Spillovers. Multipliers. Ripple effects. Value added. These are a few of the phrases we repeatedly use to discuss the arts’ benefits to commerce and industry. Mark how every one of them denotes a form of transfer—as if the arts cannot be fully appreciated in situ, but must be grafted to another field or domain (e.g., economics) to yield an extrinsic … [Read more...] about The Arts of Innovation
A Conversation with Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) YA and Children’s Author and Curator
Today, we are celebrating Indigenous Peoples Month with an interview with author Cynthia Leitich Smith. A member of the Muscogee (Creek) nation, Smith is a bestselling, award-winning children’s-YA writer and the author-curator of the Native-centered Heartdrum imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books. She also is the 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner and … [Read more...] about A Conversation with Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) YA and Children’s Author and Curator
Marking Veterans Day: A Conversation with Sebastian Junger
To mark Veteran’s Day, we’re revisiting our2017 interview with author Sebastian Junger a journalist deeply engaged with war and the people who fight in them. As a contributing editor for Vanity Fair, he’s covered international stories including the war in Afghanistan, a region and subject he’s returned to over the course of his career. In this podcast, Sebastian Junger … [Read more...] about Marking Veterans Day: A Conversation with Sebastian Junger
Community vs. Commodity: Residual Benefits from Purchasing Arts Experiences
In the May 2023 episode of the NEA’s Quick Study podcast, I alluded to some of the more promising studies about the arts’ positive relationships to social cohesion. While in Boston for a conference, however, I came across an article that made me rethink how the raw experience of arts participation can foster not just togetherness—because of the inherently social quality of … [Read more...] about Community vs. Commodity: Residual Benefits from Purchasing Arts Experiences
Meet Filmmakers and disability rights advocates James LeBrecht and Day Al-Mohamed
We’re marking National Disability Employment Awareness Month with a conversation with James LeBrecht and Day Al-Mohamed—two founding members of FWD-Doc-- a global, intersectional community of disabled creators and allies working in media to build a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable entertainment industry that cultivates and champions disabled media-makers, and elevates … [Read more...] about Meet Filmmakers and disability rights advocates James LeBrecht and Day Al-Mohamed