds, “Theater has always been a safe space for a lot of our students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danny Issa teaches theater at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, Va. While he says, while he always involves students in the play selection process, he also makes sure school officials are well aware of content that some might find inappropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The arts in general are in such a precarious position at all times. Are we going to have funding? Are we going to be able to make it through another season?” Issa reflects. “Just a single complaint from a parent can have a show pulled.” That includes losing, “all the money that you’ve pumped into a production.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Issa’s concerns did not stop him — and lots of other high school theater teachers — from staging \u003cem>Almost, Maine, \u003c/em>a play about love and relationships that includes gay characters\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite facing challenges in \u003ca href=\"https://www.record-eagle.com/news/local_news/canceled-show-prompts-outcry/article_d52c9763-7814-5c6e-b7c0-e93de9fecbf5.html\">Michigan\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.wfae.org/arts-culture/2015-01-13/almost-maine-goes-on-without-school-support\">North Carolina\u003c/a> in recent years, \u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> held the No. 6 spot on this year’s list of full-length plays.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>High school theater programs are “rebounding from the pandemic”\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Culture wars aside, the Play Survey found that, on average, attendance is up and theater programs are ramping up production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The average audience size across all performances in a school season increased 13 percent over last year to 1,967,” EdTA writes in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930077\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930077\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png\" alt=\"A girl stands on a table in the center of a stage. Around her, other teens are gathered and mid-dance routine. 'Welcome to the Lion's Den' is projected above them on the stage.\" width=\"800\" height=\"514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-800x514.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1020x656.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-768x494.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM-1536x987.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-11.56.12-AM.png 1646w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Mean Girls: High School Version’ made its debut on the list this year in the full-length musical category. Above, a production at J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. \u003ccite>(Educational Theatre Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Coming out of the pandemic, I think everyone was really excited to just be able to see theater again,” says Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Washington-Liberty High School’s musical — \u003cem>The Prom\u003c/em> — sold more than $10,000 in tickets, up more than $4,000 from last year’s musical, according to Issa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Almost, Maine\u003c/em> also did well\u003cem>. “\u003c/em>We ended up opening our balcony in the auditorium,” Issa says. “Just because of the sheer number of people that showed up for closing night.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Audio and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> versions of this story were edited by Rose Friedman and adapted to \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://npr.org/\">\u003cem>NPR.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> by Beth Novey.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+were+the+most+frequently+performed+plays+and+musicals+in+high+schools+this+year&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Succession’ Creator Explains Everything About That Shocking Season 4 Finale",
"headTitle": "‘Succession’ Creator Explains Everything About That Shocking Season 4 Finale | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>The following interview includes plenty of spoilers for the series finale of ‘Succession’.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The much-anticipated series finale of HBO’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1045640636/succession-recaps\">\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/a> answered one big question — who would succeed media mogul patriarch Logan Roy — but we still have more: Did the show creator know the end at the beginning? Why didn’t any of the Roy children wind up as CEO of the family conglomerate Waystar Royco? Was Kendall considering jumping into the river at the end? Why was the presidential election left unresolved? And why was Logan in the bathroom in his first and last scenes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesse Armstrong is the show’s creator, showrunner and head writer. In the past, he has been reluctant to reveal much about \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>‘s plotlines or the characters’ motivations. But with the finale behind us, Armstrong is ready to talk. He spoke to Terry Gross, along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525575857/veep-executive-producer-on-making-a-show-about-the-craven-desire-for-power\">Frank Rich\u003c/a>, an executive producer of the series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Terry Gross: Why couldn’t any of the siblings take over the company? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Armstrong: \u003c/strong>If you were thinking about this as a business situation rather than a piece of drama, they might have slipped through, one of them, for a little while, for probably an unsatisfactory interregnum … as they tanked the share price. It could have happened, but in a drama this felt like the appropriate end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930051\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe\" alt=\"A white man in a suit and a white woman wearing black sit in the back of a car, street lights visible through the back window. Her hand gently rests on his in between them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1020x574.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-160x90.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-768x432.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1536x864.jpe 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68.jpe 1909w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Succession’ series creator Jesse Armstrong likens Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv’s (Sarah Snook) hands in the final episode to the joining of “two pieces of porcelain.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you see Shiv Roy at the end – as a prisoner who has weakened her position, or somebody who’s using all of her smarts to still have access to power? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Everyone has their own view and I can tell you mine, which is that for me it was a moment of equality. Chilly, rather terrifying equality, but equality, which has never been the case in that relationship before. Tom has always been subservient. Now he has this status, but his status is contingent. That’s kind of what the whole episode has been about. Shiv’s status is as all the kids are – secure. It’s secure in a financial sense. She has billions of dollars. She has wealth that could never diminish, whatever happened to the world. And she also has a name, which will sort of haunt her and make her interesting, to a certain degree, for the rest of her life, and that can’t be taken away from her. Whereas Tom’s position could be taken away in the click of her fingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926773']So for me, there’s a very terrifying equality in that, a remarkable dry hand on hand. It’s not really even human contact. It’s a sort of two pieces of porcelain or something. So that’s what it is for me. That isn’t what it would be for everyone. And certainly you could see the situation being a clever stratagem by which Shiv remains in play. Maybe that thought will occur to her tomorrow or the day after. But for me, the show’s ended at this point and the story is over and that’s where I think they end up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Frank Rich: \u003c/strong>I’m fascinated to hear Jesse come clean about it. I guess I experienced it as very transitional and very emotional. I felt that she was, in some ways, in emotional shock. When you look at the rapid fire of truly traumatic confrontations and events and the changing over of the business and all of that in a very compressed period of time, my feeling about her is that she’s leaving her options open. She does have this inheritance of a sort in terms of who she is, but also I just can’t imagine when she’s been through that with Kendall and she’s been through that with the company that she wanted to take over and been through everything with her husband, that she has a clear direction. So she’s in the moment, sort of. But there’s a kind of numbness. Part of this to me comes from Sarah [Snook]’s performance. It’s almost like she’s been traumatized, not maybe in the clinical sense, but just she’s in limbo. And I love the fact that it ends with that ambiguity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930052\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A white man in a dark blue shirt sits at a bar, martini glass in front of him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246.jpg 1700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The series finale of ‘Succession’ shows Roman (Kieran Culkin) for what he’s always been: a sad playboy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The last shot of Roman Roy is of him drinking a martini alone at a bar after saying “We’re all bulls—.” Why did you place him at the bar? What does that say to you about Roman in the moment and in the future?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The piece in the bar, there was more to it, a little bit more dialogue, but I think when we were in the edit room, Roman’s face, Kieran [Culkin]’s face was so eloquent that we just used a rather extraordinary set of expressions. … Kieran’s character, Roman, he ends up most particularly exactly where he started, which is living the life of a sort of sad playboy, I guess, and sipping a drink, which people might associate with his quasi-love of his life, Gerri, who we’ve often seen sipping a martini.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In the last shot of the series, we see Kendall Roy sitting on a bench, staring at the Hudson River. Water is such a powerful symbol in the series. (Kendall nearly drowns in a pool in Season 3, and he’s haunted by a deadly car wreck in a river in Season 1.)\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Did you know all along that the theme of water would also play out in the final scene? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s such a fascinating, knotty question. I guess water can also mean baptism and cleansing and ablution … and a fun swim and splashing in the pool, and we’ve occasionally seen it used that way. It’s developed. There was no sort of image structure that was formulaically laid down at the beginning of the show. … And it was the genius of [director] Mark Mylod and the camera operators and Jeremy that took us right down to the tip of Battery Park, to the tip of Manhattan, and looking at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you think he’s contemplating ending his life? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>For me, no. … I think for me, Kendall, at the end, one of the things he lacks is even the freedom to determine his own course through life. The name and the wealth around him – to lots of us, obviously, it seems extraordinarily fortunate, and it is. But I do believe there is a certain kind of tragedy to a royal name, to a huge business name, to being a Disney or a Windsor or any of those kinds of names, and he can never, ever escape that. And one of the ways he can’t escape that is to have a bubble of protection around him … of money and human beings. In this case, he’s got his dad’s bodyguard right there with him. So even if he is contemplating it, I don’t think it could ever happen to him. And yeah, for me, that’s not the way the story goes for this kind of person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"An older man with white hair and beard sits in a leather armchair in an opulent living room. A younger man wearing an overcoat crouches before him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1020x678.