Now Playing

Loading streams...

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

Arts & CultureRSS
All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

Arts & Culture

Pages

New In Paperback
10:45 am
Mon November 19, 2012

New In Paperback Nov. 19-25

Credit
Share
E-mail
Comments
By editor

Fiction and nonfiction releases from Richard Mason, Jean Baker, A.J. Jacobs, Bill Cosby and Geoff Dyer.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Monkey See
8:02 am
Mon November 19, 2012

Entirely Real Photos: Kristen Stewart Is So Totally Thrilled To Be Here

Credit Gabriel Pecot / AP
Kristen Stewart poses during a photo call at the Spanish premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Given my constitutional opposition to women being told to smile and look happy, it takes a lot for me to pick on scowling.

Read more
My Guilty Pleasure
6:03 am
Mon November 19, 2012

Pterrifying Pterodactyl Meets Sexy Detective

Next imagePrevious image
Credit
Credit Susie Post-Rust
Rosecrans Baldwin is also the author of You Lost Me There.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By Rosecrans Baldwin

Originally published on Wed January 2, 2013 6:51 pm

Rosecrans Baldwin's latest book is Paris, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down.

Most of what you read about contemporary Paris is pretty cliched stuff — baguettes, cigarettes and the cast of Gossip Girl drinking white wine on the Seine.

Read more
The Salt
2:23 am
Mon November 19, 2012

At Burmese Dissident's Cafe, A Taste Of Politics And Salad

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Myat Thu, who owns the Aiya restaurant, takes a break at the bar with his chef Ney Minn. They both grew up in the Burmese capital, Rangoon.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Paintings of Burmese street scenes decorate the walls of Aiya. Patrons who come for the Burmese and Thai food can also find portraits of Che Guevara and Aung San Suu Kyi, and bumper stickers declaring "Peace in Burma Now."
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Myat Thu, who owns the Aiya restaurant, takes a break at the bar with his chef Ney Minn. They both grew up in the Burmese capital, Rangoon.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
The decor of Aiya includes several portraits of Che Guevara. Thu says the Marxist revolutionary represents for him a symbol of international rebellion.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Myat Thu's dogs laze about the restaurant, keeping patrons company.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
The restaurant features live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Myat Thu plays percussion during the band's rendition of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
To prepare Aiya's Burmese and Thai dishes, the kitchen staff use a variety of spices and ingredients, including fish sauce, garlic, chili, bean powder, shallots, mushroom sauce, oyster sauce and soy bean sauce.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
The menu features Indian curries and Thai noodles, but the restaurant's marquee items are fresh Burmese salads. In the foreground is a ginger salad.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Myat Thu's wife created the Thai dishes on the menu. Thu says chicken panang curry is his wife's best dish. Chili peppers and Thai basil serve as flavorful garnishes.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
The Aiya restaurant in Mae Sot, a small Thai city on the border with Myanmar, is run by Myat Thu, a Burmese dissident.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
One of the restaurant's most popular dishes is the Burmese green tea leaf salad with crunchy fried nuts.
Credit Ben de la Cruz / NPR
Myat Thu owns Aiya, a restaurant in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Mon November 26, 2012 12:53 pm

Early in life, Myat Thu knew that his destiny as a cook lay in salads. Not the light, leafy green salads that are so common in American restaurants, but heavy, hearty Burmese salads.

Myat Thu grew up in Burma, also known as Myanmar. He was just 14 when his mother placed him in charge of making dinner. Unsure of what to prepare, he studied the salad vendors on the streets of Rangoon.

Read more
Author Interviews
2:23 am
Mon November 19, 2012

Anne Lamott Distills Prayer Into 'Help, Thanks, Wow'

Credit Sam Lamott / Riverhead Books
Anne Lamott is the best-selling author of Some Assembly Required, Grace (Eventually), Plan B and Traveling Mercies.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By editor

Originally published on Tue November 20, 2012 9:44 am

As Thanksgiving draws near, many of us are thinking about what we're thankful for — taking time to consider how best to appreciate what we have in our lives. This year, novelist and memoirist Anne Lamott has focused on using prayer to help express our thanks. Many of her books explore how individuals can transform their lives — how one moves from being troubled to feeling whole. In Lamott's case, she suffered from alcoholism and drug abuse; after hitting rock bottom, she found her faith.

Read more

Pages