Arts & Culture

You walk into a room and flip the light switch down to turn the lights on. Each member of your family has a different street address despite you all living in the same home. What kind of crazy place is this? A Beginner's Guide to Japan shows these are just a few of the peculiarities of this fascinating country. West Lafayette Public Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

Are you the type to install your own cabinets, build furniture, and considered the "handyman?" If so, this book may be a necessary addition to the bookshelf you made. The Ultimate Tool Book: Every Tool You Need to Own, written by the Popular Mechanics magazine, is an in-depth analysis of tools you may have never thought to use. West Lafayette Public Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

Monday, October 14th marks the start of Ministry of Truth at Purdue Galleries in Stewart Center's Ringel Gallery. It's a collaboration with Purdue Galleries, the Tippecanoe County Historical Association, and private collections. WBAA's John Clare spoke with Interim Director & Head Curator, Visitor Services & Program Coordinator of Purdue Galleries, Erika Kvam about the exhibit.

A huntsmen stumbles upon a mute girl lost in the woods and unfamiliar with her past. After taking her in, they slowly put together the fragments of the former life she has forgotten. The first of an epic fantasy series, this is the story of  Tapestry: Strands of Yellow and Blue by Cady Elizabeth Arnold. West Lafayette Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

The 55th season of the Lafayette Master Chorale opens Saturday, October 12th. Artistic Director Michael Bennett speaks to WBAA's John Clare about the season that includes Cathedral Classics, Handel's Messiah, and music close to the group's history, Bach.

It all started with a mistake. The earliest known human, Lucy, fell from a tree and died. It doesn't get much better from there in Humans: A Brief History of How We F***ed It All Up by Tom Phillips. This comedically thought provoking book looks at the messy mistakes caused by our human nature. West Lafayette Public Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

On Thursday, September 26th, Anna Ridler visits Purdue Galleries to speak about her art. The artist and researcher has exhibited at Ars Electronica, Impakt and the Barbican Centre, Ridler has earned degrees from the Royal College of Art, Oxford University and University of Arts London. She answered some questions for WBAA's John Clare recently about Dreaming, Automated at Ringel Gallery.

Melanie Marnich’s play These Shining Lives depicts the true story of the battle fought by four female factory workers against an employer whose work is making them sick.

In the 1920s, the Radium Dial Company hired thousands of female workers at three plants around the country. Their job was to paint a radium-laced, glow-in-the-dark substance onto the dials of clocks and watches. The women were never warned about the harmful effects of the radioactive element, and many later died from radium poisoning.

In the limited amount of ancient history we have, many women have been swept under the rug. It's difficult for historians to really know much about ancient women, as little could be written about them. In the book Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World, author Emma Southon  looks at one of the few Ancient Roman women that was written about. A mother of an emperor and eventual empress, Southen argues that historians may have it wrong about Agrippina. West Lafayette Public Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

Friday marks the opening of Downton Abbey the movie. WBAA's John Clare had a chance to speak with composer John Lunn about the new score.