Arts and Culture

As we continue our look at books to comfort and entertain during this period of social distancing, MPR News host Kerri Miller previews one of her most anticipated reads for spring and summer 2020: a soon-to-be-published novel about a pandemic.

The special, set to be televised and streamed on April 18, will feature a long list of top-tier names, including Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, Stevie Wonder, among many others.

Inspired by videos of quarantined Italians singing and playing music, Minnesotans are stepping out their doors to lift up their voices as a way to maintain connectivity while under Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order.

Arts organizations that offer day programs to keep their clients with disabilities engaged have had to shutter their physical classrooms and spaces. But they’re working to find creative ways to reach out to their clients while fighting to keep their businesses alive.

Over the years, six of the Galvins' 12 children were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Robert Kolker, who has a new book on the family, says "there is a lot of hope and inspiration in this story."

“We want to remind everybody that’s isolated in their homes or apartments that we are one community … and to ring out hope and courage to our community every day until we get through this,” said Westminster Presbyterian Church senior pastor Tim Hart-Andersen.

Feminist activist and journalist Gloria Steinem recently joined MPR News host Kerri Miller for a frank and wide-ranging conversation about patriarchy in the past and present; the status of the Equal Rights Amendment today; and what it would take for a woman to hold the office of president.

Simply talking could produce tiny particles of mucus and saliva that might carry the coronavirus, experts say. How much these airborne particles matter for the spread of this disease is controversial.

Bill Withers, who wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including " Lean On Me, " "Lovely Day" and "Ain't No Sunshine," has died from heart complications, his family said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was 81.

COVID-19’s disruptions continue their show-stopping ways.