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1536x1021.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM.png 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Strong, left, as Kendall Roy, and Brian Cox as Logan Roy in ‘Succession.’ \u003ccite>(Peter Kramer/HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In an improvised take of that final scene that was not included in the final edit, Jeremy Strong climbs over the railing from the pedestrian side of the river to the riverside, looking as if he’s really maybe about to jump in. Were you there when he improvised that? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Yeah. We were there. It was biting cold. I’m there every day, and certainly for that important scene. I was terrified. I was terrified that he might fall in and be injured. … He didn’t look like he was going to jump in. But once he climbed over that barrier — when you film, there are generally a lot of health and safety assessments made, and that was not our plan that day. And normally I know that if we’d even been thinking of that happening, we would have had boats and frogmen and all kinds of safety measures, which we didn’t have. So my first thought was for his physical safety as a human being, not anything about the character. That’s what I felt on the day. Good Lord, above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13906871']\u003cstrong>Rich:\u003c/strong> It was like breaking a barrier, walking through the fourth wall and it was bitterly cold on top of it. Also, everyone was eager for the cold reasons and also for scheduling reasons involving subsequent production, to be done with it. And I think Scott Nicholson, who played [bodyguard] Colin, was also somewhat alarmed and was functioning as a person as much as a character in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You haven’t allowed Kendall to grow. Every time I think he’s getting more mature or more responsible, he’s not. Every time I think he’s getting a conscience, he doesn’t. Why not let him grow? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It’s not that I don’t think people are capable of change or growth. I guess I would say they happen rarely, slowly and not necessarily all in one direction, in that you’re just as likely to devolve as evolve as a person, unfortunately, I think. There’s a sort of sense about narrative, especially screenplay, that that’s what happens in a script: that people grow, they learn, and that is the shape of the script. And I would gently reject that, I guess. I don’t think that has to be the shape of the story. I don’t think it’s a true shape of all stories. Not that you can’t make a great story out of those things — and I’d like to write some of those — but that isn’t the story of this show. That doesn’t seem to be the truth of these people. And so we had to find story shapes which didn’t follow that particular shape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I fundamentally believe that people don’t change that much in real life. Some people do. Sure. But a lot of people don’t, including a lot of people I just know in real life. But look at politics, which I also spent a lot of time looking at as a journalist: There was always a new Nixon. There’s always a political move where some major politician is going to change his spots. I’m talking about ideology. I’m talking about personality and the human quotient. And there’s an analog there, I think, with the corporate world, and people are who they are. And a lot of people, particularly people who want power, whether it be economic or political power, keep doing the same things. And certainly it’s true in the arena where we set our show. It’s not like Murdoch has ever changed, or Sumner Redstone ever changed in terms of how they operate as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930054\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a grey suit sits, feet up on a desk in front of him, with a facial expression that reflects being deep in thought.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539.jpg 1816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Rich says that, in a line that didn’t make it into the final cut, someone describes Tom’s face as “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>At what point did you know Tom would end up being the CEO of \u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Waystar Royco, but he’d still be a puppet, that he’d be the figurehead, and Lukas Matsson\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>from GoJo would really be pulling the strings?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One of the things I like in the show is for things to feel natural, to feel like you could read them in \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Financial Times\u003c/em>, for them to feel like they fit, they’re congruent with the way that we see business, culture and politics going. And so in a way … it became obvious to me that [Tom] should take over. There are a few of these people who come after. … They have to have certain qualities, the person who can succeed from a founder, and I guess there are few examples in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a guy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/19/490573944/viacom-ceo-out-as-redstone-family-reasserts-control\">Philippe Dauman\u003c/a>, who took over from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/12/375143072/media-titan-sumner-redstone-who-made-viacom-a-global-empire-dies-at-97\">Sumner Redstone\u003c/a> when Shari [Redstone] was also trying to take over in the Viacom CBS empire. He rather floated up and made himself very amenable to power. … We tried to take from all kinds of historical moments. I guess I also thought a little bit about Stalin coming through the middle after Lenin’s death and there being much more glamorous intellectual candidates — Trotsky and Zinoviev — but Stalin arranged things and then slipped through the middle. So there were a bunch of historical and business parallels that started to seem like they were pointing in Tom’s direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I can’t say I was surprised. I mean, I’m sort of delighted, even though, in a line that didn’t make it to the final cut [someone says Tom’s] face is “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” He’s an empty suit, as is said. But, in Hollywood, in the ’30s, in the media companies at that time, it was the joke that “the son-in-law also rises.” And so in some ways it was completely plausible to me. And I also knew that these three kids could not take over for all the reasons we know, the various layers of them as people, as business people, all of it. So yeah, I thought it was an exciting, creative turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The presidential election isn’t decided yet when the series ends because there was a fire in Milwaukee and ballots were burned. Why did you want to end the series without the election actually being resolved?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I wrestled with this one quite a lot. I always knew that I wanted to have an election during the show because we’ve seen these characters and we’re interested in their psychology, hopefully. I certainly am. And that’s one strand of the show. But I don’t think we’d be interested in them if they ran a wallpaper factory. It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me, and so I wanted to show that, at its most important moment. But I also felt that, especially as a British person, that it wasn’t appropriate for the show to declare on what even our fictional world we think is going to be the fate of the republic. So it was important to me that we left it where it would be. And we worked with very skilled political operatives to figure out the right configuration of story that would both put ATN, their news organization, in a powerful position to affect things, but also would leave things poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people find the episode sort of gut-wrenching and traumatic, and I can imagine because it’s a very serious time for America. I didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to say which way we think things will go. So that was why we left it poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930055\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"An older man in a suit walks confidently away from a helicopter. He has white hair, a white beard and is wearing sunglasses.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35.jpg 1905w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesse Armstrong doesn’t think anyone would have been interested in the story of the Roy family if they’d run a wallpaper factory. “It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me,” he says. Above, Brian Cox as media mogul Logan Roy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong> is a very hard to describe mix of satire and drama and tragedy. Did you want to bring in the comedy slowly and not kind of announce itself right away? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The tone of the show is kind of how I write. Not that I can’t try and write in different tones, but this one was what seemed appropriate to this show. And I can kind of try and back-engineer how it came about. But the truth is, it just came out, the voices of these characters. … I’m thinking of that George Orwell quote about why I write, which is “there’s some lie I want to expose.” And I guess one impulse was that we have a certain view of these corporate titans in our culture, and it’s sometimes that they are very, very brilliant and can do no wrong. And I don’t want to diminish their talents completely. I don’t think I could do what they do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928692']But I think that they also have good fortune and often have good fortunes behind them. Rupert Murdoch had many millions in newspapers already before he started. So I guess one of the things I was curious about was showing the ludicrous, the comic, the incongruous, the gross parts of these gilded lives. And so maybe that’s where the impulse to make sure that there was comedy in there came from, because that’s a good register to try and approach some of that stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The series begins and ends for Logan in the bathroom. The first time we see him, he pees on the rug. Then he dies on his jet in the bathroom. So that seems to be a motif, Logan in the bathroom. Why? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One thing is that comedy often works better in small spaces. And so if a scene isn’t working, it’s sometimes worth trying: putting it in a smaller space and seeing what happens when people have to be in each other’s physicality. Apart from that, I guess there is something about, maybe it’s something childish about seeing kings and queens on the toilet. In the U.K., it was meant to be a hard thing to imagine: the late queen being on the toilet. I guess there may be something childlike about seeing great figures doing what all of us must do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930056\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930056\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A woman and two men, all white, huddle around a coffee table, listening closely to a message being relayed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) struggle to be taken seriously by their father and the upper level cronies at Waystar in Season 4’s “Honeymoon States” episode. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have unique writing styles for each of the siblings and for Logan. Can you talk a little bit about coming up with each of their voices? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It struck me that powerful people often don’t say so much. And Logan says probably many fewer words than his less powerful colleagues and people who surround him. Indeed, it’s probably true that the people with the least power speak the most. When you think about Tom (before he assumed power) and Greg, they have these great torrents of words because they’re trying to fill in the holes and equivocate and countermand what they’ve just said to precisely express themselves, because they’re worried the power is going to take a dim view of them. So there’s something about literally the quantity of words that you speak and also the volume. Power can often be very quiet and make you lean in until it explodes and makes you lean out. