“We’re not prepared to change our position,” Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said in a statement. “If Anna demonstrates that she has truly and completely disassociated herself from Putin over the long term, I would be willing to have a conversation.” - The New York Times
"The fact is the Oscars are always political — just like Hollywood," writes J. Hoberman. Just ask Marlon Brando and Sacheen Littlefeather. Or Michael Moore. Or Oscar winner Al Gore. Or Ronald Reagan, who taped a message, just before he got shot, for the 1981 Oscars. - The Nation
Does it make sense to continue to threaten the major networks and their shrinking share of viewers with huge fines for the utterance of words that are legally permissible everywhere else in the universe of television? - Slate
"Joplin is more than just someone who wrote some great piano pieces, was Black and died. He is part of the story of American classical music that has never quite captured popular attention." - The New York Times
Survey results show a divide between those who've been producing podcasts for more than five years and less than that — on censorship, false or dangerous content, the role of Apple, technical details, and even what makes a podcast a podcast. - Inside Radio
"Based on responses from 2,128 D.C. area theatregoers from March 14-17, significantly more audience members responded negatively than positively about ending these requirements in theatres." - American Theatre
Time was, these books were published only by indie presses and, at least in mainstream bookstores, shelved separately or not sold at all. Now sales are up over 100% in the past year and 740% over five years, and you can buy queer romances at Walmart. - The New York Times
Kyle Hanagami, a Los Angeles-based commercial choreographer, has filed suit against Epic Games for taking, without permission or compensation, his copyrighted movement from a dance video that went viral and selling it to players of the game Fortnite Battle Royale for their avatars to use. - Radar
After a long period of house arrest and a travel ban based on embezzlement charges widely understood to be trumped-up, the dissident director has settled in Germany. - Variety
"He plans to create a troupe of 15 to 20 professional singers who will be on salary (not working as freelancers, as most soloists do) and take all but the biggest roles. He believes greater job stability had become more appealing over the past two years." - The New York Times
In short, the letter Z (which doesn’t actually exist in the Cyrillic alphabet used in Russia) has been transformed and made toxic; it’s a remarkable example of how swiftly and decisively the meaning of a symbol can be completely reinvented, seeming at random. - Fast Company
While he claimed to have “never got 1 cent” for creating the GIF technology, his invention transformed the internet ecosystem and the ways in which people communicate online. - Slate
Jefferson’s Enlightenment contemporaries fully understood. They accepted happiness as our greatest good. But only in theory. And theory, as they were often quick to insist, was not practice. - The American Scholar
