Stories

For A While, We All Had To Read A Separate Peace, But It Actually Changed Elizabeth Strout’s Life

And then, the novelist explains, there’s Gertrude Stein - and William Trevor. - The Guardian (UK)

National Symphony Orchestra Strike Ends A Short-Lived, Historic Strike

“In an escalation after months of labor talks, the musicians walked off the job on Friday for the first time since 1978.” The strike lasted for three and a half hours. - The New York Times

The Erotic Review, Formerly An Online Literary Magazine, Is Now In Print

And, supposedly, quite a bit more feminist. The second issue of the relaunch has “'the explicit aim of moving away from the male gaze’ and a view to showcase ‘more diverse and inclusive explorations of desire.’” - The Guardian (UK)

Clarice Rivers, Muse Of Many An Artist, Poet, Playwright, And Actor, 88

Rivers is the one who inspired Niki de Saint Phalle’s iconic Nana figures, but in addition, she was "a bohemian saloniste whose lifestyle was a kind of art making.” - The New York Times

The Fight To Save The History Of The Internet

“The Internet Archive is one of the most important historical-preservation organizations in the world. The Wayback Machine has assumed a default position as a safety valve against digital oblivion.” - Wired

How To Game Your Betting On The Oscars

Just like fantasy football, betting on the Oscars (why not, right?) has some simple rules. For one thing, nail your bargain picks. - Vulture

A Judge Rules That Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’ Didn’t Live Up To Its Billing As A True Story

That ruling allows "the real-life ‘Martha' to pursue her defamation lawsuit.” - Variety

The Tech Ethics Drama Playing Out At WordPress

"Last week, WordPress cofounder Matt Mullenweg came out with a harsh attack on WP Engine, a major WordPress hosting provider, calling the company a ‘cancer’ to the community. The statement has cracked open a public debate surrounding how profit-driven companies can and can’t use open-source software.” - The Verge

Westminster Abbey Finally Fixes A Typo On The Bronte Sisters’ Plaque

They got their umlaut, "a small but sizable victory for three sisters who could not publish under their own names nearly 200 years ago, even as their novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights helped change the portrayal of women’s lives in fiction.” - The New York Times

For The Turner Prize, Forty Is The New Twenty

Sure, it was cooler in the 1990s. And true, “the prize has sometimes struggled to find the balance between challenging assumptions and maintaining a sense of fun.” Yet … - The Guardian (UK)

When Did Science Fiction Go From Niche To Huge?

There was a time when a fan could know most of the genre, and fantasy too. That time? Long gone. - Reactor Magazine

Canadian Music Companies Ask Government Not To Treat Streaming Like It’s Radio

Under those rules, streaming services that are not Canadian-owned and have more than CAD $25 million (approx. USD $18.5 million)  in revenue in Canada annually are required to pay 5% of that revenue into funds that subsidize Canadian content and creators. - Music Business Worldwide

Harriet Martineau, The Now-Forgotten 19th-Century Novelist Who Changed Far More Than We Realize

"A shocking number of advances in Anglo-American culture — everything from realist fiction to ecology to economic policy — would look different, or might not even exist, if she’d never put pen to paper." - Literary Hub

Saying “Like” All The Time Serves A Legitimate Purpose

And that legitimate purpose is, to put it one way, imprecision, which is precisely why all the constant "like"-ing so irks sticklers. Sociolinguist Valerie Fridland talks about how that works in this episode of the podcast Explain It to Me. (includes partial transcript) - Vox

Australian Court Allows Exhibition That Banned Men From Entering

The luxurious Ladies Lounge at the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart had sought to highlight historic misogyny by banning male visitors from entering. It was forced to shut in May when one affected patron sued the gallery for gender discrimination and won. - BBC

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