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928466']We hear [Kendall] first listening to rap music and he has a desire to hit a sort of colloquial but buzzword-infused [way of speaking]. I think he likes language. I think he wants to use interesting language. He’s not a terrible performer. Some people find his rap utterly risible. I find it comic, but also not bad. I think he has a certain verbal felicity, a certain verbal interest, and sometimes that goes over the edge into being ludicrous. Shiv, her tragedy has been that she has sought to modulate her every performance in the sense of what she’s doing in the world to keep her options open. And so there’s a sense in which she does that verbally as well. Roman is explosive and the most close to being a truth teller in that kind of jester role where he can say the unsayable and then claim that he didn’t say it or didn’t mean it. It’s a very powerful position once you start to be able to say, “I didn’t mean it,” after everything, every true thing that you say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED2pSguRn7U\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Roy siblings’ cousin Greg has a mixture of cluelessness and formality when he’s on the witness stand during the hearings about the Waystar cruise line sexual harassment scandal. At one point, while being questioned by a senator, Greg answers, “If it is to be said, so it be. So it is.” Can you talk about Greg’s strangely formal way of speaking there?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I think there’s a little bit of the kind of 18th century in there, that sort of courtier vibe. But I think there’s also a class thing there, which, you know, is the phrase “hyper correction,” where people who are outside their normal class or social arena sometimes end up being idiotic because they’re trying to be too proper. It happens in our English, class-obsessed society, when people try to change their vocal pitch and nature to try and fit in with posher people and you hypercorrect, and then you become ludicrous by throwing in those extra words or reversing the order and doing things which you think sound like they might have a formality, which is appropriate, but ends up being nonsense. So it’s a very nice thing in life to be comfortable with how you speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Logan is on his way to Norway to complete the deal with GoJo when he dies after suffering some kind of cardiac episode in the plane bathroom. Tom is on the plane and calls the siblings and they each say their goodbyes on the phone to him, even though it seems he’s already dead. Have you ever been in a position like that, of saying your goodbye on the phone?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>No, honestly, I haven’t. I’ve known sad things and I’ve known people who suffered sad things, and people were generous in the writers room sharing thoughts about those areas, things they knew. … I don’t believe you have to have been through something like that precisely to be able to write it. Often, the terrible thing we imagine in the future can be as vivid as the thing we’ve experienced. … There is something about the modern era, which is that often sad, bad news comes at us like that from nowhere and hits us from nowhere. … The modern sadnesses often happen in this rather disembodied way. And then you’re left in a nowhere state where you’re physically disconnected from the events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930057\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930057\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man and. woman on a couch sit, looking concerned. Another man in a suit sits opposite them, slumped forward. A fourth man stands nearby. They are in a sitting room area of a yacht.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Roy siblings huddle with the Waystar communications team to craft a statement after learning of their father’s sudden death. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You really capture the not knowing what to say aspect in a situation like that — not knowing how to say goodbye, but also the conflicted love-hate relationship they have with their father. Can you talk a little bit about writing those goodbyes? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The whole show is such multiple collaborations, but I feel, especially in those moments, [the words] could lie on the page inert if it wasn’t with those brilliant actors doing the scene. I’m a rewriter. I rewrite a lot. We reworked the scripts a lot through production, and it can sometimes be hard for the actors as we change things. But that episode, and especially that long stretch in the middle, I wrote it relatively quickly. And then I tried to be very careful about what I revised because, I don’t often feel this, but it felt like it had a coherence in its incoherence that it felt appropriate, and I wanted to leave it rather raw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928702']Hopefully our insults and our verbal attacks are believable and characterful, but they’re often more carefully wrought and multi-clause and baroque and the simplicity of the language, the mixture of truth and untruth, the feeling towards the edge of language and what it can express all felt good in the early, early drafts and therefore [we] tried not to change it. And I tried not to change the last things that Logan said, once I sort of knew that they were the last things that Logan said, because I didn’t want them to have the form of a grandiloquent moment of speech, because that didn’t seem appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can you say a few words about the ongoing \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1172876800/writers-guild-calls-strike\">\u003cstrong>writers’ strike\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong> I think about it through the lens of \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>, which has been basically well supported and a happy show. One of my most favorite parts of the show is the writers’ room. Our room is not one of these mini-rooms, it’s a big, full room and it runs for a long time. And then writers who have written in the writers’ room, many of them come to be on set. Those kinds of things, although they cost money, I think helped to make the show as good as it is, and there’s just a variety of writer who is likely to get cut out of the financial action unless the WGA gets at least some of what it’s asking for. So I’m supportive of the position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>The fact is that as the business transitioned from the old network linear model to streaming model, writers are often left out in the cold financially and it’s quite unjust. And I hope they win the battle because they really deserve it and they really are underpaid. It’s hard for people to understand how anyone could be underpaid in show business in Hollywood, but actually it does happen as in any other industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=We+ask+the+creator+of+%27Succession%27+everything+you+wanted+to+know+about+the+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Was Kendall going to jump? Why did we keep seeing Logan in the bathroom? Jesse Armstrong and Frank Rich answer it all.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>The following interview includes plenty of spoilers for the series finale of ‘Succession’.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The much-anticipated series finale of HBO’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1045640636/succession-recaps\">\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/a> answered one big question — who would succeed media mogul patriarch Logan Roy — but we still have more: Did the show creator know the end at the beginning? Why didn’t any of the Roy children wind up as CEO of the family conglomerate Waystar Royco? Was Kendall considering jumping into the river at the end? Why was the presidential election left unresolved? And why was Logan in the bathroom in his first and last scenes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jesse Armstrong is the show’s creator, showrunner and head writer. In the past, he has been reluctant to reveal much about \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>‘s plotlines or the characters’ motivations. But with the finale behind us, Armstrong is ready to talk. He spoke to Terry Gross, along with \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525575857/veep-executive-producer-on-making-a-show-about-the-craven-desire-for-power\">Frank Rich\u003c/a>, an executive producer of the series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Terry Gross: Why couldn’t any of the siblings take over the company? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Armstrong: \u003c/strong>If you were thinking about this as a business situation rather than a piece of drama, they might have slipped through, one of them, for a little while, for probably an unsatisfactory interregnum … as they tanked the share price. It could have happened, but in a drama this felt like the appropriate end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930051\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930051\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe\" alt=\"A white man in a suit and a white woman wearing black sit in the back of a car, street lights visible through the back window. Her hand gently rests on his in between them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-800x450.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1020x574.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-160x90.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-768x432.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68-1536x864.jpe 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen-sarah-snook_wide-6a0ca1dda18abd6790982717db805a32b1fb2c68.jpe 1909w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Succession’ series creator Jesse Armstrong likens Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Shiv’s (Sarah Snook) hands in the final episode to the joining of “two pieces of porcelain.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you see Shiv Roy at the end – as a prisoner who has weakened her position, or somebody who’s using all of her smarts to still have access to power? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Everyone has their own view and I can tell you mine, which is that for me it was a moment of equality. Chilly, rather terrifying equality, but equality, which has never been the case in that relationship before. Tom has always been subservient. Now he has this status, but his status is contingent. That’s kind of what the whole episode has been about. Shiv’s status is as all the kids are – secure. It’s secure in a financial sense. She has billions of dollars. She has wealth that could never diminish, whatever happened to the world. And she also has a name, which will sort of haunt her and make her interesting, to a certain degree, for the rest of her life, and that can’t be taken away from her. Whereas Tom’s position could be taken away in the click of her fingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So for me, there’s a very terrifying equality in that, a remarkable dry hand on hand. It’s not really even human contact. It’s a sort of two pieces of porcelain or something. So that’s what it is for me. That isn’t what it would be for everyone. And certainly you could see the situation being a clever stratagem by which Shiv remains in play. Maybe that thought will occur to her tomorrow or the day after. But for me, the show’s ended at this point and the story is over and that’s where I think they end up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Frank Rich: \u003c/strong>I’m fascinated to hear Jesse come clean about it. I guess I experienced it as very transitional and very emotional. I felt that she was, in some ways, in emotional shock. When you look at the rapid fire of truly traumatic confrontations and events and the changing over of the business and all of that in a very compressed period of time, my feeling about her is that she’s leaving her options open. She does have this inheritance of a sort in terms of who she is, but also I just can’t imagine when she’s been through that with Kendall and she’s been through that with the company that she wanted to take over and been through everything with her husband, that she has a clear direction. So she’s in the moment, sort of. But there’s a kind of numbness. Part of this to me comes from Sarah [Snook]’s performance. It’s almost like she’s been traumatized, not maybe in the clinical sense, but just she’s in limbo. And I love the fact that it ends with that ambiguity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930052\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A white man in a dark blue shirt sits at a bar, martini glass in front of him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/kieran-culkin_4-a24701dcda2e3653a3b52f22080abbfcccfd8246.jpg 1700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The series finale of ‘Succession’ shows Roman (Kieran Culkin) for what he’s always been: a sad playboy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The last shot of Roman Roy is of him drinking a martini alone at a bar after saying “We’re all bulls—.” Why did you place him at the bar? What does that say to you about Roman in the moment and in the future?