Robert Alter, who finished a new three-volume translation of the text last year, offers thou-shalts and thou-shalt-nots. For example:
“4. Thou shalt not multiply for thyself synonyms where the Hebrew wisely and pointedly uses repeated terms.” (includes interview podcast) – The American Scholar
Resourcefulness, Diversity, Engagement — How Kansas City Is Doing The Arts Right
Organizations such as Artists of Color Alliance, Kansas City Artists Coalition, Charlotte Street Foundation, KC StartUp Village and Foundation, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance are helping new work get created and presented to audiences, while the Nelson-Atkins Museum impresses with its robust curation and community engagement. – The Clyde Fitch Report
How “Go Down Moses” Became Part Of A Passover Tradition
The song is thought to have been written by African-American slaves in about 1800, inspired by the story of Jewish slaves in the Bible. So a double cultural appropriation? – WBUR
Generosity? Noblesse Oblige? Or Reputation-Laundering? The Century-Old Bargain Behind Big-Ticket Philanthropy
The debate has arisen a lot over the past few years: BP, the Koch brothers, the Sacklers, that board member at the Whitney, Notre-Dame. Bob Garfield talks about the issue with Anand Giridharadas, author of Winners Take All: the Elite Charade of Changing the World. (audio) – NPR’s On the Media
‘Fancy Free’ Doesn’t Seem So Delightful After #MeToo — Should It Be Retired?
In 2019, the Bernstein-Robbins ballet about three sailors on shore leave looks rather like “a case study in rape culture,” writes Lea Marshall, who took a group of undergraduate dance student to see it. Most of the audience loved it; the students were aghast. Marshall explains why. – Dance Magazine
Robert Caro On The Revealing Powers Of Biography
“When people say that power corrupts… I don’t happen to believe that. Power reveals. When you’re on your way up, you have to conceal what you intend to do. Once you get power, then you see it, what he really wanted to do.” – The Guardian
Why (And How) Conductors Matter
There are many ways to lead an orchestra, but whatever method you assume — that of a mystical shaman, a sports coach, a traffic cop or some combination of them all — Mark Wigglesworth insists that all conductors need one essential ingredient: confidence. Without that, he writes, “you are like a bird without feathers. As Adlai Stevenson said, ‘It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.’ ” – Washington Post
An Argument Against A Darker Reinterpretation Of “Oklahoma!”
Judith Miller: “It is one thing to emphasize the darkness that lies beneath this iconic musical’s cheery surface. It is another to turn what Rodgers and Hammerstein intended as a celebration of the American spirit into a sanguinary condemnation of it.” – City Journal
Given The Hype: Mueller Report Soars To Top Of Amazon Bestseller List
There’s a solid history of such books — the Starr Report and the 9/11 Commission Report were bestsellers; the latter was a National Book Award Finalist.” – CNN
New China International Piano Competition: $150,000 Prize And The Philadelphia Orchestra
Two of the most admired figures in classical music competitions are in charge: Yoheved Kaplinsky, chair of the piano department at the Juilliard School in New York, is the competition’s artistic director and jury chair; Richard Rodzinski, who has run the Van Cliburn and Tchaikovsky competitions, is general director.Not that either one was particularly excited about the prospect – at first… Chicago Tribune
We Can Expect A Lot More Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Style Options Like This Game
Sure, Netflix is developing more interactive content, but Netflix is far from alone. A new game, or perhaps it’s an “interactive media experience,” aspires to do something slightly different. “The nine or so hours of intimately shot footage — all the filmed scenes are framed to look as if people are talking via a smartphone or a webcam — span two years in the characters’ lives, and viewers jump in and out by acting as something akin to a researcher.” – Los Angeles Times
Youth America Grand Prix Marks Two Decades Of Changing The World’s Opinions
The country – and world – is chock-full of serious ballet competitions now. But “before YAGP was founded 20 years ago, it was a much different story. For bunheads, ‘competition’ was almost a dirty word, one associated with back flips, hulking trophies and flashy jazz studios.” – Pointe Magazine
Here, Listen To Teenage Pierre Boulez’ Compositions, Written When He Was 19
Boulez erased most of his early compositions, but this one was preserved at the Paul Sacher Foundation. “After reviewing that score, ‘Prélude, Toccata et Scherzo,’ the Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat persuaded Boulez’s heirs and the Sacher Foundation to allow a belated premiere at the Philharmonie de Paris last September.” – The New York Times
Of Course Southern California Has Gardeners Who Are Instagram Stars
Southern California may seem dry and image-obsessed, but its Instagram garden stars – plantfluencers, perhaps – find not only fame but also community, and acolytes. “Influencers like Christine Kelso, Jennifer Tao, Brandon Jeon, Darlene Zavala and Danae Horst are easily approachable. Have spider mites on your alocasia? Struggling with root rot? Simply reach out to one of them on Instagram and you just might receive a response.” – Los Angeles Times
Concert Films Are Big Again, But Why?
