Blogs

New York Times reporter Kashmir Hill explains AI’s increasing influence. David Bianculli reviews One to One: John & Yoko. Second Life author Amanda Hess explains how tech is changing having a baby.

There’s an ancient tradition in Hawaii that involves riding a narrow, wooden sled down a mountain track. Some practitioners are reviving it.

What do you get if you add poems that are “Shel Silverstein meets Rumi for kids” with pictures of yetis and primordial slime? Words with Wings and Magic Things, a book of illustrated poems for kids.

NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with WAMC listener Maureen Perrotte of Ravena, New York and Weekend Edition Puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

Paula Bomer’s dizzying book is a fascinating look at an absurdly stupid young man in the early 1990s who manages to sustain himself despite having no evidence of a soul.

Joy in India as writer Banu Mushtaq wins a major literary award for her short stories that she wrote over 3 decades in a regional language.

On this installment of our Cineplexity series, NPR staffers discuss the films of actor Tom Cruise and whether or not he’s the quintessential movie star.

The dissident filmmaker’s thriller is a stinging critique of oppression in his home country.

(Image credit: Natacha Pisarenko)

Two non-verbal actors have been case in a new opera, opening this week in Omaha. The production has worked for five years to develop technology to give them voice.

The long-running franchise taps into a common fear: You’re going to die eventually, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Final Destination Bloodlines is the sixth installment.