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Sesame Street’s Beloved Bob McGrath Has Died At 91

"McGrath played the friendly neighbor Bob Johnson, serving as a Sesame Street mainstay across five decades and 47 seasons of broadcast television. His final series appearance came in 2017, but McGrath did not step away from his association with the series." - Variety

What Were Ancient Romans Eating At The Colosseum?

Nuts, fruit, and ... pizza. - Hyperallergic

A Season-Long Goodbye Ends With Nutcracker

Sterling Hyltin has been the Sugar Plum Fairy since 2006, but this season will be her final one. "One reason she gives for stepping aside is the desire to see younger dancers be given the same opportunities she had." - The New York Times

The Composer Of The Queen’s Funeral Music Began Keeping It Secret In 2011

Sir James MacMillan "had not even heard a rehearsal of the piece, which he had written in secret, and until the night before the funeral was not completely sure it would be performed." - BBC

Bernadette Mayer, Who Brought Magic To Stream-Of-Consciousness Poetry, 77

Mayer "rejected formalism for the avant-garde. She expanded the parameters of poetry by incorporating other elements into her work, including photography, collage, letters from friends, audio recordings and personal datebooks." - The New York Times

How A Great Woman Critic And Publicist Made A Male Architect Famous

When Aline Louchheim took on Eero Saarinen, she "leveraged power dynamics and skirted journalistic ethics to get what she wanted: ... to champion Saarinen’s work and supercharge his career." - Hyperallergic

One Button, And We’d Be Living In The Correct Timeline Again

Well, with the "Oh, yeah?" button, we could have tried for a better internet, anyway. - Slate

What Ever Happened To Avatar, The Biggest Blockbuster In History?

"Though the first Avatar was the world’s top-grossing movie not once, but twice, reclaiming the title from Avengers: Endgame after a 2021 rerelease in China, its most oft-cited claim to fame is its surprising lack of cultural impact." Why? - The New York Times

Pantone Embraces Its Color Of The Year Marketing And The Art World

"Viva Magenta has taken the shape of a massive immersive exhibition during Art Basel—that’s 10,000 square feet and two floors dedicated to a single color meant to symbolize the 'unconventional time' we’re living in." OK, sure. - Fast Company

Nan Goldin On Taking On The Art Establishment’s Embrace Of The Sacklers

"For a long time, the Sackler name was a byword for almost unparalleled philanthropy and largesse towards the arts; it is now synonymous with shame and misery on an even grander scale." That's because the photographer decided to transform her life. - The Guardian (UK)

What We All Lose When Students Don’t Learn To Read, Or Write, Cursive

Michel Martin's uncles in the military "wrote letters to each other promising to take care of their future families or their families, ... in this beautiful cursive handwriting. And it never occurred to me that my children might not be able to read that." - NPR

Art Basel Miami Somehow Has No Spanish Anywhere

"Most of the fair workers I approached during my visit ... spoke Spanish, a jarring realization that makes me think the on-the-ground staff makeup of the fair is different from the audience it seeks to welcome." - Hyperallergic

Let’s Talk About Queer Christmas Movies

Trendy? Flat characters (yes, even more so than the straight characters in the heterocentric holiday movies)? Or something that shows networks' long-awaited embrace of Christmas movie equality? - Washington Post

Deal To Return The ‘Elgin’ Marbles May Be Coming Soon

According to Greek news sources, "British Museum chair George Osborne, the former chancellor, has been holding secret talks with the Greek prime minister." - BBC

Julia Reichert, Fierce Filmmaker Who Won An Oscar For American Factory, Has Died At 76

Reichert, a documentarian, said, "I always wanted to understand how people worked because I often thought I was like a Martian. I was intensely curious about people because I felt so different from everybody else." - Washington Post

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