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The piece in the bar, there was more to it, a little bit more dialogue, but I think when we were in the edit room, Roman’s face, Kieran [Culkin]’s face was so eloquent that we just used a rather extraordinary set of expressions. … Kieran’s character, Roman, he ends up most particularly exactly where he started, which is living the life of a sort of sad playboy, I guess, and sipping a drink, which people might associate with his quasi-love of his life, Gerri, who we’ve often seen sipping a martini.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In the last shot of the series, we see Kendall Roy sitting on a bench, staring at the Hudson River. Water is such a powerful symbol in the series. (Kendall nearly drowns in a pool in Season 3, and he’s haunted by a deadly car wreck in a river in Season 1.)\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Did you know all along that the theme of water would also play out in the final scene? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s such a fascinating, knotty question. I guess water can also mean baptism and cleansing and ablution … and a fun swim and splashing in the pool, and we’ve occasionally seen it used that way. It’s developed. There was no sort of image structure that was formulaically laid down at the beginning of the show. … And it was the genius of [director] Mark Mylod and the camera operators and Jeremy that took us right down to the tip of Battery Park, to the tip of Manhattan, and looking at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you think he’s contemplating ending his life? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>For me, no. … I think for me, Kendall, at the end, one of the things he lacks is even the freedom to determine his own course through life. The name and the wealth around him – to lots of us, obviously, it seems extraordinarily fortunate, and it is. But I do believe there is a certain kind of tragedy to a royal name, to a huge business name, to being a Disney or a Windsor or any of those kinds of names, and he can never, ever escape that. And one of the ways he can’t escape that is to have a bubble of protection around him … of money and human beings. In this case, he’s got his dad’s bodyguard right there with him. So even if he is contemplating it, I don’t think it could ever happen to him. And yeah, for me, that’s not the way the story goes for this kind of person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930059\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"An older man with white hair and beard sits in a leather armchair in an opulent living room. A younger man wearing an overcoat crouches before him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1020x678.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-768x510.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM-1536x1021.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-10.55.51-AM.png 1568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Strong, left, as Kendall Roy, and Brian Cox as Logan Roy in ‘Succession.’ \u003ccite>(Peter Kramer/HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In an improvised take of that final scene that was not included in the final edit, Jeremy Strong climbs over the railing from the pedestrian side of the river to the riverside, looking as if he’s really maybe about to jump in. Were you there when he improvised that? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>Yeah. We were there. It was biting cold. I’m there every day, and certainly for that important scene. I was terrified. I was terrified that he might fall in and be injured. … He didn’t look like he was going to jump in. But once he climbed over that barrier — when you film, there are generally a lot of health and safety assessments made, and that was not our plan that day. And normally I know that if we’d even been thinking of that happening, we would have had boats and frogmen and all kinds of safety measures, which we didn’t have. So my first thought was for his physical safety as a human being, not anything about the character. That’s what I felt on the day. Good Lord, above.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich:\u003c/strong> It was like breaking a barrier, walking through the fourth wall and it was bitterly cold on top of it. Also, everyone was eager for the cold reasons and also for scheduling reasons involving subsequent production, to be done with it. And I think Scott Nicholson, who played [bodyguard] Colin, was also somewhat alarmed and was functioning as a person as much as a character in that moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You haven’t allowed Kendall to grow. Every time I think he’s getting more mature or more responsible, he’s not. Every time I think he’s getting a conscience, he doesn’t. Why not let him grow? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It’s not that I don’t think people are capable of change or growth. I guess I would say they happen rarely, slowly and not necessarily all in one direction, in that you’re just as likely to devolve as evolve as a person, unfortunately, I think. There’s a sort of sense about narrative, especially screenplay, that that’s what happens in a script: that people grow, they learn, and that is the shape of the script. And I would gently reject that, I guess. I don’t think that has to be the shape of the story. I don’t think it’s a true shape of all stories. Not that you can’t make a great story out of those things — and I’d like to write some of those — but that isn’t the story of this show. That doesn’t seem to be the truth of these people. And so we had to find story shapes which didn’t follow that particular shape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I fundamentally believe that people don’t change that much in real life. Some people do. Sure. But a lot of people don’t, including a lot of people I just know in real life. But look at politics, which I also spent a lot of time looking at as a journalist: There was always a new Nixon. There’s always a political move where some major politician is going to change his spots. I’m talking about ideology. I’m talking about personality and the human quotient. And there’s an analog there, I think, with the corporate world, and people are who they are. And a lot of people, particularly people who want power, whether it be economic or political power, keep doing the same things. And certainly it’s true in the arena where we set our show. It’s not like Murdoch has ever changed, or Sumner Redstone ever changed in terms of how they operate as people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930054\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930054\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a grey suit sits, feet up on a desk in front of him, with a facial expression that reflects being deep in thought.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/matthew-macfadyen_3_wide-e9b0535711dd27d06c4e793e5a340507e337a539.jpg 1816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Frank Rich says that, in a line that didn’t make it into the final cut, someone describes Tom’s face as “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>At what point did you know Tom would end up being the CEO of \u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>Waystar Royco, but he’d still be a puppet, that he’d be the figurehead, and Lukas Matsson\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>from GoJo would really be pulling the strings?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One of the things I like in the show is for things to feel natural, to feel like you could read them in \u003cem>The Wall Street Journal\u003c/em>, \u003cem>The Financial Times\u003c/em>, for them to feel like they fit, they’re congruent with the way that we see business, culture and politics going. And so in a way … it became obvious to me that [Tom] should take over. There are a few of these people who come after. … They have to have certain qualities, the person who can succeed from a founder, and I guess there are few examples in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a guy, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/19/490573944/viacom-ceo-out-as-redstone-family-reasserts-control\">Philippe Dauman\u003c/a>, who took over from \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/12/375143072/media-titan-sumner-redstone-who-made-viacom-a-global-empire-dies-at-97\">Sumner Redstone\u003c/a> when Shari [Redstone] was also trying to take over in the Viacom CBS empire. He rather floated up and made himself very amenable to power. … We tried to take from all kinds of historical moments. I guess I also thought a little bit about Stalin coming through the middle after Lenin’s death and there being much more glamorous intellectual candidates — Trotsky and Zinoviev — but Stalin arranged things and then slipped through the middle. So there were a bunch of historical and business parallels that started to seem like they were pointing in Tom’s direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>I can’t say I was surprised. I mean, I’m sort of delighted, even though, in a line that didn’t make it to the final cut [someone says Tom’s] face is “sort of like a piece of Wonder Bread with a smile drawn on it.” He’s an empty suit, as is said. But, in Hollywood, in the ’30s, in the media companies at that time, it was the joke that “the son-in-law also rises.” And so in some ways it was completely plausible to me. And I also knew that these three kids could not take over for all the reasons we know, the various layers of them as people, as business people, all of it. So yeah, I thought it was an exciting, creative turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The presidential election isn’t decided yet when the series ends because there was a fire in Milwaukee and ballots were burned. Why did you want to end the series without the election actually being resolved?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I wrestled with this one quite a lot. I always knew that I wanted to have an election during the show because we’ve seen these characters and we’re interested in their psychology, hopefully. I certainly am. And that’s one strand of the show. But I don’t think we’d be interested in them if they ran a wallpaper factory. It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me, and so I wanted to show that, at its most important moment. But I also felt that, especially as a British person, that it wasn’t appropriate for the show to declare on what even our fictional world we think is going to be the fate of the republic. So it was important to me that we left it where it would be. And we worked with very skilled political operatives to figure out the right configuration of story that would both put ATN, their news organization, in a powerful position to affect things, but also would leave things poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people find the episode sort of gut-wrenching and traumatic, and I can imagine because it’s a very serious time for America. I didn’t feel it was appropriate for us to say which way we think things will go. So that was why we left it poised.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930055\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930055\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"An older man in a suit walks confidently away from a helicopter. He has white hair, a white beard and is wearing sunglasses.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/brian-cox_wide-dafe26de809f314118e955216ec773f6ead23b35.jpg 1905w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesse Armstrong doesn’t think anyone would have been interested in the story of the Roy family if they’d run a wallpaper factory. “It’s because of their influence through the media that they were fascinating to me,” he says. Above, Brian Cox as media mogul Logan Roy. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong> is a very hard to describe mix of satire and drama and tragedy. Did you want to bring in the comedy slowly and not kind of announce itself right away? