As conservative U.S. adults go on absolute orgies of book objections and attempts to censor and ban books by or about LGBTQIA+ people, Black history and contemporary life, and anything else their joyless brains decide aren't "good" for kids, some teens fight back. - The Guardian (UK)
Boston music lovers are curious because "the Boston Symphony Orchestra has been quietly searching for its next concertmaster. Whomever they appoint to this coveted chair will hold a tenured position occupied by only three violinists over the course of the last century." - Boston Globe
Native land acknowledgements may sound to some like newfangled expressions of liberal guilt, but they have their origin in the centuries-old welcoming practices of many Native American cultures, as an offering of thanks and an honoring of relationships. - Oregon Arts Watch
The book that inspired thousands of aspiring dancers caused the subject serious issues. "Stephanie was not just another young woman who decided that the boot-camp-like demands of dance were not for her; she was the heroine of a beloved book." - The New York Times
That's right: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours has been selling well for longer than any Millennial has been alive, and now it's selling more copies on vinyl than Ed Sheeran and just slightly fewer than Adele. What gives? - The Guardian (UK)
Mississippi House Clerk Andrew Ketchings "said he had been bothered by the statue for years 'because of everything he stood for. ... It was way past time to do it. I just read through a lot of his quotes that were offensive.'" - US News And World Report
What does that mean? Well: "You don’t need fake popcorn; you don’t need tomatoes; you don’t need other things that are in there. And that’s where we’re looking at it, and it’s something we’re taking seriously that we feel we will have a presence in." - The Verge
"Until recently Black authors had a hard time getting book deals from mainstream Brazilian publishers," when a few authors decided to change things: "They published inexpensive titles, priced at less than $4, and held book events in outdoor public places." - The New York Times
Or so says historian and science fiction author Ada Palmer. "As she sees it, societal progress may be stochastic, unpredictable, but certain constants shape its course. Just not the constants most people think, and not in the way they expect." - Wired
OK, he sounded a little like a frat boy while dissing The Power of the Dog, but "the thing that Kimmel was getting at is: Why are the Oscars increasingly severed from the populist side of moviegoing?" - Variety
Or any letter at all - what's the reasoning behind letter shapes? Turns out it might not be as random as linguists thought, and taught, for decades. - Vice
Soprano Marlis Peterson: "In the beginning of my career, the singing was most important. ... Then the music became as important as the text, and then came playing the role. And I wouldn’t say it’s 33-33-33. It’s three times 100." - The New York Times
But, in the UK at least, there was a corresponding gain in e-usage. But "borrowing of physical books had returned to around 84% of pre-Covid levels by December 2021, although digital and audio borrowing have remained high, which 'brings its own challenges to library budgets.'" - The Guardian (UK)
For Jennifer Croft, the campaign to bring greater recognition to translators isn’t just a plea for attention and credit, though it’s partly that. Croft also believes that highlighting translators’ names will bring more transparency to the process and help readers evaluate their work. - The New York Times
