Ben Davis: "Contemporary cultural backlash may not look like a return to a cozy, oblivious cultural center. It may take its cues more from Elon Musk buying Twitter to 'defeat the woke mind virus' or Peter Thiel funding an 'anti-woke' downtown film festival out of his pocket change." - Artnet
Even if there is a very strong neurological similarity between memories and experiences, we know that they can’t be exactly the same. “People don’t get confused between them." - Quanta
"I've had many second chapters in my life, often propelled by loss. ... As a human being, I'm relatively simple. I'm very work-oriented, I'm not extremely social. ... I'm not very curious about people, which is perhaps not the best way to be, but I have so much responsibility." - Artnet
Over time, laughter-inducing play transformed into practical uses: Laughter and amusement signified a situation was safe, and positive emotions could be used to help cheer others up. Then, around 40,000 to 45,000 years ago humor evolved to serve more modern applications. - Vox
Political experts and campaign consultants were taken by surprise when schools suddenly assumed center stage in the national debate, but as this issue of Lapham’s Quarterly demonstrates, our recent battles are nothing new. - Lapham's Quarterly
In the 1950s, TV networks broadcast light operas by Victor Herbert and Kurt Weill. Those pieces are rarely revived now; neither are the comic works of Anthony Davis and William Bolcom, and there are composers today who could write more. We just need a company for them. - The New York Times
"Some of The Guardian's tech infrastructure and 'behind-the-scenes services' have been impacted, according to the publication. Employees were asked to work from home for the remainder of the week. The Guardian has still been able to publish stories on its website and app." - Endgadget
Recent video from Ukraine shows a bulldozer tearing down the back of the ruined theater, which Russian fighter planes bombed last March while hundreds of families were sheltering in its basement; over 300 people died. The city's mayor, currently in exile, says the occupiers plan to leave the façade intact. - BBC
"It cracked. It creaked. It leaked. Ever since (it was designed), it's been a source of wonder. It's also been a cause for worry and woe, requiring seemingly endless repairs. After a painstaking three-year, $17 million rehabilitation ... the dome's 113-year-old aches and pains have been tended to." - The New York Times
The local affiliates have always insisted on doing the fundraising themselves, so that listeners don't bypass the stations, which already pay dues to NPR. The new NPR Network is aimed, say executives, at millions of podcast listeners who bypass the radio stations entirely. - Current
"The vandals entered Koonalda Cave on the Nullarbor Plain (in South Australia) and scrawled graffiti across the heritage-listed site, writing 'don't look now, but this is a death cave'. Authorities say the vandals dug under a steel gate to gain access to the site." - The Guardian
Robert Beaser, who was chair of the school's composition department from 1994 to 2018, was placed on leave last Friday, following a report in VAN detailing numerous allegations of misconduct. Juilliard had investigated claims against Beaser twice in recent decades. - Yahoo! (AFP)
Considered by many the greatest living ballet choreographer, Ratmansky will have been artist-in-residence at American Ballet Theater for more than 13 years when he steps down upon expiration of his contract next June. - AP
Instead of writing boilerplate corporate memos, managers will soon assign them to bots. Insight and beauty are still rare, but serviceable prose isn’t. - Virginia Postrel
These systems are master imitators of human creativity. They have been trained on millions upon millions of human artifacts such as documents, articles, drawings, paintings, movies, or whatever else can be stored in databases at scale. - Big Think
