Why Is The Font From The Covers Of Old Pulp Novels Suddenly Popular Again?
“In its first era of popularity, [Lydian] was all pop and pulp, but now it seems reserved for the task of adding just the slightest bit of a smirk to extremely straight-faced endeavors: elegant magazines, important books, experimental theater, and $80 ceramic pipes.” — Vox
What Emojis Are Teaching Really Young Kids About Language
Kids still get picture books read to them. But now that we all communicate in writing so much more often, kids also read text messages. For a kid to get a text message written directly for them, and read directly to them, which they can reply to in some fashion, it teaches them something powerful about the written word—that it can be used to connect with people you care about. – Wired
Yalitza Aparicio, Star Of ‘Roma’, Becomes A Symbol Of, And For, Mexico’s Indigenous Women
“[She and the film have] started a national conversation about inequality, the treatment of domestic workers and who is welcome on the red carpet in a country where Indigenous women are rarely seen in magazines” — she’s now the first indigenous woman ever to appear on the cover of Vogue México — “much less at Hollywood awards shows.” — The New York Times
Nasty, Brutish, And Short: Early Children’s Stories Were Shockingly Violent
“The history of children’s literature is a shocking affair, offering death, murder, abuse, death, racism, death, and damnation. … For most of history, authors have used their words to render children speechless. Some of the books scarred generations; some merely gave their readers insomnia that would last until puberty.” — Literary Hub
New Film Shows Us An Actual Soviet Show Trial
In The Trial, Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa and his team use only rare, recently-discovered film (with sound) of a full 1930 show trial in Moscow. Masha Gessen explains just how fitting the term show trial is: “the judges, the prosecutor, the court clerks, and the defendants are all members of the cast. They are performing their assigned roles. The rest of the people in the hall — men and women of different ages, some dressed in military uniforms and some in civilian suits, but all wearing their best — are the audience, and their job is to believe everything they see.” — The New Yorker
Carlos Miguel Prieto Cleared Of Overpaying Foreign Soloists At Mexico’s National Symphony
“The cultural secretary’s office admitted that the [earlier report] relied on information in a public government database that, in effect, converted the guest performers’ fees [between] American dollars to Mexican pesos twice, vastly inflating the totals in some cases.” Some observers are suggesting that the charge against Prieto, music director of the Louisiana Philharmonic as well as of Mexico’s flagship orchestra, was being pushed by musicians unhappy with his leadership. — The New Orleans Advocate
Dance Magazine Handicaps The New York City Ballet Directorship Candidates
“The new director’s name could be released any day now. And we have some theories about who it might be.” Lauren Wingenroth runs down a list of ten possibilities (though she seems to think only two are really likely). — Dance Magazine
LA MoCA Will Close Its West Hollywood Satellite
“The Museum of Contemporary Art announced Wednesday that it will close its Pacific Design Center location next month after exhibiting architecture and design at the West Hollywood satellite for more than 20 years. MOCA will continue an architecture and design program, but at its Grand Avenue and Geffen Contemporary locations in downtown L.A.” — Los Angeles Times
Lin-Manuel Miranda Sees Audience Member Shooting Video, Calls Her Out From Stage Literally Without Missing A Beat
The creator of Hamilton, playing the title role in the musical’s high-profile run in Puerto Rico, was in the middle of the song “My Shot” when he spotted someone recording the show on her phone — and ad-libbed, in rhythm, “Lady filming in the 4th row, please stop it.” (After the show he tweeted “Please don’t make me do that shit again.”) — CBS
Poet Mary Oliver Dead At 83
“Often compared to her literary idol Ralph Waldo Emerson, with whom she shared an abiding interest in the natural world, Ms. Oliver combined a precise, unfussy style with an almost religious devotion to examining nature. … Ms. Oliver was a rarity in modern American literature — a best-selling poet, so popular she was interviewed by journalist Maria Shriver in O, the Oprah Magazine.” — The Washington Post
Why’s Everyone In Cremona So Nervous About Noise Right Now? It’s About The Strads
Eventually, the centuries-old string instruments for which this Italian city is famous will become too fragile to play. “So that future generations won’t miss out on hearing [them], three sound engineers are producing the ‘Stradivarius Sound Bank’ — a database storing all the possible tones that four instruments selected from the Museo del Violino’s collection can produce.” But the mics are extremely sensitive … — The New York Times
Owner Of New Banksy Mural On Welsh Garage Sells It For Six-Figure Sum
Well, it’s one thing to do if you find a Banksy on your property one morning. The garage’s owner, Ian Lewis, has sold the piece, Seasons Greetings, to the Essex-based Banksy expert John Brandler but it will stay in Port Talbot, at least for the time being.” — The Guardian
Netflix Refuses To Remove Footage Of Quebec Rail Disaster From ‘Bird Box’ And ‘Travelers’
Video of the 2013 derailment and explosion of an oil-tanker train that killed 47 people in the town of Lac-Mégantic features in both Netflix original productions, and, despite heavy criticism, the company says that the footage will not be cut. (Company reps say they’ll be more sensitive in the future.) — CBC
New Multi-Million-Pound Regional Cultural Fund To Compensate For Local Funding Cuts
Administrators in the UK culture ministry took proposals for specific projects of up to £7 million. The first five winners, to share £20 million, are the Thames Estuary, Wakefield in Yorkshire, Worcester in the English Midlands, Grimsby in northeast England, and Plymouth in the southwest. — The Guardian
UK Think Tank Report: Restrict Access To “Low Value” Arts Degrees
Low value? The right-leaning group says that some arts degrees offer poor income prospects for graduates and little economic return for the government that supports such degrees. This thinking, of course, assumes that “value” is purely economic… – The Stage
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Why Is The Font From The Covers Of Old Pulp Novels Suddenly Popular Again?
