May 15, 2009
"How does love continue to flourish in the face of such ugliness and brutality?" That's the question that drove playwright Lynn Nottage to write "Ruined" which just won the Pulitzer Prize. It's set at a bar/brothel in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the middle of a civil war. She tells Kurt how the play formed out of real stories she gathered from the women there.
With performances by Quincy Tyler Bernstine.
Music from the production at Manhattan Theater Club. Performed by Condola Rashad, Dominic Kanza and Simon Shabantu Kashama. (Music by Dominic Kanza, lyrics by Lynn Nottage.)
In today's scary media landscape -- full of layoffs and closing papers -- arts coverage is especially vulnerable. Arts critics must invent new ways to do what they do. Film critic Mike D'Angelo and visual art critic Lori Waxman are two journalists blazing that trail. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.
Kurt asks András Szántó, senior lecturer at Sotheby's Institute of Art, where he sees arts coverage headed.
Growing up, Studio 360 listener Seth Barkan got pressure from his dad to become a classical musician. Barkan dutifully studied classical piano for years, but it never quite suited him. Then he heard a recording of stride pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines and everything changed. Produced by Studio 360's Jenny Lawton.
Weigh in: How has a work of art changed your life?
Each May, the Santa Monica Museum of Art holds a benefit with more than 650 paintings for sale. Some are by big names, others by total unknowns. The catch: buyers don't find out who made the pieces until after they've paid for them. We sent Eve Troeh to watch the frenzy unfold.
Gene Winfield has been creating futuristic cars for nearly 50 years, including the vehicles in "Blade Runner" and the Delorean in "Back to the Future." At 82, he's still working. Studio 360’s Derek John headed into the Mojave Desert to see Winfield's custom hot rod shop.
Studio 360 is a co-production of
Public
Radio International and
WNYC New York Public Radio, and is funded in part by
Ken and Lucy Lehman, the
National Endowment for the Arts, and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Studio 360's American Icons series is supported in part by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Our series on creativity and science is supported in part by the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Our series on Underground Heroes is supported in part by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. 
