"Before the war, many comedians performed their sets in Russian and eyed major comedy festivals in Russia as the pinnacle of career achievement. ... the audience won’t laugh at jokes delivered in Russian, comedians say. Unless, of course, the Russian language is the butt of the joke." - The Atlantic
She is not having it with the censors. For one of her students, it's changed his life. "Until recently, he says, was not naturally inclined towards reading. But the secret bookshelf opened a world of characters and situations he immediately related to." - NPR
As an actor from a working-class background, Lynch says, "You’ve gotta decide: am I buying eggs, or putting money on my Oyster card? And I had to make that decision many a time." - The Guardian (UK)
Órla Baxendale, 25, was "an exquisite ballet, contemporary, and Irish step dancer" who was incredibly cautious, knowing her peanut allergy was severe - but the cookie's labeling made no mention of nuts. - Yahoo News (The Independent UK)
Sure, the 80-year-oldCanadian singer-songwriter has been nominated 18 times and has nine wins, and is nominated again this year for best folk album, but this will be her first official Grammys performance. - CBC
"'This case is not just about AI,' Josh Schiller, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. 'It’s about the humans that use AI to violate the law, infringe on intellectual property rights, and flout common decency.'" - Washington Post
Non-verbal autistic people aren't non-thinking. Why, then, has it "taken so long for society to question the deeply ingrained fallacy equating speech fluency with intelligence, thereby condemning this whole population of people to a virtual prison?" - The Guardian (UK)
Shaw sang with Count Basie's big band and with Sammy Davis Jr., and moved from singing at church to jazz performances with an edge that she honed into personal, ribald stories. - The New York Times
"The visual art world is at a tipping point where traditional museums and galleries will have to begin involving immersive art in their offering or risk becoming irrelevant." So why not show art in derelict department stores as well? - The Guardian (UK)
Ghostwriters work "in a vacuum, sitting alone in our underwear in our offices," one says. "We don’t get out much. So I think it’s helpful to be able to compare notes." - The New York Times
"It took so much more than U.S. battlefield heroism to win this war. Indeed, only an estimated 16% of the U.S. Army ever saw ground combat. ... Their efforts were deeply intertwined with, and dependent upon, the work and resources of others around the globe." - Time
The grand unified theory of plane watching includes love stories, action stories, fun stories, and anything that includes a happy ending on a plane - but never a plane crash. - Slate
"Skal was an author with encyclopedic knowledge of a subject not always taken seriously — movies meant to scare the bejesus out of people — whose erudition, combined with a chatty writing style, made his books lively and entertaining." - The New York Times
