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Short Fuse Podcast #86: Cinema Rodrigo — Talking Film

March 11, 2026
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On the cusp of the Academy Awards and the Oscars ceremony, host Elizabeth Howard talks with Aldo Juraidini, design director at Studio Rodrigo, who also directs and curates films for Cinema Rodrigo.

Book Review: Dead but Dealing — Alain Mabanckou’s Pointe-Noire Necropolis

March 11, 2026
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“Dealing With the Dead” achieves something else no outsider, however gifted or knowledgeable, could pull off: showing how magic, superstition, religious faith and credulity (as in, a hunger to believe) play into the everyday lives of most Pointe-Noireans.

Jazz Concert Reviews: Jamie Baum Quintet and Miguel Zenón Quartet

March 11, 2026
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Reviews of live performances by bands led by flutist and composer Jamie Baum and saxophonist Miguel Zenón.

Theater Review: “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!” — A Hardy Party

March 11, 2026
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Keiko Green’s play about the end of the world is a robust vaudevillian entertainment.

Arts Commentary: The Nelsons Case

March 10, 2026
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Ultimately—and regardless of one’s take on Andris Nelsons as an artist—it’s hard to see how the institution’s long-term interests are served by last week’s developments.

Film Review: Echoes of Passion — Arnaud Desplechin’s “Two Pianos” Plays on the Keys of Loss and Love

March 10, 2026
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Here’s a drama that explores with uncommon pathos the ways that people confront—with grace or with fury—what they’re compelled to give up.

Film Review: “Hoppers” — Pixar’s Madcap Eco-Fable Hops Between Absurdity and Alarm

March 10, 2026
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“Hoppers”‘ climax is a valuable reminder that none of us —  from mammal to ant — are safe from the fury of a Mother Nature we have badly wronged.

Jazz Concert Review: Kris Davis Trio at Arrow Street Arts — Bold, Inventive, and Fearlessly Fluid

March 9, 2026
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Kris Davis appeared with her current trio of acoustic bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Johnathan Blake, a simpatico unit that clearly responds to both the pianist’s genre-pushing forms and spontaneous sense of adventure. 

Book Review: “Eating Ashes” — A Haunting Tale of Migration and Mourning

March 9, 2026
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Sliding back and forth between the past and the present, “Eating Ashes” paints a gritty, emotional, and forceful vision of a family traumatized by disconnection.

Book Review: Wishing Well — Gary Lippman’s Wild, Wise, and Wistful Exploration of Desire

March 8, 2026
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Gary Lippman’s latest offering is the least classifiable of his books so far. It’s an inventive assemblage of fiction, historical anecdotes, autobiography, authorial meditations (and advice), quotes, song lyrics, and literary allusions.

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