Arts & Culture

YouTube "Bawse" Lilly Singh.

Look out Hollywood. YouTube 'bawse' Lilly Singh is going mainstream.

YouTube has given a generation of diverse superstars a place to start their careers. But can they find a place in the far less diverse Hollywood scene?

Look out Hollywood. YouTube 'bawse' Lilly Singh is going mainstream.
bangla lead

In Bangladesh, an app that lets women speak without fear

In Bangladesh, an app that lets women speak without fear
K-pop girl group SNSD

Korea's K-pop stars have to dance around... the censors

Korea's K-pop stars have to dance around... the censors
Berlin artist Kolja Kugler and his animatronic puppet Sir Elton Junk.

One man's junk is another man's robot

One man's junk is another man's robot
CCTV Spring Gala image

China's 'Super Bowl' of TV — its New Year's spectacular — disappoints the masses

China's 'Super Bowl' of TV — its New Year's spectacular — disappoints the masses
Julie Gayet at Deauville

What the French president's affair and separation say about love, politics and French culture

This weekend, French President François Hollande confirmed that he is separating from his partner Valérie Trierweiler. The French seemed to shrug at the news of Hollande's affair with actress Julie Gayet, seeing love and politics as separate. But France's neighbors and its former colonies don't necessarily agree.

What the French president's affair and separation say about love, politics and French culture

Another gang rape in India, with a complex twist

A woman was sentenced by elders to a public gang rape in her village in the West Bengal area to punish her for an affair. India's Supreme Court is investigating. A signal room in London's Underground gets flooded, with quick-drying cement. And an artist is painting and placing cut-outs of immigrant workers around LA. All that and more, in today's Global Scan.

Another gang rape in India, with a complex twist
Congolese singer Tabu Ley Rochereau performs on stage at Afrika Festival on June 28, 2003 in Hertme, Netherlands.

Tabu Ley is the man who brought us Congolese soukous music

The inventor of Congolese soukous music has passed away. Tabu Ley Rochereau died Saturday in Belgium. The World's host Marco Werman talks about Tabu with Chris McCarus, a radio reporter from Detroit who went to Congo to meet the stars of soukous and wound up in Tabu's home.

Tabu Ley is the man who brought us Congolese soukous music
"Mañana Means Forever" by Tim Z. Hernandez

A novelist finds 'the Mexican girl' from Jack Kerouac's book On the Road

Author Tim Z. Hernandez went on a quest to find Bea Franco, the woman described by Jack Kerouac as his Mexican lover in "On the Road." Now she's in Franco's new novel.

A novelist finds 'the Mexican girl' from Jack Kerouac's book On the Road
Aysha el-Shamayleh reading one of her poems

Slam poetry brings honesty, and nervousness, to Jordan

There's a slam poetry underground in Amman, Jordan, and it's mainly filled with women. A Jordanian woman brought the art form home after studying in the US and winning slam poetry contests there.

Slam poetry brings honesty, and nervousness, to Jordan
Chicago police move in to knock down a burning cross in front of a home, after an African-American family moved into a previously all white neighborhood, August 3, 1963. The civil rights movement in America was one of the historic trends transforming the

Here's what else was going on in the world when Kennedy was assassinated

1963 was a momentous year in many ways, from the Beatles to James Bond, and from African independence to Vietnam.

Here's what else was going on in the world when Kennedy was assassinated
Norway (white) versus the rest of the world (black)

Norway challenges the rest of the world to a not-so-friendly game of chess

The World Chess Championship is underway in Chennai, India. Norway's Magnus Carlsen has taken an impressive lead over local hero and reigning champion Viswanathan Anand. And in Norway, people are getting pretty stoked. So the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten has challenged the rest of the world to play Norway — all of Norway.

Norway challenges the rest of the world to a not-so-friendly game of chess
A musician strums the pin, the Cambodian harp, during a rehearsal in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia works to revive an ancient harp, plucked from a temple wall

How do you make an instrument relevant that hasn't been heard for hundreds of years? A French ethnomusicologist is recreating Cambodian instruments that vanished centuries ago.

Cambodia works to revive an ancient harp, plucked from a temple wall
Adamasu our drummer on the poem.

Rap? Meh. Poetry is the rage at the Ethiopian Beat Making Lab

Ethiopia embraces the spoken word, in a big way. When the Beat Making Lab arrived there earlier this year, it found a community of aspiring young poets.

Rap? Meh. Poetry is the rage at the Ethiopian Beat Making Lab

Take a peek into Syria through the poetry spurred by its war

Syria is, in many ways, a nation of poets. So despite the country's long-running civil war, poetry remains important. And the war can certainly be felt in the poetry coming out of the country now.

Take a peek into Syria through the poetry spurred by its war