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What Emojis Are Teaching Really Young Kids About Language
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Yalitza Aparicio, Star Of ‘Roma’, Becomes A Symbol Of, And For, Mexico’s Indigenous Women
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Nasty, Brutish, And Short: Early Children’s Stories Were Shockingly Violent
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New Film Shows Us An Actual Soviet Show Trial
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Women Writers: Busting The Preconceptions For Commercial Success
Ann O’Loughlin: “All women writers face an uphill struggle to have their work recognised in the same way as their male counterparts, but for those of us writing bestselling commercial fiction, there is a mountain to trudge up every time.” – Irish Times
How Did The Catholic Church Go From Being A Major Patron Of The Arts To… Meh
For centuries, the Catholic Church was one of the world’s most important collectors and patrons of art, but in recent decades, the Vatican’s holiday nativity scene has often been one of its most high-profile artistic contributions. This shift didn’t happen overnight—or even in a generation—but across centuries, and it is inseparable from the evolution of modern European nations, the secularization of public life, and the rise of the art market. – Artsy
UK Toughens Age Restriction Ratings On Movies
“It’s enough that a 12-year-old knows that a rape has taken place. They do not need to see it, no matter how discreetly it’s filmed.” – BBC
Ottawa’s National Gallery CEO Steps Down After Ten Years
“I’m especially proud of pumping up the volume on all things indigenous. We’re playing a leadership role in the world here in Canada [recognising indigenous work]. We talked about that since I first got here.” Mayer says it was an “emotional moment” when the museum opened its Canadian and Indigenous Galleries in June 2017, covering 5,000 years of creative output in the region, from First Nations art and objects to contemporary work. – The Art Newspaper
Inventing A Podcast To Bridge Different Cultures
Make-Believe is a new podcast company in Chicago, and is, as Jeremy McCarter likes to put it, a podcast that’s “one part live theater, one part TV production, one part social science… Chicago is multiple cities. The discourse becomes more authentic when you can bridge — let’s call it what it is — segregation.” – The New York Times
Is Amazon Killing Incomes Of Writers? No, Protests Amazon
Amazon is frequently blamed for not just disrupting the way people buy books, but for making it difficult for writers to make a living. Now the company is fighting back, taking aim at an Author’s Guild report last week that detailed a catastrophic drop in author incomes. – The Guardian
200-Year-Old Riverfront Gardens At The Taj Mahal Have Been Restored
These historic gardens, originally built for Agra’s nobility, are two of the city’s few riverfront gardens that survive today. The project of bringing them back to their original glory has involved restoring their original plantings, reactivating their water features, and creating a visitor center. – Atlas Obscura
How Four Guys Who Thought They’d Be Playing Cymbals In Orchestras Turned Into Sō Percussion
A look into the backstory of a quartet that became two rare things: a star classical percussion group and a genuinely hip chamber ensemble. — Ludwig van Toronto
New European Internet Content Law Will Be A Disaster For The Internet
“Taken together, these two rules will subject huge swaths of online expression to interception and arbitrary censorship, and give the largest news companies in Europe the power to decide who can discuss and criticise their reporting, and undermining public-interest, open-access journalism.” – Electronic Frontier Foundation
Baltimore Symphony Musicians’ Contract Has Officially Expired
“A contract between management and musicians expired Tuesday night as they continue to debate whether shrinking the BSO’s season from 52 weeks to 40 weeks a year is the best path forward. The development is unlikely to have any immediate, public effects. … The dispute, however, is seen as a threat to the orchestra’s continued role as one of the nation’s preeminent orchestras.” — Baltimore Business Journal