Culture : NPR

Starbucks To Open In Italy, Home Of Espresso, In 2018. Italian Cafes Say Bring It

Starbucks has announced it will open its first location in Italy in this historic post office building in downtown Milan. Starbucks hide caption

toggle caption

Starbucks

Starbucks To Open In Italy, Home Of Espresso, In 2018. Italian Cafes Say Bring It

February 28, 2017 • The coffeehouse giant plans several stores in Milan. But Italian coffeehouse owners aren't particularly worried. As one told us, they're not even in the same business.

The British Celebrate Pancake Day With Sweet Races

Steve Pound, MP, pictured at the Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race 2017. Pancake races are a Shrove Tuesday tradition in England dating back centuries. Oliver Dixon / Imagewise hide caption

toggle caption

Oliver Dixon / Imagewise

The British Celebrate Pancake Day With Sweet Races

February 28, 2017 • The last day of February is called Pancake Day in the United Kingdom, and it is marked by pancake races. Teams run pan in hand toward the finish line in a tradition going back hundreds of years.

The British Celebrate Pancake Day With Sweet Races

Listen · 2:46 2:46

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/517779738/517779739" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'River On Fire' Explores Genius, Madness And The Poetry Of Robert Lowell

Fresh Air

February 28, 2017 • Kay Redfield Jamison's new book describes how Lowell's manic-depressive illness influenced his life and work. "His manias tended to lead him into writing a fresh kind of poetry," she says.

'River On Fire' Explores Genius, Madness And The Poetry Of Robert Lowell

Listen · 29:21 29:21

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/517706249/517759749" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Review

New 'Chimes At Midnight' DVD Recalls Orson Welles' Autobiographical Turn As Falstaff

Fresh Air

February 28, 2017 • Welles moved Shakespeare's mostly peripheral character to the center of this 1965 film. Critic Lloyd Schwartz says the performance "may be the most profound moment of Welles' entire film career."

New 'Chimes At Midnight' DVD Recalls Orson Welles' Autobiographical Turn As Falstaff

Listen · 7:30 7:30

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/511572722/517759752" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

'To Be A Machine' Digs Into The Meaning Of Humanity

Marian Carrasquero/NPR

Review

'To Be A Machine' Digs Into The Meaning Of Humanity

February 28, 2017 • Mark O'Connell's new book is a lucid, soulful look at the transhumanist movement — a group who believe that direct interface between humans and machines is the only way forward for our species.

PHOTOS: In Sri Lanka's Tea Paradise, A Social Enterprise Is Brewing

Tamil and Sinhalese workers pick tea on Amba Estate in the early morning. Victoria Milko for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Victoria Milko for NPR

PHOTOS: In Sri Lanka's Tea Paradise, A Social Enterprise Is Brewing

February 28, 2017 • The island nation is one of the world's biggest exporters of tea, an industry that employs a sizable part of the population. We visit one organic tea farm that shares revenues with its workers.

Encore: Mahershala Ali Plays An Unlikely Father Figure In 'Moonlight'

February 27, 2017 • NPR's Kelly McEvers spoke to Ali in October about his experience working on the film, which won the Oscar for best picture.

Encore: Mahershala Ali Plays An Unlikely Father Figure In 'Moonlight'

Listen · 2:55 2:55

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/517563222/517563223" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

In NYC, 'Sweeney Todd' Baker Serves Up Some Bloody Good Pies

For Barrow Street Theatre, pie shells are baked and filled with the chicken and vegetables, cooked in a little white truffle butter, then sprinkled with truffle zest. Joan Marcus hide caption

toggle caption

Joan Marcus

In NYC, 'Sweeney Todd' Baker Serves Up Some Bloody Good Pies

February 27, 2017 • The off-Broadway musical, in which a barber's clients become filling for meat pies, may make you lose your appetite. But former White House pastry chef Bill Yosses bakes a tempting pre-theater treat.

In NYC, 'Sweeney Todd' Baker Serves Up Some Bloody Good Pies

Listen · 7:04 7:04

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/516885309/517563249" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Joel Sartore/National Geographic

Photographer Builds A 'Photo Ark' For 6,500 Animal Species And Counting

Fresh Air

February 27, 2017 • National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore is on a mission to document every captive animal species in the world. He talks about getting an arctic fox to hold still, and Photoshopping out poop.

Photographer Builds A 'Photo Ark' For 6,500 Animal Species And Counting

Listen · 30:38 30:38

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/517481473/517536934" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

A Shocking Ending Caps A Big Oscar Night For 'Moonlight'

Barry Jenkins accepts the Academy Award for best picture for Moonlight. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

A Shocking Ending Caps A Big Oscar Night For 'Moonlight'

February 27, 2017 • It wasn't a terribly exciting or unusual Academy Awards telecast — until all of a sudden, it made all kinds of history.

In A Dramatic Finish, 'Moonlight' Takes Best Picture At The 2017 Oscars

After a startling presentation mix-up for the best picture award, Barry Jenkins, at the mic, and the Moonlight cast accept the award at the Oscars on Sunday. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

The Two-Way

In A Dramatic Finish, 'Moonlight' Takes Best Picture At The 2017 Oscars

February 26, 2017 • After a shocking end-of-night flub, Moonlight won Best Picture, but not before an incorrect announcement awarded the honor to La La Land.

Palestinian Arab Idol TV show winners Yaacoub Shahin (center), Ammar Mohammed (left) and Amir Dandan stand on stage during the final in the pan-Arab song contest on Feb. 25, 2017 at MBC studios in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut. Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images

Parallels

Seven Fun Facts About 'Arab Idol'

February 26, 2017 • The finalists were a Palestinian, a Yemeni and a Palestinian Israeli citizen. The show highlights and erases the region's borders. The Israeli citizen was given an honorary permit to travel to Beirut.

Indonesia Wakes Up And Smells Its Own Coffee — Then Drinks It

Mirza Luqman Effendy of Brewphobia in South Jakarta prepares coffee for a cupping session. Yosef Riadi for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Yosef Riadi for NPR

The Salt

Indonesia Wakes Up And Smells Its Own Coffee — Then Drinks It

February 26, 2017 • Indonesia is the world's fourth-largest coffee producer, exporting more than it consumes. But that's changing, as demand from a rising middle class fuels entrepreneurship and connoisseurship.

Indonesia Wakes Up And Smells Its Own Coffee — Then Drinks It

Listen · 3:30 3:30

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/517035587/518606194" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript