Xi’s use of history projects the message that the struggles of the first century of Communist Party rule have been buried by the need to cohere around Xi’s pursuit of strength, dignity, and obedience—what he calls “the great rejuvenation” of China. - The New Yorker
"More than four centuries ago a series of plays closely based on real murder cases appeared on the London stage. Their literary quality is variable – they tend to melodrama and moralising, indeed to misogyny – but some are written with real skill and bite." - London Review of Books
"Since one cannot know a radically better world is not possible, are we not betraying everyone by insisting on continuing to justify and reproduce the mess we have today?” - New York Magazine
"In 1598, … Sir Thomas Bodley, a retired diplomat and Oxford alumnus, offered to restore the dilapidated university library, entirely at his own cost. … (It) had stood vacant for several decades, its books removed during the upheavals of the Reformation, its furniture sold off." - Literary Hub
Perhaps the ultimate postmodern irony is to be both – to sell out to the system while sending it up. It becomes impossible to distinguish the boss from the bohemian. - The Guardian
Significant Productions, founded by Whitaker and run by Nina Yang Bongiovi, has made admired films like Fruitvale Station and Sorry to Bother You (that earn over ten times what they cost) and discovered directors like Ryan Coogler (Black Panther). Yet even their latest project, Passing, was difficult. - Vulture
Richard Klein seemed well set as a math and science teacher and amateur performer in the Bay Area. Then, at 45, he up and moved to Mumbai, determined to make it in Indian showbiz. Now he's one of Bollywood's go-to white-guy character actors. - The New York Times
Those under 55 may not appreciate just how differently people in the US thought about home cooking before Child's TV shows caught on. For all her pioneering achievements, she was awfully traditional about things like sexuality — until the late 1980s. - The Guardian
When plans for Asia's biggest contemporary art museum were announced back in 2007, Xi Jinping wasn't yet president of China, few people anticipated political crackdowns in Hong Kong, and the biggest concerns were over the money being spent. Now people just hope M+ can survive. - Artnet
A longread on how the Metropolitan Opera's general manager is handling the company's reopening and its long-term problems, what people inside and outside of the Met think of him, and what he thinks of what they think of him. (He's fairer than you might expect.) - New York Magazine
Ireland will launch a basic income guarantee program for artists and arts workers in 2022. The three-year initial plan will have a budget of €25 million. - The Irish Times
Robert Nelson of Melbourne's The Age wrote several hundred words about Jeremy Deller's Father and Son — life-sized grey wax candles, lit and gradually melting, in the shape of a seated old man and his standing adult offspring — while completely overlooking the piece's key characteristic. - The Guardian
Representation absolutely matters. But ever since Broadway announced that so many Black plays would reopen its season, there has been a feeling of dread that if these plays don’t do well, there may not be opportunities for future artists. That pressure is unfair. - American Theatre
The external review, which interviewed 35 people, identified “a lack of diversity in the organisation, an absence of confidence in HR systems and in the handling of complaints and in managers to deal with or take seriously concerns of racism”. - The Guardian
In a widely cited paper from 2007, on a number of common measures of innovation and wealth creation, cities deliver benefits that exceed what we would expect by a simple scaling up of the numbers of people involved, and at lower cost in terms of the infrastructure required. - Aeon
