Month: February 2020

Amy Bonaffons deftly avoids the trap of saccharine sweetness in her new novel about a ghost serving out a 90-day sentence on Earth — and the woman he falls in love with.

(Image credit: Little, Brown and Company)

Actor Kirk Douglas died at the age of 103 this week. NPR’s Scott Simon remembers the movie that Douglas made after his pivotal role in Spartacus.

(Image credit: TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Sam Lilja had to train the film’s March sisters — played by Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson and Eliza Scanlen — to sound authentically American. The results are intentionally imperfect.

Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour‘s coverage of 1917, Parasite, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and more.

(Image credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

Ben Okri’s new novel begins with a prison, which preoccupies his characters — where is it? What is it? Who’s in it? It’s a deceptively simple read that wrestles with deep questions about humanity.

(Image credit: Akashic Books)

Jay Martel writes humorous synopses for an imagined roundup of prequels, including stories to precede “Lord of the Flies,” “Waiting for Godot,” and “Fahrenheit 451.”

Facial recognition systems from large tech companies often misidentify black women as male — including the likes of Michelle Obama and Serena Williams. A new documentary, “Coded Bias” unpacks why.

(Image credit: Courtesy of the 2050 Group)

Researchers found a rapid decline in bumblebees linked to climate changes, driving the insects to be half as likely to be found in North America as they were in 1901. What do you think?

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The Iowa caucuses, where the first votes were tallied for the 2020 presidential election, became a days-long fiasco largely due to an app malfunction. The Onion offers a look at the key events of the Iowa caucuses debacle.

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Onlookers were stunned in Lansing, MI after witnessing a rebellious young man who had the audacity to dye his hair blue.

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