Arts and Culture

Most of us take fonts for granted, as used for typefaces such as Times New Roman, Calibri Light or Arial Bold. But they can be pretty revolutionary: Hundreds of years ago the design of standardized fonts paved the way for the proliferation of printed material and, much more recently, eased the exchange of emails, text messages and the whole world of digital reading.

Even if you’re not familiar with Jonathan Lethem’s work, you might know his name, because he was, in 2005, a recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” grant.

Lethem’s work tends to range from pure science fiction to social realism — his latest is somewhere in between.

In “A Gambler’s Anatomy”, he tells the story of Alexander Bruno, an international backgammon hustler who finds himself pulled back to his childhood home of Berkeley, California, when a horrifying health condition threatens his life.

It’s a dark, and sometimes gory, story of identity, intimacy and place.

Wiscasset-based filmmaker Sumner McKane’s latest film, "The Northeast by Eastern," explores the story of a Belfast company that, in the early 20th century, documented small-town life in the Northeast through the medium of photo postcards.

Pioneering classical composer Elliott Schwartz has died.

A professor of music at Bowdoin College in Brunswick for 43 years, Schwartz’s work has been performed by symphony orchestras and chamber groups around the country, and has been made part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

In a year that’s seen a lot of negativity, Mary Latham is crossing the country looking at the positive.

Latham is a couple weeks into her “More Good” road trip, where she’s finding and documenting acts of random kindness all over the U.S. She’s a photographer who’s documenting her stories online.

The stories cheered her and her family up when her own mother was ill, and eventually she’s hoping to turn them into a book for hospital waiting rooms.

Bangor is one of the most famous towns in the world, though some may not realize it. Fans of renown horror author Stephen King know Bangor well, but by another name: Derry.

Donn Fendler may not be a household name, but thousands of schoolchildren know him as the 12-year-old boy who used his wits and stamina to endure nine days alone in the Maine wilderness. Fendler died over the weekend at the age of 90, but his legacy lives on in a classic children’s book, “Lost on a Mountain in Maine.”

Chris Kimball, the spectacled, bow-tied founder and former host of the popular PBS program “America’s Test Kitchen,” has moved on to start a new multimedia project called “Milk Street Kitchen.”

Kimball, who kicks off a national tour in Portland Thursday, spoke with Maine Public Radio’s Jennifer Rooks about his new focus: bringing bolder flavors from around the world to what he calls “new home cooking.”

To listen to the full Maine Calling, click here.