The image of the current version of this country around the world is that of a gun-happy, murderous, fascist state in which every weapon is available to everyone who wants to shoot up a crowd. If that perception is correct, why don’t we just get rid of the guns?
Before Black History Month runs out, let's note that David Lester has a new graphic novel in the works: THE BLACK SCHOONER. "It tells the true story of the 1839 uprising aboard the Amistad," Lester says, and is one of a "growing number of titles depicting history from below."
That shift from content value to traffic value is what has destroyed the business model for nearly everything we're talking about. I'm calling it a manifesto because that's what it needs to be. Not a lament. Not a white paper, but a declaration of what is needed.
This week there’s a question that connects nearly every story. Who gets to decide what’s real? A viral AI-generated video of Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt is racking up views. Neither actor consented or was paid. SAG-AFTRA is furious. Lawsuits await. Meanwhile, Tracey Emin is telling young artists to buy
“As the repertoire ages, as the world changes, we will have ever fewer Fischers and Honecks, and ever more Dueñasas, Lims, and Chos. The outcome seems to me unpredictable. It could be a refreshment and it could be a dilution.“ A dozen years ago, Ivan Fischer came to Carnegie Hall
In the space of a week, we have lost two significant and iconic American institutions. But the shuttering of the Kennedy Center and the decimation of the Washington Post are neither isolated nor unrelated.
Olga Neuwirth has composed an opera, “Monster’s Paradise”, with a libretto written by her and Elfriede Jelinek. You can see in the photo above, what it’s about. It is premiering at the Hamburg Opera, before going to Zurich and Vienna, and on their website there’s a two-minute video that gives
At home we watch a lot of BBC-produced television. Some of it is very good, some of it is very silly, but we are entertained enough. Anyone who has seen older and newer episodes of shows will pick up on the fact that productions at the BBC have made an
As a sequel to my NPR show on Donald Trump’s incursions at the Kennedy Center, the NEH, and the NEA, here’s something Jimmy Kimmel said on TV the other night: Trump says he’s closing the Kennedy center for roughly two years, so it can be rebuilt into the finest performing
