Stories

Why Leisure Is A Tough Gig

Give people an hour with nothing scheduled, and many fill it with thoughts of to-dos: the unanswered email, the errand that’s been put off, the project due next week. Free time is sometimes less a chance to rest than an opportunity to take inventory of our obligations. - The Atlantic

Does Listening To Music While You Work Help You Focus?

Researchers generally agree that the relationship between music and learning is complex. The effects of music on studying and other cognitively demanding tasks appear to depend on the type of task performed, the kind of music and the students themselves. - The Conversation

Nicholas Hytner’s Bridge Theatre Bought By Major Commercial Theatre Owner

“The Bridge Teatre in London, opened in 2017 by the former National Theatre duo Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr, has been acquired by Trafalgar Entertainment,” which owns more than 20 venues in Britain and elsewhere - The Guardian

Mounting Scientific Evidence That Reading On Screens Results In Lower Comprehension

Reading comprehension was significantly lower when the students read on screens. The researchers also found that the number of “transitions,” where students would go back and re-read the text before submitting their answers, more than doubled—and in some cases tripled—when kids read on screens. - Time

Australia’s Theatre Sector Raises Alarm

Australia’s theatre industry is in desperate need of tax reform to keep it alive, experts have warned the federal government, after two major touring musicals and a $20m opera cancelled shows in the space of a week, citing skyrocketing costs and soft box office sales. - The Guardian

Why Are We Getting Shrek 5 And Not, Like, Ratatouille Goes To El Bulli?

Oh, Brad Bird, say it ain’t so: "Ratatouille director Brad Bird revealed he’s putting the kibosh on any sequels to that delightful, delicious film.” (Could we at least get the musical? Remember that from the early days of the pandemic?) - Vulture

Philadelphia Cultural Fund And Mural Arts Philadelphia To Make Deep Cuts After Funding Reductions From City

“The Cultural Fund will be forced to reduce the number of grants it had been expecting to distribute in the coming year, from 332 to 232. It has changed its eligibility requirements, eliminating grants to a pool of midsize organizations.” Mural Arts, meanwhile, is reducing its budget by 26%. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Film Archivists Plan To Edit And Complete Orson Welles’s Unfinished “Don Quixote”

“Oja Kodar, the American film-maker’s partner and collaborator, has given her blessing to the project led by archives in France, Spain and Italy, along with the Munich film museum, to produce a coherent film out of 30 hours of footage scattered among them.” - The Guardian

Italy Acquires 2,400-Year-Old Frescoes From Ancient Etruscan Tomb

“The Culture Ministry announced in May that it had acquired the fresco panels, dating from the 4th century, from members of the Torlonia family, one of Italy’s ancient noble families whose vast collection of antiquity has long been kept out of the public domain.” - AP

Penelope Keith, One Of Britain’s Most Beloved Sitcom Actresses, Is Dead At 86

“In the late 1970s and early 1980s, (she became) one of Britain's most popular comedy actresses through her work in the BBC sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born: she was both convincing and funny when portraying imperious and autocratic ‘grand ladies’.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)

New York’s Little Island Has Cut Its Performance Schedule In Half

Last summer the outdoor venue on stilts in the Hudson River presented 100 performances over four months; this year’s season is offering 56 performances over six weeks. The stated reason for the change is that funder Barry Diller “wants to take programming in a different direction.” - The New York Times

Comcast Is Splitting Itself In Two, Spinning NBCUniversal Into A Separate Company

“The stand-alone NBCUniversal will include Universal’s film and television studios, its growing theme parks division, the NBC and Telemundo networks, Bravo, Peacock, and the European media business, Sky. The remaining Comcast business will consist of the company’s broadband, wireless and cable television operations.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

Appeals Court Upholds Harvey Weinstein’s L.A. Rape Conviction But Orders Re-Sentencing

“A three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously issued the decision, saying his trial judge did not violate the former movie magnate’s constitutional rights. … The decision came a day after prosecutors in New York decided Weinstein would not face a fourth trial there.” - AP

Critics Might Have Hated The Michael Jackson Movie, But It’s Now The Highest-Grossing Biopic Of All Time

The recently released Michael Jackson movie has overtaken Oppenheimer as the highest-grossing biopic of all time, after taking $977m (£739m) at the worldwide box office. - BBC

The AI Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over The Internet

As Claude Design catches on among Anthropic users, a generic-design aesthetic is emerging that’s as noticeable as text-based A.I. tics such as overenthusiastic em-dash usage or “not X . . . but Y” constructions. - The New Yorker

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