Stories

First, Record Albums Came Back, And Now It’s CDs

Teens and 20-somethings are, again, driving the shift back (related: so are K-Pop bands). One fan, on switching out phone for CD player: “It gives me a different feeling. … I feel like I’m listening to an artist’s work. It brings me joy.” - The Guardian (UK)

Patricia Douglas Challenged A Culture Of Abuse In Early Hollywood, And Paid A Price

In 1937, Douglas was told to come to a producer’s ranch for a movie. But, “she later said, she and more than 100 other young women — many of whom were minors — had been summoned to entertain men attending MGM’s annual sales convention.” - The New York Times

Australia, Like Most Places, Has A Dwindling Number Of Drive-In Movie Theatres

In Melbourne, there’s one hold-out. "The drive-in demands little of its audience. You can lie down, walk around, talk and sing without fear of being hushed. Parents feel at ease bringing newborns, and dogs can curl up beside their owners.” - The Guardian (UK)

Don’t Be Fooled By The Emmy Nomination For SubwayTakes

“The Emmy nod isn’t, in itself, a milestone. What it actually represents is much smaller: a win for YouTube’s awards campaigning, confined for now to a category that’s spent most of its existence as the Emmys’ junk drawer.” - Vulture

How Theatre Created, Then Recreated, The ‘Rocky Horror’ Mad Scientist Lab

“A slapdash seediness has been embedded in the musical’s aesthetic DNA ever since it started in 1973 in a tiny upstairs space at the Royal Court Theater in London.” - The New York Times

What Sepideh Moafi Brought To The Pitt

“The Iranian American actor drew from her own childhood experiences and advocacy work as an ambassador with the International Rescue Committee to shape Dr. Al-Hashimi into who audiences get to know onscreen.” - HuffPost

Designer Error, By About 10,000 Miles

Sydney, Australia, has an Allianz soccer stadium, and so does Munich, Germany. Guess which one appears on the Sydney Marathon medal? - The Guardian (UK)

The Smithsonian Plan For A Latinx Museum Avoids A Congressional Vote

“The Smithsonian Institution has called a board meeting to discuss giving one of its current buildings to the National Museum of the American Latino, which would bypass the need for congressional approval for a new site.” - The New York Times

Orchids Made Charles Darwin Who He Was

“Darwin had long been interested in orchids, possibly influenced by the borderline sexual love his grandfather, Erasmus, felt for them and put into his writings.” - LitHub

Meta May Finally Face A Day Of Reckoning Over Child Safety

“Other companies in Meta’s social media cohort, like Snap, TikTok, and YouTube, have opted this year to settle some suits that allege their platforms have harmed kids’ mental health. Meta instead chose to go to trial, only to very publicly lose and pay massive fines.” - Wired

The Mayor Of Los Angeles Suddenly Loves The Warnermount Merger

What in the rolling over for rich people hell, Karen Bass? - Vulture

Boston Symphony Orchestra Musicians Vote To Authorize A Potential Strike

The contract expires at midnight tonight (Sunday, August 23). That’s not to say there will be a strike, but the musicians are supportive of a potential strike, which would be the first in the BSO’s history. - WGBH

Behold America’s First-Ever Jellyfish Museum

“The private Jellyfish Museum in Pompano Beach, Florida, just north of Fort Lauderdale, … was created by Alex and Yana Yanovsky, who previously developed successful aquariums in Ukraine, including their first jellyfish museum in Kyiv. The couple left those facilities behind when they fled Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion.” - AP

Study: Web Traffic To The 10 Biggest News Websites Has Dropped By A Third In Two Years

Combined traffic to the ten biggest news websites in the US is down by almost a third compared to two years ago, new analysis shows. The difference was even higher across the top 50 news websites in the US, with monthly visits falling 37% since July 2024. - Press-Gazette

Weird Idea Spreads On Chinese Internet That Tang Dynasty Never Existed

The Tang era (618-907 CE) is considered a golden age, a period of territorial expansion, prosperity and high culture which every Chinese schoolchild learns about. Claiming it never happened is like telling Brits there was no Norman Conquest. Yet the bogus idea has caught on widely enough that China’s government is weighing in. - CNN

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