No, No One’s Going To Watch The Oscars
Broadcast TV ratings have been declining for years, and this ceremony will be no different - and won't mean anything about the actual movies...
The International Booker Shortlist Is Out
Ready to read? The shortlist for the international prize, which is for a book translated into English in Britain and Ireland, features a couple...
How To Enjoy Yet Another Online-Ish Awards Show
Embrace the absurdity: "Look, things are going to get weird. There was a small fire within the first 15 minutes of the Emmys. (It...
When Lesbian Writers Made Paris The Center Of Modernist Thought
A biographer says of Natalie Barney and her wealthy, artistic circle: "They were destined, if you like, to break away. I think of modernism...
Electronic Music’s Suppressed Innovators
Laurie Anderson: "It’s very interesting ... that a lot of that early work in electronics was done by women. Some of them wanted to...
The Real Nomads Of Nomadland
One says, "It's kind of simpatico with Fern's story . My husband died, and we don't have kids, so I just sold everything and...
Behind The Scenes Of The Best Picture Nominees
What the directors say, including clips about how to make a dramatic scene more dramatic with whispers - and how to cast a "good...
Shakespeare’s Birthday Just Went By, And He Barely Seems Older At All
Charles McNulty on the Bard in 2021: "Shakespeare’s characters keep drawing us back because we want to understand them more fully. They leave us...
The Two Types Of Post-Pandemic People
Who dominates in the (hoped-for, perhaps arriving) after-COVID era will affect theatre, music, dance, and other performing arts. Psychology professor Laurie Santos: "The pandemic...
Maine’s Attorney General Says Arts Robert Indiana’s Estate Overpaid Lawyers By Millions
The litigation after the artist's death in 2018 has been extensive, but perhaps the fees were quite a bit more extensive than they should...
American Ballet Theatre Dancers Spend A Month In A Bubble In Southern California
It was both arduous and oddly pleasant for the dancers, used to touring - and to playing for packed houses; only 10 percent of...
The Detroit Symphony Gets A Letter From A Non-Fan Of Black Composers’ Music
And then DSO vice-president Erik Rönmark posted the letter to social media (with the patron's, or former patron's, name redacted). Response on social media...
Eight Smithsonian Museums Are Getting Ready To Reopen
All of the eight reopened briefly in 2020, between July and October. Coronavirus surges in November closed them again. But many others in the...
When A Lot More Of Us Are Vaccinated, What Will Moviegoing Look Like?
Probably there will still be a lot of private showings, now that we're somewhat used to the idea. And then ... a return to...
Art Peaked 30,000 Years Ago
Or so some believe. "The more you look at images from the walls of Lascaux and Chauvet, the more you realise art really has...
Scott Rudin’s Decades Of Power And Damage On Broadway And In Hollywood
At the crux of the matter, there are hints at rottenness that extends far beyond Rudin and his protegés: "Many wondered how artists who...
Which Actors Benefit From Oscar Nominations?
Well, what a surprise: "For white actors, Academy recognition quickly leads to starring roles, both in big-budget blockbusters and prestige dramas. For actors of...
What To Expect From The Oscars Red Carpet
According to Laverne Cox, it can't all be fashion - but then it can't all be politics, either. "There’s so, so much work that...
The Fitness Trap
Part of what seems awry with contemporary fitness culture is its artifice, symptomatic of the wrongness of modernity, prior to which, one imagines, real...
Arts Venues Hoping For Some Of That $16 Billion COVID Relief Hit Glitch
The Small Business Administration oversees the $16 billion portion that will offer grants to concert halls, theaters and museums. But soon after the process...
How Choirs Have Figured Out To Sing Together Again
“It was amazing to be able to sing with my friends again,” said Ian Bass, a seventh grader in the Ragazzi Boys Chorus, a...
David Byrne’s Socially-Distanced Theatrics
"Each of the attendees submits a screening form in advance and undergoes a COVID rapid test on-site, in an ivory-walled corridor that suggests a...
A Psychologist Talks About How Art Changes Us
"For me, as a psychologist with a special interest and expertise in the arts, our fascination with art raises two long-standing and fundamental questions,...
Jazz Musicians Remember Chick Corea
He left behind "thousands of audio and video recordings; the countless notes scrawled on countless piles of music manuscript paper; and, of course, the...
India’s Top Documentary Filmmaker Can Barely Show His Work There Anymore
" Patwardhan views his filmmaking practice as comprehensive — not just researching, shooting, and completing films, but also taking them on tour and holding...