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The tone of the show is kind of how I write. Not that I can’t try and write in different tones, but this one was what seemed appropriate to this show. And I can kind of try and back-engineer how it came about. But the truth is, it just came out, the voices of these characters. … I’m thinking of that George Orwell quote about why I write, which is “there’s some lie I want to expose.” And I guess one impulse was that we have a certain view of these corporate titans in our culture, and it’s sometimes that they are very, very brilliant and can do no wrong. And I don’t want to diminish their talents completely. I don’t think I could do what they do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But I think that they also have good fortune and often have good fortunes behind them. Rupert Murdoch had many millions in newspapers already before he started. So I guess one of the things I was curious about was showing the ludicrous, the comic, the incongruous, the gross parts of these gilded lives. And so maybe that’s where the impulse to make sure that there was comedy in there came from, because that’s a good register to try and approach some of that stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The series begins and ends for Logan in the bathroom. The first time we see him, he pees on the rug. Then he dies on his jet in the bathroom. So that seems to be a motif, Logan in the bathroom. Why? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>One thing is that comedy often works better in small spaces. And so if a scene isn’t working, it’s sometimes worth trying: putting it in a smaller space and seeing what happens when people have to be in each other’s physicality. Apart from that, I guess there is something about, maybe it’s something childish about seeing kings and queens on the toilet. In the U.K., it was meant to be a hard thing to imagine: the late queen being on the toilet. I guess there may be something childlike about seeing great figures doing what all of us must do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930056\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930056\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A woman and two men, all white, huddle around a coffee table, listening closely to a message being relayed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/sarah-snook-jeremy-strong-kieran-culkin_wide-9d10cc88c8cbc9c29b68fcab0080840d1aa48b49.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) struggle to be taken seriously by their father and the upper level cronies at Waystar in Season 4’s “Honeymoon States” episode. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You have unique writing styles for each of the siblings and for Logan. Can you talk a little bit about coming up with each of their voices? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>It struck me that powerful people often don’t say so much. And Logan says probably many fewer words than his less powerful colleagues and people who surround him. Indeed, it’s probably true that the people with the least power speak the most. When you think about Tom (before he assumed power) and Greg, they have these great torrents of words because they’re trying to fill in the holes and equivocate and countermand what they’ve just said to precisely express themselves, because they’re worried the power is going to take a dim view of them. So there’s something about literally the quantity of words that you speak and also the volume. Power can often be very quiet and make you lean in until it explodes and makes you lean out. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>We hear [Kendall] first listening to rap music and he has a desire to hit a sort of colloquial but buzzword-infused [way of speaking]. I think he likes language. I think he wants to use interesting language. He’s not a terrible performer. Some people find his rap utterly risible. I find it comic, but also not bad. I think he has a certain verbal felicity, a certain verbal interest, and sometimes that goes over the edge into being ludicrous. Shiv, her tragedy has been that she has sought to modulate her every performance in the sense of what she’s doing in the world to keep her options open. And so there’s a sense in which she does that verbally as well. Roman is explosive and the most close to being a truth teller in that kind of jester role where he can say the unsayable and then claim that he didn’t say it or didn’t mean it. It’s a very powerful position once you start to be able to say, “I didn’t mean it,” after everything, every true thing that you say.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ED2pSguRn7U'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ED2pSguRn7U'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Roy siblings’ cousin Greg has a mixture of cluelessness and formality when he’s on the witness stand during the hearings about the Waystar cruise line sexual harassment scandal. At one point, while being questioned by a senator, Greg answers, “If it is to be said, so it be. So it is.” Can you talk about Greg’s strangely formal way of speaking there?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong:\u003c/strong> I think there’s a little bit of the kind of 18th century in there, that sort of courtier vibe. But I think there’s also a class thing there, which, you know, is the phrase “hyper correction,” where people who are outside their normal class or social arena sometimes end up being idiotic because they’re trying to be too proper. It happens in our English, class-obsessed society, when people try to change their vocal pitch and nature to try and fit in with posher people and you hypercorrect, and then you become ludicrous by throwing in those extra words or reversing the order and doing things which you think sound like they might have a formality, which is appropriate, but ends up being nonsense. So it’s a very nice thing in life to be comfortable with how you speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Logan is on his way to Norway to complete the deal with GoJo when he dies after suffering some kind of cardiac episode in the plane bathroom. Tom is on the plane and calls the siblings and they each say their goodbyes on the phone to him, even though it seems he’s already dead. Have you ever been in a position like that, of saying your goodbye on the phone?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>No, honestly, I haven’t. I’ve known sad things and I’ve known people who suffered sad things, and people were generous in the writers room sharing thoughts about those areas, things they knew. … I don’t believe you have to have been through something like that precisely to be able to write it. Often, the terrible thing we imagine in the future can be as vivid as the thing we’ve experienced. … There is something about the modern era, which is that often sad, bad news comes at us like that from nowhere and hits us from nowhere. … The modern sadnesses often happen in this rather disembodied way. And then you’re left in a nowhere state where you’re physically disconnected from the events.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930057\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930057\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man and. woman on a couch sit, looking concerned. Another man in a suit sits opposite them, slumped forward. A fourth man stands nearby. They are in a sitting room area of a yacht.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/fisher-stevens-kieran-culkin-jeremy-strong-sarah-snook_custom-9a66111cccf03ed30b96adbc44d50bc6d0fa7f9b.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Roy siblings huddle with the Waystar communications team to craft a statement after learning of their father’s sudden death. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>You really capture the not knowing what to say aspect in a situation like that — not knowing how to say goodbye, but also the conflicted love-hate relationship they have with their father. Can you talk a little bit about writing those goodbyes? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong>The whole show is such multiple collaborations, but I feel, especially in those moments, [the words] could lie on the page inert if it wasn’t with those brilliant actors doing the scene. I’m a rewriter. I rewrite a lot. We reworked the scripts a lot through production, and it can sometimes be hard for the actors as we change things. But that episode, and especially that long stretch in the middle, I wrote it relatively quickly. And then I tried to be very careful about what I revised because, I don’t often feel this, but it felt like it had a coherence in its incoherence that it felt appropriate, and I wanted to leave it rather raw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Hopefully our insults and our verbal attacks are believable and characterful, but they’re often more carefully wrought and multi-clause and baroque and the simplicity of the language, the mixture of truth and untruth, the feeling towards the edge of language and what it can express all felt good in the early, early drafts and therefore [we] tried not to change it. And I tried not to change the last things that Logan said, once I sort of knew that they were the last things that Logan said, because I didn’t want them to have the form of a grandiloquent moment of speech, because that didn’t seem appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can you say a few words about the ongoing \u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1172876800/writers-guild-calls-strike\">\u003cstrong>writers’ strike\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Armstrong: \u003c/strong> I think about it through the lens of \u003cem>Succession\u003c/em>, which has been basically well supported and a happy show. One of my most favorite parts of the show is the writers’ room. Our room is not one of these mini-rooms, it’s a big, full room and it runs for a long time. And then writers who have written in the writers’ room, many of them come to be on set. Those kinds of things, although they cost money, I think helped to make the show as good as it is, and there’s just a variety of writer who is likely to get cut out of the financial action unless the WGA gets at least some of what it’s asking for. So I’m supportive of the position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rich: \u003c/strong>The fact is that as the business transitioned from the old network linear model to streaming model, writers are often left out in the cold financially and it’s quite unjust. And I hope they win the battle because they really deserve it and they really are underpaid. It’s hard for people to understand how anyone could be underpaid in show business in Hollywood, but actually it does happen as in any other industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lauren Krenzel and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\">Fresh Air\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=We+ask+the+creator+of+%27Succession%27+everything+you+wanted+to+know+about+the+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘Past Lives’ is a Gorgeous Meditation on Love, Chance — and the Choices We Make",
