How Conspiracy Theories Work
“In folklore, we have this law of self-correction. So if something doesn’t quite fit, you go back to the way you heard it from...
Why Do People Like Blood And Gore In Their Movies And TV So Much?
There are several reasons, say researchers, most of which boil down to "Hey, adrenaline is fun when you're not actually in danger!" And watching...
Is The Sitcom Dead?
There are a few reasons why the sitcom seems, if not comprehensively deceased, then at least less responsive than it has ever been. - The...
Another Set Of Looted Treasures Is Being Repatriated To Africa (And These Are Actually...
You know about the Benin Bronzes, looted by the British from what's now Nigeria and some of which are being returned there. These objects,...
How The Russian Version Of “Married… With Children” Became A Cultural Phenomenon
So successful was the sitcom that they ended up running out of American scripts to adapt and they soon began writing their own. All told, Schastlivy Vmeste ran...
Pina Bausch’s Former Company Has A New Artistic Director
Boris Charmatz, a 48-year-old French choreographer, has been appointed to lead Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch as of next September — with a mandate to...
Who’s Listening To Podcasts
In the U.S., 40% of internet users listen to podcasts. In Canada a third (32.8%) listen and in Mexico a quarter do (25.8%). But...
Want To Buy A Villa With Its Own Caravaggio Mural?
"A sprawling villa in Rome containing the only ceiling mural ever painted by Caravaggio is up for sale for almost €500m. The 2.75-metre wide...
Decommissioned Church In Detroit To Become New Arts Complex
Gallerists JJ and Anthony Curis have bought the old Good Shepherd Catholic Church in the East Village neighborhood and will reopen it in 2023...
Afghanistan’s All-Female Orchestra Has Reassembled Itself In Exile
Zohra, a 35-member women's youth orchestra founded in Kabul in 2016, was shut down as the Taliban returned to power, and many of its...
Mort Sahl, Who Created Political Comedy As We Know It, Dead At 94
He became famous for walking to the microphone with a newspaper and riffing on whatever stories he found there. (Time magazine called him "Will...
Lost Novels by Céline Resurface, And Old Arguments Break Out Anew In France
By means he won't disclose, a journalist acquired thousands of manuscript pages by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, revered in France for literary craftsmanship but reviled for...
England’s Arts And Culture Sector To Get An Extra $1 Billion In The Next...
"The culture sector in England will receive £850m in extra funding from the Treasury in the Budget to be announced this week by Chancellor...
France Passes Another Law To Protect Bookstores From Amazon
For years it has been illegal in France to sell new books at a discount, which has kept bookstores from being undersold by the...
Ron Mercer Collected 2000 Music Instruments. Why?
"I get bored or start counting the same thing twice, so I'd say probably close to 2,000." Two narrow walkways allow Mercer or his...
Why It’s So Important To Figure Out Who Gets To Own Our Data
Our problem today lies in finding a model of data ownership that recognizes the collective interest we have in how personal data is used,...
Journalism’s Obsession With Metrics Is Killing It. The Lessons Apply To Culture
Such dynamics incentivize journalists to craft their reporting according to clickbait criteria that emphasize controversy, conflict, sensationalism, and anything that prompts people to engage...
Orchestras And The Vaccine Requirement
“People are being forced to do this, not invited. I’ve already had COVID, and I had a terrible reaction to a vaccine in my...
Like Sports, Ideas Have To Be Played To Be Tested
Sport is fundamentally about what you do when the chips are down, not what you say or plan beforehand. What matters is how well...
Remembering Bernard Haitink
You went to a Haitink concert fully aware of what to expect, only for those expectations usually to be surpassed. Haitink was able to...
How Samuel L. Jackson Got Booted From One Of The Most Prestigious Historically Black...
His brief period at Morehouse College included his acting debut, his involvement in the civil rights movement, and an unorthodox bit of speech therapy....
Who Can Speak With Authority On The Pandemic?
Presumably, it would be those of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s rank, or, in other direction, people completely outside of the medical world: artists documenting an...
A Masterpiece By Bernini, Newly Restored, Shines More Brightly Than Ever
"Art and restoration specialists presented the result in the Cornaro Chapel in St. Mary of the Victory Church (in Rome) on Thursday. The chapel's...
Only Three Months After Brain Surgery, Michael Tilson Thomas Resumes Conducting
When he resumes activity, MTT will first lead the New York Philharmonic (Nov. 4–7) and then return to San Francisco (Nov. 12–14), where he is music director laureate,...
Bollywood Is Coming To Broadway (What Took So Long?)
"Come Fall in Love — The DDLJ Musical, based on the Indian filmmaker Aditya Chopra's 1995 hit Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which has become...
