"For the most part, though, being a theater critic has been an extraordinary privilege. How many people have the opportunity to be transported by an actor’s performance or a playwright’s words or a composer’s music, and then be able to do something about it?" - The Washington Post (MSN)
That’s right: in Orange County, Florida, students currently can’t read three Tony Award winners for Best Play, as well as a major work by a Pulitzer prize-winner, let alone a collection of plays by one of the earliest major dramatists in world history. - Howard Sherman
They will remain rich and powerful, and they will continue to have many bright and competent people working within their ambit. And yet their authority will grow more brittle and their appeal more sectarian. - Compact Magazine
It is worth remembering the vast majority of what we call free-speech issues have little basis in the First Amendment, which only forbids the abridgment of speech by the government, not private organizations like magazines, cultural centers, or Hollywood production companies. - New York Magazine
Harvard, the faculty members said, should abandon its practice of taking official positions on political or social issues, as it did during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and, more controversially, in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. - Boston Globe (MSN)
The Americas dominate this year's list, with three buildings in New York, two each in Vancouver and Sao Paulo and one in Mexico City. The other two come from the Asia-Pacific region, with one in Shenzhen and the other in Sydney. - Dezeen
"'It's so bizarre to me,' says the Last Comic Standing finalist Laurie Kilmartin. 'Because when you look at how modern standup started, it was a thing that happened in between strippers. It’s gutter art. We’re not trying to win a Pulitzer Prize.'" - The Guardian
“When you lose half a year of production, 2024 will be a downturn,” O’Leary says. “We have to be realistic. If any industry lost half a year of production, there would be an impact in the following year. - Variety
"Once, dancers were recognised purely on the merit of their performances as audience members didn’t have access to anything else. Yet 2023 couldn’t be more different, with attainable insights now ranging from pet snuggles to the brandishing of luxury leather goods (#ad)." - Gramilano (Milan)
After being labeled “state-affiliated media” and then “government-funded media” by Twitter shortly after Musk took over the company, NPR ceased posting on the social media platform where NPR’s main Twitter account had 8.7 million followers, and its politics account had nearly three million. - InsideRadio
Everybody hated Prince Harry's memoir, which nevertheless became the fastest-selling book in history. A country hit managed to divide much of America. A rock star kissed his bandmate on stage and got thrown out of a country. Gwyneth Paltrow briefly managed to get most people on her side. - BBC
There’s a gap between the backlash Chappelle generates online and his live shows with legions of fans. Amid this comedy culture war, he’s doubling down and cashing in. - The Wall Street Journal
Scientist Henkjan Honing and his colleagues have found that even newborns have the ability to recognize a beat and to notice when a regular rhythm is broken. - Nautilus
New research released by the American Library Association found that more than half of Gen Zers and Millennials surveyed in 2022 had visited a physical library location in the previous year. And of the Gen Zers and Millennials who said that they did not identify as readers, more than half still reported going to the library. - The Atlantic
