Lila MacLellan takes a terrifying recent near-miss at SFO as a departure point for a discussion of what’s called “just culture” or “psychological safety” in the workplace. “It turns out that no one wakes up in the morning and jumps out of bed because they can’t wait to get to work today to look ignorant, intrusive, incompetent or negative.”
American English Is Swallowing Up Britain, As The British Shrug And Say ‘Whatever’
“As we approach 2020, the American words the British invited into their homes are in danger of taking over. It has become possible to imagine a time – 2120 would seem a plausible and arithmetically neat guesstimate – when American English absorbs the British version completely. The child will have eaten its mother, but only because the mother insisted.” Peter Preston blames the telly TV and Netflix.
The Poet-Scientist Who Laid The Foundation For The Information Age
In 1937, at the age of 21, Claude Shannon showed how binary circuits could do logic, could even appear to “think”—the discovery behind all of our digital computers today. In 1948, at the age of 32, he published “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” a paper that has been called “the Magna Carta of the Information Age”—in other words, a founding document that inaugurated an era.
Arts Journalism Is Disappearing. Can Arts Organizations Do Anything About It?
“Arts organizations and journalists need each other. Yet, to work together effectively, we need to change the mantra from ‘butts in seats’ to ‘civic discourse’ and work with media and the community in a mutually beneficial way. We can be conduits and facilitators, a constant resource to journalists, giving them the ability to experiment. We need to ensure our organizations are building relationships with journalists, editors, bloggers, and influencers, and researching media outlets before pitching.”
Here’s How The Internet’s Culture Wars (And Memes) Led To This Presidency
The so-called “alt-right” didn’t go for National Review style (not in any way). Instead, “they have adopted the fetishism of transgression that marked the Cultural Studies left: they embedded themselves in subcultural styles repellent to mainstream, middlebrow liberal sensibilities and they call on their armies to attack the tastes and sensibilities embodied by n00bs and ‘normies.'”
A Museum Plans To Sell 40 Paintings To Fund Its Renovations, But Here’s Why That’s A Bad Idea
Using artworks in the collection as fundraising sources a terrible message for potential art donors, not to mention the public. “One of the most fundamental and long-standing principles of the museum field is that a collection is held in the public trust and must not be treated as a disposable financial asset … Two of the works the Museum is currently planning to sell are important paintings by Norman Rockwell, given by the artist to the people of Pittsfield.”
The Rand Corporation Has An Amazing Art Collection
OK, it’s a collection on long-term loan from a software entrepreneur, but “for many of the people who work at Rand, the art is more than a backdrop. It’s part of a unique culture, they say.” Apparently it helps people consider thorny problems when there’s challenging art around them.
Get Alarmed About PBS Funding Again
According to PBS chief Paula Kerger, ““PBS itself will not go away, but a number of our stations will. … There isn’t a plan B for that.”
Artists May Be Wresting Back Some Control From Galleries
Mark Grotjahn is the leader and the exemplar of an artist who controls his prices, partly because he has non-exclusive deals with four galleries.
This Essay Will Make You Question Everything About ‘Wonder Woman’
Why are critics so moved by this film? Really, why? “Like so many recent girl-power extravaganzas that seek to celebrate what a long way we’ve come, baby, it ends up illustrating precisely the opposite.”
The NYT’s Chief Classical Critic Is Not OK With The President’s Invocation Of Symphonies
Words you might not have expected from Anthony Tommasini: “‘Eleanor Rigby,’ I’d argue, is just as profound as Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For The Weekend Of 07.30.17
Brubeck And Desmond: Can’t You Hear Them Calling?
I am running soon for a plane headed to Sweden. But first: I must tell you about a discovery by blogger, Rifftides reader and tune-detective-first-class Tarik Townsend. Mr. Townsend (pictured) writes that … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2017-07-28
The Jazz & Blues Art Box — instant collection, rare data trove
Two hundred and thirty dvds of concerts and 96 interviews from the International Jazzfestival Bern (Switzerland), 1983 to 2002, 20 yearbooks plus a 344-page large format graphics-rich volume, in a cabinet on wheels standing almost 4 … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond JazzPublished 2017-07-28
Jonathan Lethem and Rock Criticism
SINCE I was a teenager, I’ve been fascinated by the lions of music journalism and rock criticism — Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau, Ellen Willis, and others, especially from the field’s 1970s heyday. The novelist … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2017-07-28
Tackling an inequitable arts funding system: A response to the report, Not Just Money
Helicon Collaborative, with a grant from the Surdna Foundation, has recently published a second report, Not Just Money, examining where US arts philanthropic dollars go. Some may recall that when the first report was published … read more
AJBlog: JumperPublished 2017-07-28
This Is How You Make Sure Kids Get Books, And Get Fed, In The Summer
Simple, right? Kids who get free lunches in the school year often don’t eat in the summers. So a bunch of libraries are trying to fix that problem. “Librarians used to forbid any food or drink to avoid staining books and attracting pests. People who tried to sneak snacks in the stacks would be reprimanded. But in recent years, a growing number of libraries have had a major shift in policy: They are the ones putting food on the table.”
The Music Business Simply Has To Get On Board With Gender Equality
Indeed: “Why hasn’t the digital revolution, which has transformed the music industry, extended to creating a 21st-century working culture, which allows for equal opportunities for all? Why isn’t this creative industry leading the way in creating diverse teams of people who will think differently, challenge the status quo and create a vibrant and dynamic business? Why does today’s music industry remain pretty much run by the same coterie as it was back in the days of Elvis?”
Is Life A Quirk Of Biology … Or Physics?
Give a bunch of atoms more and more energy, and they’ll create a planet where a bipedal mammal with a certain size of brain will hunt other large animals into extinction or near-extinction, but also make art. That is to say, at least sometimes, a chemical soup can evolve into something more.
The Story Of A Songwriter Who Kept Some Songs For Herself
Julia Michaels, who has written hit songs for Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and Selena Gomez, says it was time for her to sing one of her own songs. “Shelly Peiken, who’s a really incredible songwriter, used to say ‘dare to suck.’ You never know what people’s reactions are going to be, so you’ve got to take chances.”