"headTitle": "‘Past Lives’ is a Gorgeous Meditation on Love, Chance — and the Choices We Make | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Two minutes away, the Uber app promises at one point in \u003cem>Past Lives\u003c/em>. And if you’re like me, you may find yourself — perhaps for the first time in your Uber-riding life — hoping that promise is a bald-faced lie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because you’ll want more minutes, many more, for the couple presumably about to be separated by that Uber, even though they’re simply staring at each other on the street, saying absolutely nothing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is but one small moment of playwright Celine Song’s gorgeous, achingly wistful feature debut. But it highlights her striking confidence as a filmmaker. Time and again, Song, who both writes and directs here, makes the unflashy, understated choice — and in so doing, darned near breaks our hearts, with a tale that feels universal yet rich in detail, urgent yet unrushed. And if, also like me, you suddenly feel tears forming, they may surprise you, precisely because nobody’s been trying to force them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA244xewjcI&t=60s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We begin with a trio chatting in a New York bar — a woman flanked by two men. We’re too far away to hear what they’re saying or understand how they’re connected, and we hear distant voices speculating: “Maybe they’re tourists, and he’s the tour guide?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flashback 24 years to Seoul, where Nora (then called Na Young) and close friend Hae Sung, both 12, are walking home from school. Nora, her hair in long braids, is crying because she lost first place on a school assignment to Hae Sung. (She’s an ambitious sort.) The friendship — too early for romance — is about to be sadly interrupted, because Nora’s family is moving to Canada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929913']Twelve years pass. Nora ( Greta Lee, terrific in a smart, restrained performance that echoes her director’s style) has now moved to New York as an aspiring playwright (yes, much of this story is autobiographical.) On a lark one day, she tries to look up figures from her past. Searching for Hae Sung, she learns he was recently looking for her, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They schedule a video chat — at first halting, but soon they’re chatting day and night. Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is still living at home, common for young Koreans, and studying at university. He has plans to go to China. Nora is moving ahead with her own dreams (her goal has shifted from a Nobel to a Pulitzer.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the distance becomes too painful, Nora calls for a break. Not long after, she attends a writing residency and meets Arthur (John Magaro), a fellow writer. And 12 years pass again. The two live in Brooklyn and have been married seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929679']Suddenly, Nora hears from Hae Sung. He’s coming from Seoul and wants to see her. Their meeting in a city park is nothing like the rom-com encounter it could be in another film. Song knows that in real life, there’s often an inability to react quickly or cleverly or even at all, for awhile. The director lets awkward silences stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next few days the couple gets to know each other. Not surprisingly, Arthur feels somewhat threatened. Late at night he quietly tells Nora that she dreams in Korean, a language and world he does not know. He wonders if he’s “the guy you leave in the story when your ex comes to take you away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930009\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-800x464.png\" alt=\"An Asian woman and white man walk close together in the street. An Asian man stands nearby looking concerned.\" width=\"800\" height=\"464\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-800x464.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-1020x591.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-160x93.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-768x445.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM.png 1532w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A24 shows Greta Lee, from left, John Magaro, Teo Yoo in a scene from ‘Past Lives.’ \u003ccite>(Jon Pack/A24 via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And suddenly we’re back at that restaurant bar scene, and now we understand. The three characters try to navigate the unusual circumstances. They discuss what-ifs, and zoom in on a Korean concept of fate, explained by Nora earlier as the connection between two people that has been influenced or determined by connections in past lives — hence the film’s title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without giving away the ending, it’s worth noting that Song has drawn much from her own life — down to that bar scene, and a similar visit from a long-ago connection from Korea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13929254']She raises a number of lessons here, but one seems to be that choices, which seem so limitless in our youth, have consequences, even (or most especially) when we’re not noticing. No one choice seems irreversible, perhaps, but eventually they coalesce into a life path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the playwright also tells us that versions of one life can co-exist. Nora notes at one point that even if her older New York version is different, the younger Korean version is still real, and still exists on some other plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is my life, I’m living it with you,” she tells Arthur early on, trying to reassure him (and perhaps herself.) But one of the beauties of this film is how it allows for such an expansive, generous view of what one life can actually be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Associated Press. To see more, visit AP.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Past Lives’ is out now.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two minutes away, the Uber app promises at one point in \u003cem>Past Lives\u003c/em>. And if you’re like me, you may find yourself — perhaps for the first time in your Uber-riding life — hoping that promise is a bald-faced lie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because you’ll want more minutes, many more, for the couple presumably about to be separated by that Uber, even though they’re simply staring at each other on the street, saying absolutely nothing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is but one small moment of playwright Celine Song’s gorgeous, achingly wistful feature debut. But it highlights her striking confidence as a filmmaker. Time and again, Song, who both writes and directs here, makes the unflashy, understated choice — and in so doing, darned near breaks our hearts, with a tale that feels universal yet rich in detail, urgent yet unrushed. And if, also like me, you suddenly feel tears forming, they may surprise you, precisely because nobody’s been trying to force them.\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/kA244xewjcI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/kA244xewjcI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>We begin with a trio chatting in a New York bar — a woman flanked by two men. We’re too far away to hear what they’re saying or understand how they’re connected, and we hear distant voices speculating: “Maybe they’re tourists, and he’s the tour guide?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flashback 24 years to Seoul, where Nora (then called Na Young) and close friend Hae Sung, both 12, are walking home from school. Nora, her hair in long braids, is crying because she lost first place on a school assignment to Hae Sung. (She’s an ambitious sort.) The friendship — too early for romance — is about to be sadly interrupted, because Nora’s family is moving to Canada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Twelve years pass. Nora ( Greta Lee, terrific in a smart, restrained performance that echoes her director’s style) has now moved to New York as an aspiring playwright (yes, much of this story is autobiographical.) On a lark one day, she tries to look up figures from her past. Searching for Hae Sung, she learns he was recently looking for her, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They schedule a video chat — at first halting, but soon they’re chatting day and night. Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) is still living at home, common for young Koreans, and studying at university. He has plans to go to China. Nora is moving ahead with her own dreams (her goal has shifted from a Nobel to a Pulitzer.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the distance becomes too painful, Nora calls for a break. Not long after, she attends a writing residency and meets Arthur (John Magaro), a fellow writer. And 12 years pass again. The two live in Brooklyn and have been married seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Suddenly, Nora hears from Hae Sung. He’s coming from Seoul and wants to see her. Their meeting in a city park is nothing like the rom-com encounter it could be in another film. Song knows that in real life, there’s often an inability to react quickly or cleverly or even at all, for awhile. The director lets awkward silences stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next few days the couple gets to know each other. Not surprisingly, Arthur feels somewhat threatened. Late at night he quietly tells Nora that she dreams in Korean, a language and world he does not know. He wonders if he’s “the guy you leave in the story when your ex comes to take you away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13930009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13930009\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-800x464.png\" alt=\"An Asian woman and white man walk close together in the street. An Asian man stands nearby looking concerned.\" width=\"800\" height=\"464\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-800x464.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-1020x591.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-160x93.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM-768x445.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-02-at-11.08.15-AM.png 1532w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A24 shows Greta Lee, from left, John Magaro, Teo Yoo in a scene from ‘Past Lives.’ \u003ccite>(Jon Pack/A24 via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And suddenly we’re back at that restaurant bar scene, and now we understand. The three characters try to navigate the unusual circumstances. They discuss what-ifs, and zoom in on a Korean concept of fate, explained by Nora earlier as the connection between two people that has been influenced or determined by connections in past lives — hence the film’s title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without giving away the ending, it’s worth noting that Song has drawn much from her own life — down to that bar scene, and a similar visit from a long-ago connection from Korea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She raises a number of lessons here, but one seems to be that choices, which seem so limitless in our youth, have consequences, even (or most especially) when we’re not noticing. No one choice seems irreversible, perhaps, but eventually they coalesce into a life path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the playwright also tells us that versions of one life can co-exist. Nora notes at one point that even if her older New York version is different, the younger Korean version is still real, and still exists on some other plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is my life, I’m living it with you,” she tells Arthur early on, trying to reassure him (and perhaps herself.) But one of the beauties of this film is how it allows for such an expansive, generous view of what one life can actually be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Copyright 2023 Associated Press. To see more, visit AP.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Past Lives’ is out now.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Five Great Moments From the ‘Ted Lasso’ Finale",
