Vincent Pastore, 'Sopranos' Actor, Dead at 80
Vincent Pastore, arrives at the Asbury Park Conventional Hall during red carpet arrivals prior to the New Jersey Hall of Fame inductions, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, in Asbury Park, N.J.
Culture
Paramount Pauses Warner Deal While Legal Battles Continue
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press Sign up for NPR's Up First morning newsletter for the stories you need to start your day. The blockbuster merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is on hold — possibly for many months — as two legal challenges to the $111 billion deal play out in court.
Cannes 2026 Films Mirror a World at War
The 2026 Cannes Film Festival, it seems, has war on its mind. An extraordinary number of movies at this year's festival, which concludes on May 23, deal with the experience of life in wartime. In Lukas Dhont's Belgian World War I drama "Coward," young soldiers in the trenches confront ideas of heroism and masculinity.
Stephen Colbert Signs Off 'Late Show' With Song, Guests and Wormhole
Host Stephen Colbert receives a standing ovation during Thursday night's Late Show finale. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS ENTERTAINMENT hide caption toggle caption Scott Kowalchyk/CBS ENTERTAINMENT Satirist Stephen Colbert ended the late night show he hosted for nearly 11 years on a whimsical and joyful note.
Pollock's $181.2M Painting Smashes Auction Record at Christie's
A painting by the American Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock sold for an eye-watering $181.2 million (€156.2 million) with fees, at Christie's auction house in New York on Monday, alongside other staggering sales on what was a blockbuster day for the institution.
Cher at 80: Pop's Unstoppable Icon
Turning 80 is probably not something Cher places much importance on — after all, conventions and expectations have never mattered much to her. Her fearlessness has made her one of the greatest icons in pop music history.
New York Magazine Reviews Writer Amid Plagiarism Claims
Writer Ross Barkan sits for a podcast interview The Honest Broker. YouTube/YouTube hide caption toggle caption YouTube/YouTube New York magazine is examining the past work of one of its writers who has been accused of plagiarism after publishing at least three stories with striking similarities to other published work.
From Collection to Community: Reimagining Museums
Around 530 BC, the world's first public museum opened its doors in the Mesopotamian state of Ur, in modern-day Iraq. The curator was a priestess princess, and the museum was part of the palace complex, displaying artifacts from the region with informational labels in multiple languages.
Fake TikTok Fans and Pop Music's Unethical Marketing
There's a special name for music that's not produced by the big labels and that can't be easily squeezed into a genre: "indie," short for independent. Indie bands have an image of being authentic and non-commercial. Fans presume their favorite bands achieved their success through their great music and hard work alone.
Goudstikker Painting Found with Seyffardt Descendants
A Nazi-looted painting has resurfaced in the Netherlands after being identified in the possession of descendants of notorious Dutch Nazi collaborator Hendrik Seyffardt. Seyffardt's descendants are believed to have displayed the painting in a private home for decades. It was stolen from the famous collection of the Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.
Why Hollywood Skipped the Cannes Red Carpet
Hollywood won't be making it to Cannes this year. The world's most important film festival kicks off on May 12 with a lineup of new movies from some of the most acclaimed filmmakers in global arthouse cinema — Pedro Almodovar, Asghar Farhadi, Pawel Pawlikowski, Cristian Mungiu — but not a single film from a US major studio.
Pawlikowski’s Fatherland Reimagines the Manns’ 1949 Return
Pawel Pawlikowski's "Fatherland" is one of the most anticipated films among the 21 titles vying for the prestigious Palme d'Or this year. The Polish filmmaker returns to Cannes after winning the festival's best director award in 2018 with "Cold War."