Yearly Archives: 2021
Stonehenge Could Lose UNESCO World Heritage Status, Too
Just days after the UN body stripped Liverpool's waterfront of the same title, UNESCO approved a report recommending that the prehistoric site be added...
‘Total Public-Led Reboot’ Necessary For Arts Sector In Australia To Survive COVID: Study
"Australia's arts and cultural sector needs a reconstruction program of substantial, coordinated and sustained public investment if it is to survive, let alone 'snap...
Documentary: What Made Alvin Ailey Ailey
 The Ailey company has performed on six continents for millions of people. His 1960 ballet “Revelations" is considered a cultural treasure. - Washington Post
Is There A Future For Film Festivals?
American film festivals faced an identity crisis even before the pandemic. An impenetrably dense media landscape, the proliferation of on-demand content, and market instability created a...
The Singular Voice Of Janet Malcolm
The kind of writing that Malcolm practiced so beautifully had been disappearing for a long time when she died, and today it is nearly...
Study: Seeing Theatre Increases Empathy, Influences Behavior
Seeing theatre changed people’s behavior. After seeing the plays, people donated more to charity — whether or not the charity was related to the...
How DeepFake Voices Are hanging Hollywood
The voice imitation revolution is already here, and artists, technologists and companies in several industries who use the new tech are grappling with the...
Why Do We Go To War? It’s Quite Simple, Really
There are only three such impulses: greed, self-defense, and ideas or emotions. - The Nation
Why Framing The Question Is The Most Important Part Of The Debate
Any question, any debate must be formulated. How and whether the question can be resolved is contingent on the way it is formulated. - 3...
New Data On Who Leads America’s Dance Companies
There have been 207 Artistic Directors employed by the Largest 50 US ballet companies to date. Of the 207 Artistic Directors, only 60 have...
Abusive Philanthropy…
When donors require stewardship – due to insistent input on the inner workings of the organization, threats of withholding financial support, or continual adamant requirements to...
How Cincinnati Opera Is Reinventing Itself… Outdoors
“When we made the decision that we couldn’t perform indoors in Music Hall, the hunt was on. Of course, the first obvious choice would...
Jackie Mason, Who Kept The Borscht Belt Style Alive And Brought It To Broadway,...
Mason, "a former rabbi from a long line of rabbis, ... made comic capital as a Jew feeling his way — sometimes nervously, sometimes...
Mockingbirds Create Songs Pretty Much The Way Humans Do
Timbre morphing, pitch morphing, stretch morphing and squeeze morphing: "Mockingbirds compose their songs much like human composers do, drawing phrases from other birds' melodies...
Working At An Amazon Warehouse Is Dangerous, And Getting Injured There Is Worse
Getting injured can happen quickly in a bustling Amazon warehouse. Then there's trying to get the company to respond. - Boston Globe
Too Much Screen Time Can Literally Make Some People Sick
And when we say "literally," we mean it: "These symptoms fall into three categories: nausea, oculomotor issues, and general disorientation." - FastCompany
The Death-Positive Library
Truly, the UK has invented - and spread - a library movement for our times. - The Guardian (UK)
Why Eric Carle’s Whimsical Books Are So Important For Children – And Adults
Jonathan Kozol: "There’s nothing wrong with treating children or yourself to a bit of whimsy and wonderment and unimportant foolishness in a world that’s...
How The Mafia Destroyed Southern Italy And Sicily With Concrete
Palermo is ugly for a reason: "Vito Ciancimino, a mobster from the violent Corleonesi clan, ordered the demolition of splendid art nouveau mansions to make...
A Memoir Of What Hollywood Men Took And Took And Took From A Young...
Theoretically, things are different in a post-#MeToo Hollywood from when Mena Suvari was a young star. She thinks they should be, and adds, "If...
As The Movie ‘Spirited Away’ Turns Twenty, An Evaluation Of How It Changed Animation
The movie made animation a legitimate genre in Japan, and set up young girls as true heroines in their own lives. - Time Magazine
The Largest Wind Instrument In The World
Hint: It's in San Francisco. (And a musician just made an album with its tourist-pleasing self.) - The Guardian (UK)
Trying To Put On A Festival Amid Floods, A Plague, And Brexit
It's not easy for the Salzburg Festival, but performers and audience alike feel the reality that "peace doesn’t exist without its antithesis." - The...
The Disappearing Antonyms Of ‘Grumpy’ Words
Weird factoid: In Old English, people could be couth, kempt, and ruthful. - LitHub
Idris Elba Says Difficult And Constant Creative Work Is Great Therapy
Elba was working as a bouncer when he got a part on The Wire - and since then, he hasn't stopped working as an...
