Yearly Archives: 2023
Kyiv City Council Temporarily Bans All Russian-Language Culture
"(The order prohibits) performing or showcasing Russian-language art and culture — such as books, music, plays and concerts — (as well as) cultural and...
Just What Was Behind The Popularity Of Barbenheimer?
Apart from being the latest works by beloved writer-directors, there is one quality that Barbie and Oppenheimer share, which is that they’re both movies of ideas: not just...
What’s Behind Our Addiction To DuoLingo?
It’s far from clear we’re getting anything from Duolingo’s purported speed. I’m not even sure it’s fun anymore. And there are quicker ways to not learn...
The War Has Galvanized Ukraine’s Culture
The fight against the urge to let hatred win can be seen playing out on the front lines—but also in homes, in institutions, and...
Sonny Rollins, Omnivore
To be able to make creativity and invention sound “natural,” one needs an avid, almost greedy urge to absorb anything—and everything—that is out there. -...
How Five Days Of Russian TV Can Warp Your Brain
The first thing you notice when you switch on Russian TV is its totemic fascination with the swastika, which regularly appears on one of...
Story Ballets Are Still Popular (But Problematic). So How To Fix Narrative Dance?
“There are no mothers-in-law in ballet”, George Balanchine, who dominated American ballet throughout the twentieth century, liked to say: dance, he believed, is not...
Why Mozart Still Captivates After Two-And-A-Half Centuries
"His letters show how he savvily wrote with an eye toward the market, hoping to delight listeners at every level of society. And pleasure...
How Our Digital Devices Killed Literary Fiction
Are you reading this on your phone, swiping up the paragraphs, swipe, swipe, swipe, wondering how far you're going to have to swipe to actually finish this...
Can Cirque Du Soleil Make Itself Exciting To Gen Z? And Can It Move...
"After filing for bankruptcy protection in 2020, Cirque decided it had to be more than just a circus. It wanted to be a brand,...
Mindfulness Is Overrated. Escapism, On The Other Hand…
Meditating and other forms of mindfulness offer a metaphysical escapism that lets you pretend for a while that you are no more than an...
Louisville Ballet Artistic Director Robert Curran Resigns
"His resignation was announced via a news release Thursday. Curran has been in the role since 2014 … (and) was at the helm of...
Eight Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed The Music Business
She’s an advocate, a style icon, a marketing wiz, a prolific songwriter, a pusher of visual boundaries and a record-breaking road warrior. And she...
Dayton Ballet Has A New Artistic Director
"The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance named Brandon Ragland as artistic director of the second-oldest regional ballet company in the country. With more than 15...
Write For Free? An Existential Question
At a moment of upheaval in the arts, the suggestion that writing’s value may simply be intrinsic—a creative act worth less than the website...
Amsterdam Bans Cruise Ships
"Amsterdam is expected to receive over 18 million overnight visitors this year. By 2025, that number could reach 23 million, in addition to another...
Public Radio Stations In America’s Four Largest Media Markets Are Evidently Bleeding Listeners
Nielsen Audio ratings indicate that, over the past two years, market share and estimated listener numbers have fallen at an alarming rate at KQED...
Disney Is Trying To Sell Part Of ESPN To One Or More Of The...
"As Disney considers a strategic partner for ESPN, CEO Bob Iger and ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro have held early talks about bringing professional sports...
President Biden Will Establish National Monument To Emmett Till And Mamie Till-Mobley
"The new monument will be established across three locations in Illinois and Mississippi in an effort to protect places that tell Till's story, as...
House Republicans Move To Block Funding For Smithsonian’s Planned Latino History Museum
"The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved an interior and environment funding bill that bans the federal government from spending any taxpayer money on...
Concerns About Four Programs At Smithsonian’s Asian-American Literary Festival Were Flagged Hours Before It...
The flagging was part of a routine procedure before Smithsonian events. The institution insists that the festival was called off because the organizers were...
Philadelphia Orchestra Cancels Next Spring’s Tour To California
Concerts in early March in Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Barbara, and Palm Desert were found "no longer financially viable" due to "significant increases...
An Encouraging Weekend At The Movie Box Office
“Barbie” ended up with $162 million in its first weekend of release, above Sunday’s already record-breaking estimate of $155 million. "Oppenheimer,” too, beat expectations with $82.4...
A Crisis In The Avant Garde (Or, Where Are The Provocateurs?)
What’s to blame for the lack of a coherent movement? If the avant-garde is dead, what killed it — and what’s been lost along...
Why (Despite Repeated Attempts) Books Can’t Be Disrupted By Technology
One reason books haven’t been particularly disruptable might be that many of the people looking to “fix” things couldn’t actually articulate what was broken—whether...
