What many readers encounter are cautious judgments affixed to a skeletal summary, leaving little opening for the decisive and expansive claims on a reader’s attention that make a piece of criticism valuable on its own, or even simply viral. - The Nation
We can shrug and chalk up English’s many quirks to tradition. Or we can try to think beyond our own time, as President Theodore Roosevelt tried to when he sent a letter in 1906 to the public printer, Charles Stillings, directing him to use in various official communications the simplified spellings. - The New York Times
Grammatically, Esperanto was primarily influenced by European languages, but interestingly, some of Esperanto’s innovations bear a striking resemblance to features found in some Asian languages, such as Chinese. - The Conversation
What we haven’t figured out how to make sense of yet is the fun that many Americans act like they’re having with the national fracture. - The New Atlantis
Our best writers can unfreeze us. They override the notion that we’re helpless, and sometimes they do it paradoxically, by depicting people who are paralyzed and stuck. - Tablet
“Our art has become exhaustively political, but it is no longer discernibly subversive,” observed the writer Greg Jackson about the literature of the Trump years, “It is what major cultural institutions, foundations, and media organizations find congenial.” - Liberties Journal
Beyoncé isn’t the only superstar who’s struggling to make a hit with staying power. The past year has seen superstars release new music to weaker-than-expected sales or reviews. - The Wall Street Journal
While the idea of an intermediate state after death is present in many religions – Buddhism has its bardo, Judaism its Sheol, Islam its A’raf – Purgatory stands out precisely for its ambiguity, an ambiguity rooted in the fact that there is scant scriptural evidence for its existence. - Aeon
Facebook has paid publishers who participate in the News program. The company signed deals worth tens of millions of dollars with news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, the Journal reported. - The Wall Street Journal
The closely watched case holds major implications for a publishing industry that has been grappling with consolidation for years. It also looms as a key test for the government amid growing calls for more vigilant antitrust enforcement. - Publishers Weekly
"She weathered the ups and downs of 20th-century Chinese history, and thrived under different political realities. ... Her remarkable onscreen life spanned the Chinese Republican regime (and Mao's revolutions) right through to the modern commercial blockbuster period." - The Guardian
“We find clear differences between users at different points of their off-platform lifecycles, with younger listeners consistently exploring less and exploiting known content more.” - Ludwig Van
The State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne, the city's venue for the Australian Ballet and Opera Australia, is closing in March 2024 for three years of renovations — and the designated replacement theatre has too small a stage and too few open dates for those companies' productions. - The Age (Melbourne)
Key to Conversation Radio's success is the higher level of interaction between hosts and the audience. “The hosts skilled in storytelling, the life of a party but not the center of attention – the audience is always the center of attention.” - Inside Radio
"Their purpose seems obvious — to quench thirst, duh — but stage actors get dry mouths, and no Hamlet puts down his sword to pick up an Evian. The water bottle is the prop that clues us in that a comic — not a character — is at work." - The New York Times
