Arts & Culture

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.

The opening of the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society takes place this Sunday at St. John's Episcopal Church. Returning is cellist Arkady Orlvosky and pianist Tamara Orlovsky in a romantic program of Beethoven, Debussy, Grieg, and Haydn. WBAA's John Clare spoke with Executive Director and cellist Margot Marlatt about the concert.

This Sunday, artists from around the region feature their work at Tapawingo Park in West Lafayette for Art on the Wabash. Committee Chair Kathy Atwell joined artist Lisa Walsh and WBAA's John Clare in the studios to discuss the 14th annual event.

WBAA's Greg Kostraba recently spoke with Mark Ortwein, who will be featured with the Mark Ortwein Jazztet on the final concert of the WBAA/Delphi Opera House Fall Concert Series Sunday, September 22 at 3 pm.

What mythical beings eat six meals a day, live in underground homes, and are about two or four feet tall? If you instantly knew the answer was Hobbits then the coffee book Middle Earth: Journeys in Myth and Legend by Donato Giancola may be the perfect read for you. West Lafayette Public Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

Coming up Friday, September 20th, The Vivaldi Project plays a program at Delphi Opera House in collaboration with WBAA. Host John Clare featured the trio this last summer in a special preview.

Would you ever leave a safe, well-paying job and risk everything to start a doughnut shop with your family? That’s what Purdue Professor Glen Sparks’ family did as is told in his memoir Rolling in Dough. A family-run small business making doughnuts sounds like the American dream, but, as Sparks tells us, every business has its costs. West Lafayette Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.

This month, WBAA partners with Delphi Opera House for three concerts with classical, jazz, and folk music. WBAA's John Clare has The Vivaldi Project in the studio for a special preview.

Not many books can say they are of the "Metaphysical, existential, fairy-tale inspired, detective-mystery genre," however The Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza is one of those books. Filled with fascinating, philosophical curiosities and events that blur the line between fantasy and reality, this is a book unlike any other. West Lafayette Library Director Nick Schenkel has the review.