Jennifer Vanasco

A new biography zeroes in on Lin-Manuel Miranda's superpower The secret to his success isn't just genius — it's collaboration a lot of creative friends. Author Daniel Pollack-Pelzner interviewed more than 150 people for his biography about the Hamilton creator.

One of the things I've long admired about Lin-Manuel Miranda is how he gathers talented people -- and celebrates them. Here's my review of the new biography that delves into how he creates his work.
www.npr.org/2025/09/12/n...

I see you, public radio. This is from @kcur.org

Did you know you can still....send a telegram?!?!? itelegram.com/telegram/USA/

Maybe I'll just say "adult" :-)

This is not the 'Star Wars' you thought you knew The Star Wars available to the public to stream is not the same film that was shown in 1977. But in the U.K., audiences had a rare chance to see it.

I flew to London last week to see the original, unaltered print of Star Wars from 1977. It felt like watching a new film.

(And yes, of course - Han shot first)

The audio of this story will run on Weekend Edition tomorrow and be attached sometime soon after! www.npr.org/2025/06/20/n...

Hi Tina - could NPR have permission to publish this photo? Could you DM me with your email address? We would credit you of course

Treasure worth $10,000 was hidden in San Francisco. And then someone found it People ran around San Francisco on Tuesday looking for a chest filled with gold and local artifacts after seeing an anonymous post on Reddit with cryptic clues.

Love this @npr.org story from Chloe Veltman - Some guys posted a treasure hunt worth $10k on Reddit -- THAT SAME DAY someone figured it out. www.npr.org/2025/05/14/n...

The term “middle-aged” is just so…blah. There’s got to be another term! What do other languages call it?

A brief history of NPR funding : The Indicator from Planet Money Where does NPR get its funding? Today on the show, we open our books and share a brief history of public radio. And we learn what's at stake with President Trump's executive order to cut off federal f...

Confused about NPR funding? Why it's set up like this? Me, too! Just listened to this great podcast episode from The Indicator with my colleagues @adrianma.bsky.social and Darian Woods that explains it all. www.npr.org/2025/05/13/1...

2025 Tony nominations are out — and they're full of celebrities Broadway isn't just back — it's raising the bar. Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending tied for most nominations. Plus, nods to George Clooney, Nicole Scherzinger and more.

What made this Broadway season special to me -- its the best one in my memory - is not allll the celebrities, but how well done so many shows were. Strong music, incisive scripts, smart and innovative direction, majestic performances. www.npr.org/2025/05/01/n...

All this green is a relief for my eyes.

January 6th ... the board game? Fight for America! is a new art installation about democracy that invites audiences to play a war game — battling over the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Went with @jennifervanasco.bsky.social as she covered Fight for America, (a January 6 mega-game) for NPR. The game, half tabletop minis and half absurd media spectacle, concludes with extremely sobering news footage of mob violence https://www.npr.org/2025/02/16/nx-s1-5275382/fight-for-america-jan-6

So it's really not that at all. I'm not sure if you checked out the story, but it's an art installation. In this workshop, it was played by a group of Brooklyn liberals and moderates. It was...actually a really interesting social experiment, I thought.

January 6th ... the board game? Fight for America! is a new art installation about democracy that invites audiences to play a war game — battling over the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Fight for America! is a new game that re-enacts the storming of the Capitol
www.npr.org/2025/02/16/n...

Ted Kooser Shares the Poetry of Valentine's Day Since 1986, Ted Kooser has written an annual Valentine's Day poem and sent it to an ever-growing list of women. Now, he's collected those poems in a new book, Valentines.

Every Valentine's Day, for years, I received a poem in the mail from Ted Kooser -- as did thousands of others. He's no longer doing this, but...Happy Valentine's Day, Ted! I'm so grateful for these poems, still.
www.npr.org/2008/02/14/1...

I’m back. It’s been…a busy news cycle, y’all.

WOW

Here's where things stand for several major landmarks in the Los Angeles fires The fires raging across Los Angeles are putting some cultural institutions in danger.

Sending love to everyone in LA. Here's a story we did on the status of several cultural landmarks: www.npr.org/2025/01/08/n...

Riga!

OMG. This is amazing. “No one’s favorite thing is string.”

This is happening to me too! So frustrating that I now need two different credit cards to pay for me and my son.

Uh oh. It’s that time of year. Santa Con actually started as a cool arts stunt.

Dropped by the tiny train show at Grand Central Station. Surprisingly magical.

Cole Escola | OH, MARY! | LOTTERY Oh, Mary! is a dark comedy starring Cole Escola as a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

“Oh, Mary!”— one of the hits of the Broadway season— is offering $5 tickets for 206 balcony seats via lottery this Friday. Ohmaryplay.com/lottery you need cash and to come in person!

Heading to Oslo, Riga and Vilnius next week. Any theater/museum/culture suggestions?

HAHAHAHA. Shoot. I forgot that’s secret 😜

Yessssss.

Seeing the Indigo Girls tonight; thinking about these lyrics from their 2020 album:

“It might just look like smoke in my eyes
But I'm still burning inside”

I feel lucky to have grown up— and grown older— with this band. What a treasure, to have music that reflects your experience at every stage.

HAHAHAHA

One more from the Explorers Club.