Your phone mirrors the world back to you. But what you see is the world you want to see—a “frictionless,” “responsive,” “immediate,” “obedient,” “commercialized,” “optimized” simulacrum of your own will accomplished. - The Point
The reason for the return to larger-cast shows gets at the heart of what makes the 89-year-old company unique. OSF is one of the biggest nonprofit theaters in the U.S., but it’s based in Ashland, Ore., which has a population of just over 21,000 — about one-sixth the size of Berkeley. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
At the core of these deflections is an implication: The hypothetical superintelligence they are building is too big, too world-changing, too important for prosaic concerns such as copyright and attribution. - The Atlantic (MSN)
"People attempting to recover from unhealthy obsessions unanimously report a tendency to overthink to the point of debility. Riding the subway uptown to the Scrabble club, I considered the ways I’d replaced one addiction with another." - The Paris Review
Was it because, as a child mathematics prodigy, he wanted to fulfil his real vocation and become a great mathematician? Apparently not. He taught the course that humanities and social science majors have to take in the US university system. “Math for tenors,” he calls it. - The Guardian
Jonathan Tunick began his career in the 1960s, when Broadway pit bands were big, and orchestrated all of Sondheim's Broadway shows of the '70s. For the Sondheim revivals of the '90s, he reworked his arrangements for bands 50% to 80% smaller. Now he's building one of those back up again. - Playbill
At least 1,000 paintings that the artist Damien Hirst said were “made in 2016” were created several years later, the Guardian can reveal. - The Guardian
"Dr. Rachael Gunn, … the 36-year-old B-girl known as 'Raygun', a portmanteau of her name, completed a thesis in 2017 on the intersection of gender in Sydney's breaking scene while training to become one of (Australia's) top dancers." - Reuters
Most people watching TV are older than those groups. Among cable channels, the median age for TNT and Bravo viewers is 56, for HGTV it is 66, and even the once-youthful MTV’s median-age viewer is 51, according to Nielsen data. The cable news audience is even older. - The Wall Street Journal
With more than 40 free shows this season, and only 10 that charge for tickets, Levitt has built trust and audiences through a highly unusual mix of adventurous bookings, public and private funding, constant neighborhood-tending, and casual vibes that belie the passion of its music-freak staff. - Denver Post
It's not just that the job is delicate; it has to be done quickly, because the site is undergoing a slow-motion landslide due to two winters of heavy rains. The ground under the chapel is now moving at the rate of roughly seven inches per week. - LAist
"The news presenter has a deeply uncanny air as he delivers a partisan and pejorative message in Mandarin: Taiwan’s outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen, is as effective as limp spinach, her period in office beset by economic under performance, social problems and protests." - The Guardian
