Author Sally Franson says that if you want belly laughs, you might have to go through some painful experiences first. “The harder I laughed or the harder I cried, the more people laughed. And it wasn’t malicious, you know, it was like, I see you. That is so human.” - Slate
New director Lauren Post, currently dancing Romeo and Juliet with ABT’s corps de ballet at the Met, has some ideas: Focus on education first, and eventually, “Minneapolis could be a destination for classical ballet training, and potentially even for a strong local company.” - Pioneer Press
Dutch artist Johannes Harm-Hovinga sits, punching holes in a copy of a UN report on climate change, for hours a day - and the repetitive strain is forcing him to take painkillers to complete his performance. - The Guardian (UK)
“Spotlight charges performers to appear in its directory, which it says was used to cast 99% of productions in the UK in 2023. But Equity says the fees, which were recently increased to £216 a year for actors on a monthly tariff, are ‘above what the law reasonably allows.’” - BBC
Dinaw Mengestu, on his character Samuel: “There’s a limitation to how fully we can truly understand his experiences. ... That gap becomes part of the narrative, part of what the story is trying to deeply engage with.” - The New York Times
Sorry, those who love to rank the bops and decide which one comes out on top, the idea is “more of a cultural myth or a shared hallucination than a hard-and-fast label.” - The Atlantic
Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 but continued working, both in TV and in her own popular podcast, including when the cancer spread to her brain. - Variety
“Safety issues loom large at OpenAI — and seem to just keep coming. Current and former employees at OpenAI recently signed an open letter demanding better safety and transparency practices from the startup, not long after its safety team was dissolved.” - The Verge
C. Pam Zhang: “It’s fascinating to see that there’s no linear relationship between input and output when it comes to creativity. For me, it feels like there’s a vein you tap into sometimes if you’re lucky.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Many of his most powerful works slow down the passage of time so that viewers become keenly aware of their own physical presence and thoughts.” - The New York Times
“Western University on Friday took a step toward reconsidering its relationship with acclaimed local writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro, announcing it has decided to pause a chair created in her honour.” - CBC
