Mallory Yu

The huge fan convention that is San Diego Comic-Con kicks off today. NPR's Petra Mayer and Mallory Yu are there, and their look at Preview Night includes fandom, puppets and the aspirations of girls.

Stanfield has had a number of oddball roles, most recently in the telemarketing satire Sorry to Bother You, where he plays a character who learns to get ahead by using a "white voice" on the phone.

Critics and audiences have called the film "traumatizing" and "terrifying," and Aster says that was his intention: to upset audiences deeply. But he wanted to focus on family drama before horror.

The first Broadway show to grace NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series, The Band's Visit is nominated for 11 Tony Awards. Stars Tony Shalhoub and Katrina Lenk sat down with Ari Shapiro after the performance.

The Lawrence, Kan., police department's account has over 100,000 Twitter followers. It's well-known for tweets that use humor to reach its community.

Tomi Adeyemi's highly anticipated debut novel, Children Of Blood And Bone, is a high fantasy rooted in reality — from African mythology to Black Lives Matter protests.

Actor Doug Jones has had a long and prolific career playing some of Hollywood's most recognizable monsters. His latest role is the fishy Amphibian Man in Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water.

Ruth Carter is the costume designer for the Marvel's Black Panther movie. She talks about how she grounded the movie's futuristic look in the history and traditions of tribes from all over Africa.

Fordham University graduate student Matthew Combs studies the DNA of New York City's rats. He found that rats living uptown are genetically distinct from rats living downtown.

In Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon's new rom-com, girl meets boy, girl contracts a mysterious illness and boy's Pakistani parents struggle to accept the relationship.

In the new Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman's beloved fantasy novel, gods from all over the world are drawn to America when their worshippers arrive here — whether as immigrants, explorers, or slaves.

This year's SXSW saw the first-ever showcase featuring exclusively Asian-American artists. Organizer Christine Minji Chang says one goal is to broaden Asian Americans' representation in the industry.

Filmmaker Raoul Peck's latest documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, is based off James Baldwin's unfinished book, Remember This House, which tells the story of the lives and deaths of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Go ahead, we told you, sell us something wonderful we can't buy. And you did — more than 2,000 of you did, in fact. We picked our five favorites and made them into polished ads. Now listen to the joy!

Author Marjorie Liu is nominated for two Eisners, the most prestigious awards in comics. She writes young adult fantasy books that cover topics that include war, women and steam punk gadgetry.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's new movie, Captain America: Civil War, opens Friday. As a character, Captain America has long responded to the politics of the time and this movie is no different.

On his days off, Brian Finn offers free tattoos to people who want to cover up scars from domestic violence, self-harm or other trauma.

State and city officials knew about problems with Flint's water even as they encouraged people to keep using it. Locals are disillusioned, and angry, and rebuilding that trust will be challenging.

For Flint resident Jeneyah McDonald, using bottled water for everything has become an onerous but necessary routine. Still, she worries about the effects that toxic tap water will have on her sons.

Medicines that help users wean themselves from opioid drugs can be prescribed in a doctor's office or clinic. But some clients question whether the clinics always have their best interests at heart.