"headTitle": "Five Great Moments From the ‘Ted Lasso’ Finale | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>had a bit of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1170074939/ted-lasso-season-3-review\">bumpy third season\u003c/a>, and its final episode (now streaming on Apple TV+) didn’t undo all of those bumps. Nevertheless, the show pulled off some very nice moments that doubtless reminded viewers why they fell in love with it in the first place. It stands to reason, hopefully, that spoilers follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. A song for the coach.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13926462']Richmond AFC’s performance of “So Long, Farewell” from \u003cem>The Sound of Music \u003c/em>called back to the time \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMsNLc7KgEU\">we saw the team do “Bye Bye Bye.” \u003c/a>If you know the movie, you were well-prepared for all those heads to pop out and say “cuckoo,” and it was a pure delight. Granted, having seen “Bye Bye Bye,” I’d have loved more dancing from Jamie (Phil Dunster) (my third season MVP), but perhaps it was enough that Roy was mouthing along. Sue me, I love a musical number.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. Roy asks to become a Diamond Dog.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With Nate back in the fold (despite some misgivings I have about how that story developed), the Diamond Dogs 2.0, now including Trent Crimm, were shocked and flattered when Roy said the words Ted had longed to hear: “Can I be a Diamond Dog?” Part of the charm of \u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>when it’s at its best is that unabashedly corny things work because of the charm of the performances. And even if it was always inevitable that Roy would give himself up to the loving embrace of his pals, his growth was signaled beautifully by his willingness not simply to say yes when asked, but to ask on his own. Who among us has not felt the need to say, “Can I be your friend?” Or, in this case, “Can I be a Diamond Dog?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929886\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929886\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"A middle aged man in a suit stands alongside two slender blond women. One girlish in a short red dress, the other statuesque and professional in a blue one.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM.png 1160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham as Leslie, Keeley and Rebecca. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>3. Rebecca asks Ted to stay.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Ted and Rebecca have had a friendship that has changed the courses of both of their lives. Their relationship is emotionally intimate but not romantic, which is a kind of bond that television often can’t hold in its head when it comes to (as far as we know) a straight man and a straight woman. Rebecca had to make that last ask to him, the best version of “we could stay together” that she could come up with, even though it was not especially reasonable to suggest his wife and son should both change continents. But she had to try. That scene also gave the finale a chance to luxuriate in the stadium seats from the opening credits that have been so much a part of the show’s iconography.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. The team reassembles the sign.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Look, you were never going to like this show if the sight of all the Greyhounds retrieving their various pieces of the destroyed “BELIEVE” sign and reassembling them made you roll your eyes. Again, corny! But it works! And realizing they’d all hidden them in different places — behind a photo, in a book, in a sock or a sleeve — was a pretty literal but charming representation of how these guys have taken in what Ted was trying to teach them and are capable of recreating it themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two men in sports uniforms stand opposite each other in a locker room, double fist bumping in a friendly manner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phil Dunster as Jamie, left, and Brett Goldstein as Roy. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>5. Jamie passes the ball.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jamie Tartt has had the most complete, coherent and satisfying character arc of any character on the show. He has never been anything other than himself (he still has his entire arsenal of body spray, right next to his copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s \u003cem>The Beautiful and Damned\u003c/em>), but he has genuinely learned both to have friends (like Roy) and to share in the achievements of a team. By giving up the ball to Dani for the penalty and to Sam when Sam was open — while still scoring — he managed to be both star and cooperative teammate in Richmond’s final game, finally achieving the balance that has so often eluded him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13928322']In the end, it wasn’t entirely clear whether all the futures that we saw, with Roy becoming the manager of AFC Richmond, and with Rebecca ending up with the guy she met in Amsterdam, and with Keeley and Rebecca preparing to start a women’s team, were real. It wasn’t even clear where Ted’s own family life ended up, although it did seem that Dr. Jacob had left the scene. While cast members have said on social media that this was the end of the road, Apple has resisted saying for sure whether we’ll ever return to this world. If we don’t, it’s good that there was some singing and dancing, some good football, and a reminder that this is, at its heart, a show about friendship and camaraderie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Five+great+moments+from+the+%27Ted+Lasso%27+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "In the final episode for Apple's decorated show, friendships were cemented, football was played, and signs were everywhere.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>had a bit of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1170074939/ted-lasso-season-3-review\">bumpy third season\u003c/a>, and its final episode (now streaming on Apple TV+) didn’t undo all of those bumps. Nevertheless, the show pulled off some very nice moments that doubtless reminded viewers why they fell in love with it in the first place. It stands to reason, hopefully, that spoilers follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>1. A song for the coach.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Richmond AFC’s performance of “So Long, Farewell” from \u003cem>The Sound of Music \u003c/em>called back to the time \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMsNLc7KgEU\">we saw the team do “Bye Bye Bye.” \u003c/a>If you know the movie, you were well-prepared for all those heads to pop out and say “cuckoo,” and it was a pure delight. Granted, having seen “Bye Bye Bye,” I’d have loved more dancing from Jamie (Phil Dunster) (my third season MVP), but perhaps it was enough that Roy was mouthing along. Sue me, I love a musical number.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>2. Roy asks to become a Diamond Dog.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With Nate back in the fold (despite some misgivings I have about how that story developed), the Diamond Dogs 2.0, now including Trent Crimm, were shocked and flattered when Roy said the words Ted had longed to hear: “Can I be a Diamond Dog?” Part of the charm of \u003cem>Ted Lasso \u003c/em>when it’s at its best is that unabashedly corny things work because of the charm of the performances. And even if it was always inevitable that Roy would give himself up to the loving embrace of his pals, his growth was signaled beautifully by his willingness not simply to say yes when asked, but to ask on his own. Who among us has not felt the need to say, “Can I be your friend?” Or, in this case, “Can I be a Diamond Dog?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929886\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929886\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png\" alt=\"A middle aged man in a suit stands alongside two slender blond women. One girlish in a short red dress, the other statuesque and professional in a blue one.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-800x532.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-1020x679.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM-768x511.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-11.15.47-AM.png 1160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham as Leslie, Keeley and Rebecca. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>3. Rebecca asks Ted to stay.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Ted and Rebecca have had a friendship that has changed the courses of both of their lives. Their relationship is emotionally intimate but not romantic, which is a kind of bond that television often can’t hold in its head when it comes to (as far as we know) a straight man and a straight woman. Rebecca had to make that last ask to him, the best version of “we could stay together” that she could come up with, even though it was not especially reasonable to suggest his wife and son should both change continents. But she had to try. That scene also gave the finale a chance to luxuriate in the stadium seats from the opening credits that have been so much a part of the show’s iconography.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>4. The team reassembles the sign.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Look, you were never going to like this show if the sight of all the Greyhounds retrieving their various pieces of the destroyed “BELIEVE” sign and reassembling them made you roll your eyes. Again, corny! But it works! And realizing they’d all hidden them in different places — behind a photo, in a book, in a sock or a sleeve — was a pretty literal but charming representation of how these guys have taken in what Ted was trying to teach them and are capable of recreating it themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929882\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929882\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two men in sports uniforms stand opposite each other in a locker room, double fist bumping in a friendly manner.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tedlasso_312_00185f_custom-c55a39c68b99aa1f4da030c2c722951f3999c96e-scaled-e1685557093165.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Phil Dunster as Jamie, left, and Brett Goldstein as Roy. \u003ccite>(Luke Varley/Apple)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>5. Jamie passes the ball.\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jamie Tartt has had the most complete, coherent and satisfying character arc of any character on the show. He has never been anything other than himself (he still has his entire arsenal of body spray, right next to his copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s \u003cem>The Beautiful and Damned\u003c/em>), but he has genuinely learned both to have friends (like Roy) and to share in the achievements of a team. By giving up the ball to Dani for the penalty and to Sam when Sam was open — while still scoring — he managed to be both star and cooperative teammate in Richmond’s final game, finally achieving the balance that has so often eluded him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the end, it wasn’t entirely clear whether all the futures that we saw, with Roy becoming the manager of AFC Richmond, and with Rebecca ending up with the guy she met in Amsterdam, and with Keeley and Rebecca preparing to start a women’s team, were real. It wasn’t even clear where Ted’s own family life ended up, although it did seem that Dr. Jacob had left the scene. While cast members have said on social media that this was the end of the road, Apple has resisted saying for sure whether we’ll ever return to this world. If we don’t, it’s good that there was some singing and dancing, some good football, and a reminder that this is, at its heart, a show about friendship and camaraderie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Five+great+moments+from+the+%27Ted+Lasso%27+finale&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Love to Love You, Donna Summer' Documents the Disco Queen — But at a Distance",
"headTitle": "‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ Documents the Disco Queen — But at a Distance | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>This may sound odd now, but when Donna Summer first hit America’s pop music charts in 1975, it was a steamy, scandalous moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” featured Summer making noises of pleasure which sounded seriously sexual, inspiring the BBC to initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/30-songs-banned-by-the-bbc/\">refuse to play the record \u003c/a>and interviewers to ask what exactly she was doing while tracking the vocals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as Summer explains in a clip from HBO’s documentary \u003cem>Love to Love You, Donna Summer\u003c/em>, the singer was not actually a sultry, sexy seductress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t me, it was something I was playing,” she says. “It was a role. Everyone that knew me would call me up and say, ‘That’s not you, [moaning on the record] is it?’ Yeah, it’s me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQXInltKe8E\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A secretive artist\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, HBO’s film struggles to define who Summer actually was, despite knitting together interviews with family members, archival clips and home movie footage — all guided, in part, by her daughter Brooklyn Sudano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sudano co-directed the film with Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, searching for meaning in her mother’s story. The movie notes even Summer’s children sometimes found her tough to know — including one scene in which Sudano’s sister, Amanda Ramirez, talks about how secretive their mother could be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were never allowed in her room; the door was always locked,” Ramirez says. “We would find out things by reading newspaper articles … I actually remember the first time that we heard ‘Love to Love You.’ Didn’t even know it existed. Brooklyn came in the room and was like, ‘Have I got a song for you to hear!