Yearly Archives: 2021
Philadelphia Museum Of Art’s Sleek New Gehry Makeover
Philip Kennicott: "The changes at the Philadelphia Museum are stunning". - Washington Post
Louis Menand Takes On O. Henry
In New York, he began producing at an astonishing rate. He contracted to write a story a week for the Sunday World, and he...
Sudden Move: Oregon Ballet Theatre Ousts Artistic Director
“I was informed on Wednesday of this week that the board has decided to go a different direction in the AD role and that...
In Praise Of The Meritocracy
Meritocracy, for all its flaws, may well be, like the democracy it has sometimes served, better than the alternatives. At the very least, we...
A Social History Of The Asterisk
By the eighteenth century the asterisk was being deployed as a sort of censorship, covering up letters to represent a d**n vulgar word without...
The Basic Tensions Between Individualism And The Greater Good
Do we want conflicting disconnected atoms or thriving autonomous individuals? And what role do culture and society have in their formation? - 3 Quarks...
Why Big Video Game Companies Keep Imploding
Dysfunction is baked into the video game production process, as it currently exists. The big-budget games industry is dominated by a few large companies,...
“Banksy: Genius Or Vandal” Raises Ire Of Banksy Fans
The exhibition will take over a “secret” location in L.A. to be disclosed to ticket holders in July. - Los Angeles Times
Emmy Nomination Voters Shouldn’t Miss These Shows
If the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences wants to avoid a Hollywood Foreign Press Association-style meltdown, it really has to prove itself with...
Jon Hassell, Trumpeter And Composer, 84
Hassell blended modern technology with ancient instruments and traditions to create what he called "Fourth World" music. "Hassell’s music floated outside the genre boundaries...
The Art Of The Biden White House
The Obamas borrowed 142 pieces from the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art, the other recent occupants 12. The Bidens haven't started borrowing...
A Deal With The Artist Near San Francisco Allows The Flintstone Home To Remain
Not sure there's any way to explain this except to just ... well: "In a dispute that pitted property rights against government rules and...
Diverse Dance Companies Suddenly Have A Wealthy New Benefactor
MacKenzie Scott, ex-spouse of Jeff Bezos who was heavily involved in launching Amazon in the 1990s, gave generously to many pandemic (and perenially) cash-strapped...
You Might Not Have Heard Of A Big Hit Jesus Show
The show has just arrived on Peacock, but it was a hit before that, garnering about 750,000 viewers for its season 2 opener as...
Brussels Museum Backpedals A Bit From Plan Called Both Sexist And Nepotistic
The board of Kanal-Centre-Pompidou had decided to name a woman artistic director - and then added a male co-director. Nearly 800 European art dignitaries...
Frederic Rzewski, Pianist And Composer Known For His Political Views, 83
"Rzewski’s anti-establishment thinking stood at the center of his music-making throughout his life." - The New York Times
Liverpool Is About To Be Stripped Of Its UNESCO Status
And Boris Johnson doesn't care at all. In fact, he's putting another monument - that's right, unbelievably, Stonehenge!? - at risk as well. -...
The Wild Box Office For An Action Movie Says Movie Theatres Are Making A...
For Universal Pictures, which raked in an oddly normal (thus deeply robust) box office total over the weekend for F9, "the opening success is...
Visiting Artist Who Was Handcuffed By Columbia Police At His Apartment Gets An Apology
Artist John Sims, who was asleep when officers entered his apartment, says, "I could have easily been shot and killed that night. ... Now...
Every Piece Of Italian Music In The New Pixar Movie Luca, Explained
The plot calls for a lot of music: "Teenage Luca lives underwater with his fish-finned family, but when he steps out of the water...
The Path To Being An Audiobook Narrator
Training in theatre helps a lot, and so does stamina. - LitHub
Are You More A Movie Person Than A Sports Person?
Movies about the Olympics can scratch an every-few-years cultural itch without your having to watch the actual competition. - Today
Bruce Springsteen Reopens Broadway
It's a bit safer than most productions; there are "no mesmerizing choreographed musical numbers, no enchanted sets, no multi-page bios of cast members in...
Writer Brandon Taylor On His Summer Reading Goals
This year, it's all Freud. Why? The author of Real Life and Filthy Animals: "At the start of the year I read a lot...
Paulo Mendes Da Rocha, A Brazilian Brutalist With A Light Touch, 92
Da Rocha was one of Brazil's most well-known architects, despite being blacklisted by a brutal military regime for 20 years. "'Concrete acrobatics' is how...
