In a surprising plot twist, Barnes & Noble returns from the brink of extinction

Plus, how a TikTok glamour filter makes users feel ugly. [View this email online]( [Best of NPR]( March 12, 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------- Scott’s Weekly Weigh-in Simon & Schuster A good weekend to you. Ian Falconer died this week. He was a theatrical designer, but became best known for his children's books that celebrated the mischief and merriment of a piglet named Olivia. I’ll miss them both — Falconer and Olivia. Olivia, of course, lives on in the series of utterly charming board books Falconer both drew and wrote, initially as a gift for a niece named Olivia. Reading is often a solitary pleasure. But reading a book to a child is collaborative and enriched by questions and giggles. Olivia, drawn in simple strokes of black and gray with red garments, evokes both. She builds a sandcastle that looks like a famed skyscraper. She sees a Jackson Pollack painting and thinks, “I can do that!” — and tries on a wall at home. Time out, Olivia! I still remember our daughter’s giggle at that. And mine. The books we take in as children so often sink into our minds and hearts and stay with us for life. The loss of a great artist like Falconer reminds us that the span of a creative life is limited. But the joy artists put into the world can go on and on. We welcomed the pop star [Kali Uchis]( to our show this week. She is a great singer and singular phrasemaker, who told us she wants to do love songs that show love in all ways. “You know,” she says, “the times when you’re at peace, and the times when you're in pieces.” And (maybe you’ve heard?) the Academy Awards are on tonight. Who will win? Who may get slapped? Bilge Ebiri of [New York Magazine]( makes the case that the [onscreen work of stunt artists]( — who make so many jumps, falls and crashes — ought to have the opportunity to win Oscars, too [Scott Simon]( Scott Simon is one of NPR's most renowned news anchors. He is the host of [Weekend Edition Saturday]( and one of the hosts of the morning news podcast Up First. Be sure to listen to him every Saturday on your local NPR station, and follow him [on Twitter](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Stories you may have missed [A Barnes & Noble sign]( Alina Selyukh/NPR It's a plot twist book lovers didn't see coming: Barnes & Noble is seeing its [biggest expansion in more than a decade](. Embracing TikTok's BookTok influencers, changing up its deals with publishers and giving local stores more authority over which books they buy for their readers has brought the company back from the brink of extinction. High school theaters could be the next battleground in the culture wars. Plays and musicals in several states have been challenged or canceled recently. But when adults tried to cancel an Ohio high school's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the show's original creators stepped in and proved [you don't mess with theater people](. Yevgeny Prigozhin earned the nickname "Putin's Chef" after he built a catering empire favored by the Kremlin, and he's known to Americans as the mastermind behind Russian troll farms during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. Now he's got a new job, fielding a [mercenary army of 50,000]( that's central to Putin's war in Ukraine. --------------------------------------------------------------- Before you go [The Bold Glamour filter on two regular faces]( Image created by NPR's Grace Widyatmadja /TikTok - A new TikTok filter compares your face to endless other faces and spits out a new, [uncanny, airbrushed-looking you](. It's making some users angry about unrealistic beauty standards. - About 65,000 flights encounter moderate turbulence every year, and about 5,500 encounter severe turbulence. Here's [why it can be dangerous]( and how to stay safe. - Every year, NPR Music likes to take a cold, hard look at the Oscar-nominated original songs. Here are this year's contenders, [cruelly ranked](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! [They can sign up here.]( Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Daily News, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Best of NPR emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]