The mega-hit vampire film "Sinners" is poised to be a serious awards season contender. Miles Caton stars in the film as Sammie, the young guitar player who can summon spirits with his music. Delroy Lindo also stars as the blues singer Delta Slim, part of the crew fighting vampires. Caton and Lindo discuss their roles in the film. 

Today is National Bagel Day and joining us is Sam Silverman, known as New York's "Bagel Ambassador" and founder of Bagel Up and Bagelfest. He shares his picks for the top bagel spots in the city and why, and we invite listeners to call in not only with their favorites but also their go-to order.

Last week the Washington National Opera announced that it would find a new home after over 50 years at the Kennedy Center, the latest in a series of high profile departures and cancellations at the national cultural center during Trump's second term and following its board's decision to add the president's name to the building. NPR correspondent Elizabeth Blair joins to discuss the latest news from the Kennedy Center in the context of music and art under the current administration.

Host Meg Wolitzer presents two stories about sudden interventions that change lives.  In Stephen King’s “The Fifth Step” a beguiling stranger asks for help.  The reader is David Morse.  In “Blessed Deliverance,” by Jamel Brinkley, a neighborhood oddball may be its salvation.The reader is Teagle F. Bougere.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this special mini-episode – an extra episode this week! – we hear from someone in Venezuela with a very specific take on last week's U.S. attack.

People discovering information about their own lives that they did not know, and suddenly everything looks very different.

Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.

Prologue: When Pete turned 18, his dad took him on a drive to reveal a family secret he was finally old enough to know. (11 minutes)Act One: Sometimes, a lore drop comes when you least expect it.  That happened to Jake Cornell and his grandmother. Producer Aviva DeKornfeld talked to Jake about it. (14 minutes)Act Two: Ben Austen had a kind of new lore drop happen to him recently. But it was not the clarifying kind of lore drop, where everything suddenly makes sense — it was kind of the opposite. (29 minutes)

Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

This American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.

Host Meg Wolitzer helps a great documentarian celebrate a great American author.  Cather is the of author of novels like My Antonia and O Pioneers! And Ken Burns hosted a live evening of her shorter works to celebrate her sesquicentennial—her 150th birthday, in 2023.  On this program, we feature “The Way of the World,” in which an imaginary town’s young “citizens” are rife with romance and rivalry.  The reader is Sonia Manzano.   And a weary farmer’s wife recaptures her long-dormant passion for music at “A Wagner Matinee,” read by David Strathairn.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.