Jennifer Vanasco
@jennifervanasco.bsky.social
NPR culture editor and reporter based in NYC
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...
www.npr.org/2025/09/12/n...
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.
www.npr.org
September 12, 2025 at 3:21 PM
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...
www.npr.org/2025/09/12/n...
Did you know you can still....send a telegram?!?!? itelegram.com/telegram/USA/
Send a telegram to USA - International Telegram®
itelegram.com
July 24, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Did you know you can still....send a telegram?!?!? itelegram.com/telegram/USA/
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...
(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...
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.
www.npr.org
June 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
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...
(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...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
May 15, 2025 at 1:13 PM
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?
May 14, 2025 at 10:07 PM
The term “middle-aged” is just so…blah. There’s got to be another term! What do other languages call it?
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...
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...
www.npr.org
May 14, 2025 at 12:43 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
May 2, 2025 at 12:44 PM
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.
April 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
All this green is a relief for my eyes.
Reposted by Jennifer Vanasco
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
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.
www.npr.org
February 16, 2025 at 4:23 PM
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
Fight for America! is a new game that re-enacts the storming of the Capitol
www.npr.org/2025/02/16/n...
www.npr.org/2025/02/16/n...
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.
www.npr.org
February 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Fight for America! is a new game that re-enacts the storming of the Capitol
www.npr.org/2025/02/16/n...
www.npr.org/2025/02/16/n...
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...
www.npr.org/2008/02/14/1...
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.
www.npr.org
February 14, 2025 at 4:26 PM
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...
www.npr.org/2008/02/14/1...
I’m back. It’s been…a busy news cycle, y’all.
January 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I’m back. It’s been…a busy news cycle, y’all.
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...
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.
www.npr.org
January 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
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...
OMG. This is amazing. “No one’s favorite thing is string.”
December 13, 2024 at 7:43 PM
OMG. This is amazing. “No one’s favorite thing is string.”
Uh oh. It’s that time of year. Santa Con actually started as a cool arts stunt.
ALERT ALERT ALERT AVOID MANHATTAN AT ALL COSTS ON SATUDAY.
Here comes SantaCon NYC: Where to go (or avoid) during Saturday’s revelry
From 53rd Street down to the Bowery, expect to see people dressed as Santas obeying the rules of being kind to kids, not puking or peeing in public, and not fighting.
gothamist.com
December 13, 2024 at 7:30 PM
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.
December 11, 2024 at 2:53 AM
Dropped by the tiny train show at Grand Central Station. Surprisingly magical.
“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!
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.
Ohmaryplay.com
December 10, 2024 at 4:38 PM
“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?
December 9, 2024 at 4:01 PM
Heading to Oslo, Riga and Vilnius next week. Any theater/museum/culture suggestions?
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.
“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.
December 4, 2024 at 1:09 PM
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.
“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
December 3, 2024 at 2:27 AM
HAHAHAHA
One more from the Explorers Club.
December 3, 2024 at 2:26 AM
One more from the Explorers Club.
At the Explorers Club— created 120 years ago. Its members have included polar explorers and astronauts.
December 3, 2024 at 12:51 AM
At the Explorers Club— created 120 years ago. Its members have included polar explorers and astronauts.