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929374\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929374\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe\" alt=\"A beautiful light-skinned Black womam with long curly hair faces forward. She is wearing a red shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-1020x768.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-160x120.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-768x578.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6.jpe 1142w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing the film does make clear: Summer’s towering abilities as a singer, performer and songwriter. It shows how she suggested the title for “Love to Love You”; was inspired by an exhausted restroom attendant to write “She Works Hard for the Money”; and co-wrote the percolating synthesizer riff which powers her 1977 hit “I Feel Love” with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='trulyca_3474']Elton John spoke about that song’s impact in a clip used by the film. “I remember when ‘I Feel Love’ came on at Studio 54,” he says. “You just stopped in your tracks. What is this? It sounded like no other record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer says they were going for a specific vibe in the studio. “When I went in to do it I had the sense that I was floating. And that’s what … we wanted to maintain, that floaty kind of — that elation that you feel when you’re in love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929375\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929375\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman and white bearded man sit behind the mixing desk of a recording studio. The walls are wood paneled. \" width=\"800\" height=\"593\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1020x755.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-768x569.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1536x1138.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer in the studio with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines and raised in Boston, Summer grew up singing in church. Later, she moved to Germany for a production of the musical \u003cem>Hair\u003c/em> and began making records. The film offers lots of performance footage and behind-the-scenes clips, recounting her fights with her record company, abusive lovers and the struggle to be recognized as more than just a disco queen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='trulyca_3323']But perhaps because Summer held back from her family, the film rarely digs deeply into any aspect of her life before moving on. This is especially noticeable when Sudano asks her uncle Ric Gaines about allegations Summer was molested by a church pastor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became a defining moment in her life,” Gaines says. “It’s not easy when you don’t tell or [don’t] have the ability to tell people.” But it’s tough to see exactly how this incident defined her life, or at least why her brother believed it did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929376\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg\" alt=\"A Black womam sits at a piano, hands on keys, looking sullen.\" width=\"800\" height=\"968\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1020x1234.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-768x929.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1269x1536.jpg 1269w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer at her piano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A structure that feeds confusion\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The film’s structure doesn’t help. Subjects speaking about Summer’s life are often not shown talking on camera, so it’s difficult to know if you’re hearing an archival interview or something recorded for the film. And Sudano doesn’t reveal much about how she pulled the movie together, making it hard to judge why some elements are used the way they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='trulyca_3390']Even Summer’s death in 2012 from lung cancer is handled obliquely, with fleeting glimpses of what she went through. Such pivotal moments deserve a bit more detail; without them, the audience remains at a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who only know Summer through hits like “She Works Hard for the Money” and “Last Dance,” HBO’s film offers important context about her talent and lots of great performance footage. But like the artist herself, the film can also be maddeningly enigmatic, just when you want to know more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Love+to+You%2C+Donna+Summer%27+documents+the+disco+queen+%E2%80%94+but+at+a+distance&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ premieres on HBO on May 20, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This may sound odd now, but when Donna Summer first hit America’s pop music charts in 1975, it was a steamy, scandalous moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her first hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” featured Summer making noises of pleasure which sounded seriously sexual, inspiring the BBC to initially \u003ca href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/30-songs-banned-by-the-bbc/\">refuse to play the record \u003c/a>and interviewers to ask what exactly she was doing while tracking the vocals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as Summer explains in a clip from HBO’s documentary \u003cem>Love to Love You, Donna Summer\u003c/em>, the singer was not actually a sultry, sexy seductress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t me, it was something I was playing,” she says. “It was a role. Everyone that knew me would call me up and say, ‘That’s not you, [moaning on the record] is it?’ Yeah, it’s me.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/xQXInltKe8E'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/xQXInltKe8E'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003ch3>A secretive artist\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, HBO’s film struggles to define who Summer actually was, despite knitting together interviews with family members, archival clips and home movie footage — all guided, in part, by her daughter Brooklyn Sudano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sudano co-directed the film with Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams, searching for meaning in her mother’s story. The movie notes even Summer’s children sometimes found her tough to know — including one scene in which Sudano’s sister, Amanda Ramirez, talks about how secretive their mother could be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were never allowed in her room; the door was always locked,” Ramirez says. “We would find out things by reading newspaper articles … I actually remember the first time that we heard ‘Love to Love You.’ Didn’t even know it existed. Brooklyn came in the room and was like, ‘Have I got a song for you to hear!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929374\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929374\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe\" alt=\"A beautiful light-skinned Black womam with long curly hair faces forward. She is wearing a red shirt.\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-800x602.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-1020x768.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-160x120.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6-768x578.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/brooklyn-sudano_custom-ad3232b6b888181b37cf5017567e591ba28b7bb6.jpe 1142w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One thing the film does make clear: Summer’s towering abilities as a singer, performer and songwriter. It shows how she suggested the title for “Love to Love You”; was inspired by an exhausted restroom attendant to write “She Works Hard for the Money”; and co-wrote the percolating synthesizer riff which powers her 1977 hit “I Feel Love” with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Elton John spoke about that song’s impact in a clip used by the film. “I remember when ‘I Feel Love’ came on at Studio 54,” he says. “You just stopped in your tracks. What is this? It sounded like no other record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer says they were going for a specific vibe in the studio. “When I went in to do it I had the sense that I was floating. And that’s what … we wanted to maintain, that floaty kind of — that elation that you feel when you’re in love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929375\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929375\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg\" alt=\"A Black woman and white bearded man sit behind the mixing desk of a recording studio. The walls are wood paneled. \" width=\"800\" height=\"593\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-800x593.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1020x755.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-768x569.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5-1536x1138.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer-and-giorgio-moroder_custom-1d86d1a633efa8a88c37a4f5cbd9770f9db457e5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer in the studio with disco-producing legend Giorgio Moroder. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines and raised in Boston, Summer grew up singing in church. Later, she moved to Germany for a production of the musical \u003cem>Hair\u003c/em> and began making records. The film offers lots of performance footage and behind-the-scenes clips, recounting her fights with her record company, abusive lovers and the struggle to be recognized as more than just a disco queen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But perhaps because Summer held back from her family, the film rarely digs deeply into any aspect of her life before moving on. This is especially noticeable when Sudano asks her uncle Ric Gaines about allegations Summer was molested by a church pastor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became a defining moment in her life,” Gaines says. “It’s not easy when you don’t tell or [don’t] have the ability to tell people.” But it’s tough to see exactly how this incident defined her life, or at least why her brother believed it did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13929376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13929376\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg\" alt=\"A Black womam sits at a piano, hands on keys, looking sullen.\" width=\"800\" height=\"968\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-800x968.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1020x1234.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-160x194.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-768x929.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0-1269x1536.jpg 1269w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/donna-summer_0_custom-302e00d88ff1ce32e70fcccb6058875fe14e04d0.jpg 1332w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Summer at her piano. \u003ccite>(HBO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A structure that feeds confusion\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The film’s structure doesn’t help. Subjects speaking about Summer’s life are often not shown talking on camera, so it’s difficult to know if you’re hearing an archival interview or something recorded for the film. And Sudano doesn’t reveal much about how she pulled the movie together, making it hard to judge why some elements are used the way they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even Summer’s death in 2012 from lung cancer is handled obliquely, with fleeting glimpses of what she went through. Such pivotal moments deserve a bit more detail; without them, the audience remains at a distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those who only know Summer through hits like “She Works Hard for the Money” and “Last Dance,” HBO’s film offers important context about her talent and lots of great performance footage. But like the artist herself, the film can also be maddeningly enigmatic, just when you want to know more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/\">visit NPR\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Love+to+You%2C+Donna+Summer%27+documents+the+disco+queen+%E2%80%94+but+at+a+distance&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Love to Love You, Donna Summer’ premieres on HBO on May 20, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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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