Yearly Archives: 2021
How Much Of Your Life Has Been Determined By Fiction?
"There is a kind of bibliomancy, the use of books in divination, to being a reader of fiction. This magical concept begins while book...
Can US Cultural Policy Better Reflect American Values?
The US is one of the largest markets for cultural goods, so it makes good sense that our country has taken a leading role...
How US Teen Culture Took Over The World
Universal secondary education not only elevated Americans by spreading relevant knowledge and skills to the masses. It also gave rise to a more complex...
A Critic Confesses: I’ve Rarely Given Enough Credit To A Terrific Opera House Chorus
Joshua Kosman: "My reviews over the years have not always reflected the splendor of the Opera Chorus's artistry. … In my defense, most of...
The Olympics May No Longer Be Sustainable In Their Present Form
Whether it’s the young people and local businesses left traumatized by evictions due to London 2012 Games, the elderly tenants whose homes were destroyed to make way for the new National Stadium...
From Street To Stage To School And Back Again, Philadelphia Keeps House Dancing Real
Philly didn't invent house, but it made the style its own. The city's home to several professional companies (notably Rennie Harris Puremovement, the world's...
HBO Streaming Sees Big Surge In Subscribers
With its 2.8 million Q2 2021 subscribers, HBO Max now has 47 million subscribers in the United States, and a total of 67 million...
China Outlaws Super-tall Buildings
The building boom in China was often a kind of arms race between cities trying to outcompete each other and grab global attention, typically...
OnlyFans Has Some Serious, And Maybe Dangerous, Moderation Issues
Some creators on the site, especially those with erotic content, have faced hacking, ransomware, piracy, revenge porn, stalkers, and threats of violence. And they...
Many Musicians Quit During The Pandemic. Many Won’t Be Going Back
Dozens of musicians in the Pittsburgh area and around the country are either adjusting their careers to include more stable side hustles in the...
American Carpenters Use Medieval Techniques To Help Rebuild Notre-Dame’s Roof
A group of about 30 young workers and students will gather at Catholic University in DC next month and use hand tools to build...
Spain’s Hot Young Poet Is A Hospital Laundry Worker
Begoña M. Rueda, 29, just won the prestigious Premio Hiperión (her seventh award, one for each of her books) for Laundry Service, a collection...
Portland Opera Names Priti Gandhi Artistic Director
"Gandhi, who has sung internationally and who comes to Portland from Minnesota Opera, where she has been chief artistic officer, will be one of...
‘Unprecedented’, ‘Historic’: California Budgets $616 Million For Arts
Yes, that's for a single budget year, 2021-22. (The board president of Californians for the Arts remembers 2003-04, when the state arts council had...
Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Appoints New Artistic Directors (Yes, That’s Plural)
Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, both members of the company's ensemble, "said that the pairing will allow them to ensure 'there is always somebody...
Italy, Like France, Will Require COVID Vaccine ‘Green Pass’ To Enter Arts Venues
The rule will also apply to stadiums, gyms, and indoor restaurants. Said prime minister Mario Draghi, "Without vaccinations, we’d have to close everything again."...
UNESCO Keeps Venice Off List Of World Heritage Sites In Danger
It seems that last week's announcement of a cruise ship ban had the desired effect. (Now the question is whether the ban will stick.)...
Want To Spread A Complicated Idea? Social Media Influencers Can’t Help
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that new and provocative ideas emerge at the edge of networks, from people with fewer contacts and little obvious pull. - Fast...
Oh, The Stories We Tell About Works Of Art… Any Of Them True?
The treasures residing in august museums, the antiquities we revere. They acquire meaning as the stories around them grow. Problem is... - London Review...
We Need To Rethink Honorific Titles Such As “Professor”
Tyler Cowan: "Why for instance should I be called “Professor Cowen,” but few people would address the person fixing their toilet as “Plumber Jones”?"...
We Need To Reattach Desire And Creativity. Enter A Philosophy of Porn
It has become unfashionable to subject pornography, and the market of desire it serves, to ethical critique, largely because of the broader embrace of...
Meet Arts Emerson’s New Programmer
“What really stuck out to us was … Ronee’s real commitment to inclusivity, her real commitment to BIPOC artists and elevating those voices. But...
Artists Protest Polish Government’s Plans To Oust National Gallery Director
More than 800 Polish artists, curators and critics have written to the country’s culture minister opposing plans to remove the director of the Zachęta – National...
Oregon Ballet Theatre Acknowledges It Fired Artistic Director Kevin Irving
"It is true that the Board approved a resolution to end his tenure with the company," read a statement released by an OBT spokesperson....
Hollywood’s Diversity Problem — In Numbers
The study found that overall, 16.1% of the below-the-line workforce is Latino and 4.7% is Asian American. Both groups are dramatically underrepresented compared with...
