Yearly Archives: 2023
Suppressing History: My Book Was Banned In Tennessee
The law, passed by the Republican-dominated legislature, prohibits schools from teaching fourteen concepts, including that any individual is “inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive,...
Anodyne ChatBots Aren’t Very Useful – It’s Called The Spicy Mayo Problem
ChatGPT felt new because it was capable of something much like a discussion. You can start with a half-baked idea and develop it with...
Ai WeiWei On Cancellation Of His European Shows Because Of His Comments
“When a society cannot withstand diverse voices, it teeters on the brink of collapse. I am committed to voicing my perspective. The irony lies...
When A Music Festival Isn’t Really A Festival (We’re Looking At You, California)
Ideally, music festivals serve two purposes. They engage audiences by focusing on some topic in concentrated fashion and they generate interest in a given...
The Beatles’ “New” Song Suggests Some Thorny Uses For AI
While the current legacy-I.P. production boom is focused on fictional characters, there’s no reason to think it won’t, in the future, take the form...
Why Sondheim Is So Hard To Let Go Of
Ravishing individual songs may reassure us that no one is alone but, in the five decades since “Company” made his reputation, Mr. Sondheim had...
What Happened When My Family Disconnected From The Internet
"Without distractions, the days seemed to expand. We learned to harvest time, an idea that came to us in national forests across the U.S....
UK University Music Programs Are Closing. Why?
The academic music sector is fractured, especially in relation to classical music. This mirrors wider cuts or proposed cuts to English National Opera, BBC Orchestras and other institutions,...
Who’s Afraid Of Arnold Schoenberg, And Why?
People "accept that a 'challenging' painting—or modern dance work, or play, or independent film—can be exciting, mind-expanding, really cool, and sort of out there...
In Los Angeles, Prop Houses Are So Ready For The Return Of Filming
"The local vendors that supply productions with the furniture, equipment, decorations and other items they need to dress a film or TV set were among the hardest...
British Independent Film Is Having A Real Moment
"No longer does the phrase 'British independent film' instantly bring to mind a particular sort of gritty, miserable social-realist drama." Instead, think psychosexual dramas,...
A Man Who Investigated The Crimes Of Ferdinand And Imelda Marcos Goes To The...
"Having seen and enjoyed the show in New York, I now realize that I missed the obvious during my years in Manila. The Marcoses,...
Experimental Musician And Composer Catherine Christer Hennix Has Died At 75
Hennix "fused minimalist drones, mathematical logic and global spiritual traditions into an approach she called 'infinitary composition.'" - The New York Times
Studios Need Franchises, Says Oppenheimer Director Christopher Nolan
Otherwise, where would the money for other movies come from? - Variety
The Internet Feels Like It’s Getting Less True
But there are still ways to avoid deepfakes, scams, and false news. - Wired
Fact-Checking ‘The Crown’ On Diana’s Death
"In 1999, French investigating judges assigned sole responsibility to the driver," not paparazzi. But on the other hand, why didn't he princess have police protection? -...
Making Meaningful Reality TV
One casting director says it depends on the cast, of course - and he loves "finding these untapped, undiscovered stars." - Slate
What’s Killing Democracy In The U.S.
Daily and weekly local papers are moribund - and so are democratic norms in the towns that now have no news coverage. - The...
Why Is This Artist Teaching A Robot Dog How To Paint?
Artist Agnieska Pilat isn't worried that Basia the robot dog might take her job. She "is a self-described techno-optimist who loves the robots: she even...
Netflix Is Desperate For Another Squid Game
Or something equally weird and compelling - and international, because "60% of Netflix’s global audience has watched Korean content, while 70% of its viewers...
Britain’s Musicians Aren’t Feeling Great
A study shows nearly a third of professional musicians report poor mental health. Why? "Despite high levels of education and training among professional musicians,...
Why Are There Suddenly So Many Sexual Assault Lawsuits Against Musicians?
The Adult Survivors Act expired in New York on Friday, and many alleged survivors got their cases in just under the wire. - Washington...
Irish Author Paul Lynch Wins The Booker For A ‘Soul-Shattering’ Novel
The book, Prophet Song, pictures a Dublin descended into fascist tyranny. - The Guardian (UK)
Was This Hopper Painting Stolen Or Saved?
A scholar says a youthful Hopper self-portrait at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts came from "a vast swindle by the late Rev. Arthayer R....
The Visual Art Of Destroying Athlete Brains
"The space on the side of the plastic helmet has become, over the last 80 years, a canvas upon which the defining symbols of...
