"Systemic polarization, as it is usually told, is a basically symmetrical story. Polarization arises from a social dynamic that afflicts almost everybody. The social forces at play—social mobility, online media bubbles, algorithmic filtering—are pervasive, and their effect is nearly universal. Like-minded individuals naturally clump together and end up boosting each others’ confidence unreasonably. Conservatives and progressives are approximately as...
"A website called #allesdichtmachen ('close it all down') was launched on Thursday night, featuring 53 to-camera clips in which high-profile actors sarcastically boast of the lengths they have gone to restrict their social contacts and appeal to the government to lock down the country even harder." Mein Gott, did they get dragged. One television host who's been working...
The repeated, record-setting acqua alta events of late 2019 caused an estimated €300 million in damage to the Byzantine-style landmark — and floods are expected to get more frequent and severe as sea level rises. What's more, the long-delayed MOSE floodgates in the Venice lagoon aren't enough to protect St. Mark's, which lies at one of the lowest points...
Back in the 1990s, before search engines were much good, Yahoo was a popular and useful portal, a directory organizing the great, amorphous mass of websites into something navigable (especially for those who didn't want to be stuck inside AOL's bubble). Now Yahoo's seen as a giant, bumbling monster, gobbling up and wiping out beloved hubs of user-generated content...
"Most publishers contacted by PW said they are deferring making any concrete plans about tours until authors feel comfortable going back on the road and booksellers and librarians feel comfortable hosting in-store events." - Publishers Weekly
Last July, after a tenure that had been widely viewed (at least from outside) as a major success, Nathalie Bondil was dismissed from the Montreal museum amid allegations that she created a "toxic" work environment. Now she's returning to France to become director of exhibitions and collections at the Institut du Monde Arabe. - ARTnews
"Peter Kjome capped a roller-coaster five years as president and CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra" — a period that included a financial near-collapse, a lockout-turned-strike, and, ultimately, a new contract that improved relations between musicians and management — "by announcing Monday that he will leave the organization when his contract expires in January 2022. Combined with the departure...
"After six months of rotating on-again, off-again closures, restaurants, bars, museums and cinemas opened to the public in most of the country under a gradual reopening plan that is seen as too cautious for some, too hasty for others." - AP
A Guardian investigation found that dozens of professional touts have snapped up tickets for eagerly awaited festivals and are demanding massively inflated prices from fans desperate to see artists such as Stormzy, Nile Rodgers and Fatboy Slim. - The Guardian
"Without long insights into the early diversity programs, our profession cannot address the structural inequities that perpetuate the need for entry-level opportunities targeted for non-white individuals. Museums must acknowledge the stigmatizing, tokenizing, and economic effects of these programs, in addition to the opportunities they offer." - Hyperallergic
The Chinese government imposed a virtual news blackout, and censors moved to tamp down or scrub out discussion of the award on social media. - The New York Times
To survive beyond the pandemic, theaters must persuade moviegoers not just to come back, but to come back more frequently than they did—to start thinking of their local cinema as akin to their favorite coffee shop. Because a return to pre-pandemic habits isn’t enough, industry executives told me they’ve been spending this past year rethinking the role of theaters...
Enter SB 805, which is up for a hearing by the California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee on April 26. If passed, the bill would greenlight low-cost payroll and paymaster services for small nonprofit performing arts organizations that make $1.4 million a year or less. It would also create a fund to award grants so that these...
The JaQuel Knight's company Knight Choreography & Music Publishing will see to the rights to Knights dance moves while operating as a music publisher as the company will broker licensing deals and protect IP. - Geo
What a haiku is to language, a vibe is to sensory perception: a concise assemblage of image, sound, and movement. (#Aesthetic is sometimes used to mark vibes, but that term is predominantly visual.) A vibe can be positive, negative, beautiful, ugly, or just unique. It can even become a quality in itself: if something is vibey, it gives off...