Follow the money: “The resurgence of interest in concert films has been fuelled – in part – by streaming services’ need for content without the financial burden of drama.” The stars like the control they have over their images, too. – The Guardian (UK)
Abigail Disney Says Disney CEO’s Compensation Is ‘Insane’
The Disney heir isn’t happy with the numbers – not the raw numbers, but the pay gap. “Disney told attendees that her perspective has been informed by her interactions with Disneyland employees in Anaheim, California. Over time, she said, they have experienced a reduction in benefits, and in many cases are struggling to pay for essential needs like medicine. … ‘When [Iger] got his bonus last year, I did the math, and I figured out that he could have given personally, out of pocket, a 15% raise to everyone who worked at Disneyland, and still walked away with $10 million.'”- FastCompany
The Rise Of Pregnant Stand-Up Comedy
Sure, men have dominated comedy for a long time. But pregnant women aren’t about to let that stop them. And actually, says one comic, “When I got pregnant with my second child, things had definitely changed. … The managers and agents were all like: ‘Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Where’s the book deal? Where’s the special?'” – The New York Times
The Drug Wars From Different Angles In Latin America’s Complex Narco Novelas
Unlike English-language stories created for the U.S. market, narco novelas offer “a compelling complexity in the face of the simplistic story lines that emerge out of Hollywood. Narco novelas generally dispense with the black and white in order to look at the world in shades of gray.” – Los Angeles Times
This Presidential Museum Got Scammed
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum was all set to open a show on the Rosetta Stone, with accompanying Egyptian and Mesopotamian artifacts, when they invited University of Iowa art historians to prepare a presentation on the items. A grad student noticed that all was not right: About 90 of the 125 objects are “either definite or very likely fakes. … They obviously got taken and defrauded.” The Hoover Museum canceled the show. – KCRG (Iowa)
As Gen-Z And Millennials Drive Up Poetry Sales, London Now Has A Young People’s Poet Laureate
Theresa Lola, 24 years old and a former finance major who preferred poetry, is actually the city’s third youth poet laureate. She says, “Poetry was instrumental for me, to find my voice and to find my confidence, and hopefully it can do that for other young people too.” – The Guardian (UK)
When Your Career Becomes A Hashtag, What Happens Next?
In 2016, John Cho “became the unwitting beneficiary of #StarringJohnCho, a social movement that imagined Cho standing in for, say, Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible and Daniel Craig in Spectre as part of a wider calling for diversity in entertainment, and an Asian-American leading man.” And now, things are definitely starring John Cho. – The New York Times
It’s Past Time To Let Go Of Robinson Crusoe
The colonial fairytale doesn’t hold up at all in our contemporary world. Crusoe, to put it bluntly, was a slave trader – but somehow it became a children’s story: “Educationists agreed that the island narrative of Crusoe was an ideal text for teaching the virtues of self-reliance, careful management of resources and trust in the overall – if a little mysterious, but that’s a part of the appeal – wonderfulness of the Christian God. That the novel could be harnessed to the business of empire was a further recommendation.” – The Guardian (UK)
Pop-Up Theatre Can Change Lives
When Fiona Shaw decided to perform excerpts from T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” in (and near) an empty fountain in Central Park, she didn’t want it announced – and there was only a brief mention on social media. Then word of mouth happened. What’s next? “Taking theatre to the audience in unexpected ways can only serve to evoke interest, and may capture the imagination of those not used to planting themselves in a theatre seat.” – The Stage (UK)
Director John Singleton Is In Intensive Care After A ‘Mild’ Stroke
The director is most known for the 1991 film Boyz N the Hood, but he’s also a producer and screenwriter whose films include 2 Fast 2 Furious, Shaft, and the documentary LA Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later. – Los Angeles Times
The Man In Charge Of The Music Of The Ring
Philippe Jordan, 44, has 15 hours of Wagner’s Ring Cycle to get through – and try to shine through – at the Met. How does he do it? The man who has been in charge of Opéra National de Paris, and who is about to assume the reins as music director of the Vienna State Opera, actually considers it something of a break. – The New York Times