“Merton was a remarkable man by any measure, but perhaps the most remarkable of his traits was his hypersensitivity to social movements from which, by virtue of his monastic calling, he was supposed to be removed. Intrinsic to Merton’s nature was a propensity for being in the midst of things. If he had continued to live in the world, he might have died not by electrocution but by overstimulation.” — The New Yorker
Does The Injustice In America Make You Want To Scream? Head To Off-Off-Broadway
One piece that Peter Marks saw there let the audience do exactly that. “But the activity struck me as a vocalization of what I’ve been sensing in theaters all year: a potential for imminent explosion, wrought by the grappling with injustices that make many onlookers want to, well, scream.” — The Washington Post
Dance Magazine’s Ten Biggest Stories Of 2018
“What did our readers care about most in 2018? Judging by our top-clicked stories, topics as broad as confronting a bullying teacher, investigating how Instagram has impacted the dance world and advocating for dance as an intellectual pursuit were the biggest stories in dance this year.” — Dance Magazine
The Coming Era Of Fake Video
In a paper presented at the SIGGRAPH conference on computer graphics in Vancouver this spring, university researchers unveiled “deep video portraits,” which can quickly and convincingly transpose head and mouth movements from an actor to a video of anyone. This means that before long, it will be possible for anyone to produce convincing fake video. – Maclean’s
The Retail “Apocalypse” as A Cultural Indicator
It’s been a rough time for many prominent American retail chains—and the sector’s future prospects don’t look rosy. But “apocalypse” might be an overstatement. – CityLab
Is The Vienna Philharmonic Preparing For A New Generation?
Well, they should be. “Even for an orchestra that lives and breathes tradition, recruiting the next generation of talent is no longer self-evident. That is why, for the first time in its history, the Philharmonic is opening an academy to train musicians hands-on.” – The New York Times
The BBC’s Long-Running ‘Film’ Is Dead; What’s Up Next?
What with an explosion in podcasts – and a terrible lack of attention from the corporate overlords – what can the BBC possibly do? “The BBC has promised to replace Film with another show, but the challenge is how do you cover movies for a BBC One audience? The problem the BBC has is that movie broadcasting has been subject to a populist online revolution.” – The Guardian (UK)
Fire Up That To Be Read Pile For Lit Hub’s ‘Most Anticipated Books Of 2019’
That’s right, it’s almost 2019. And just in case you’re panicking about all of the books you didn’t get to in 2018, well, add a stack to the teetering pile (or add some gigabytes to your phone). – Literary Hub
Why Many Americans Don’t Know Their Grandparents’ First Names
This revelation comes courtesy of the Big Data of Ancestry.com, one of the most popular genealogy (and DNA testing) sites. Ancestry and demographers provide a variety of explanations, from immigration and language changes to smaller family sizes meaning there’s no one left to ask. – The Atlantic
The Young Mezzo Taking The Opera World By Storm
Anita Rachvelishvili, 34, has impressed conductors, directors, and the opera world in general. Riccardo Muti: “Rachvelishvili was for me a revelation. … She is without doubt the best Verdi mezzo-soprano today on the planet. Without. Doubt.” – The New York Times
These Two Male Conductors, Fired For Treating Women Badly, Are Back On The Podium, But Why?
Yikes, and yuck. “The rapid return of Mr. Gatti and Mr. Dutoit has led some to ask whether the cult of personality that surrounds maestros in a tradition-bound field has won out, particularly in countries like Italy and Russia where the reaction to #MeToo has been relatively muted.” The New York Times
The Books (And Movies, And Music) That 44th President Barack Obama Enjoyed In 2019
No surprise, his favorite book was Becoming, by Michelle Obama. But of course, many of us who enjoy streaming platforms live for his playlists, and this year’s no different. – The New York Times
Survey: Who’s Swayed By Social Media Influencers?
The survey of more than 1,000 shoppers was carried out for Radio 4’s You and Yours by consumer analysts Savvy Marketing. It found that 54% of 18-to-34-year-old beauty buyers were influenced by their suggestions. – BBC
Fake Images Created By AI Are Getting So Good They’re Hard To Spot
The end result is similar to a trick often used in Hollywood. Superheroes, aliens, and the simians in Planet of the Apesmovies are animated by placing markers on actors’ faces and bodies so they can be tracked in 3-D by special cameras. – Wired
IRS: Aretha Franklin Owed $6+ Million In Back Taxes
The IRS “proof of claim” filings entered Dec. 12 and 19 say the amount owed is cumulative, beginning with an unpaid assessed balance of $1,305,403 in December 2012 and including $552,718 due by the end of this year. – The Daily Beast
Contrarian View: Has Social Justice Focus Gone Too Far?
When I was young, we knew what offensive music was like. It was like the Fugs – a filthy-mouthed band once described as “the most vulgar thing the human mind could possibly conceive” in FBI files. Times change. So do our our ideas of filth – and not necessarily in ways one might expect. – The Globe & Mail (Canada)
Really? Color Of The Year?
Pantone’s color of the year for 2019 is “living coral”. And in case 2018’s color slipped by your notice, it was ultra violet. – The Guardian
The Ten Biggest Upheavals Of Lincoln Center’s Tumultuous Year (And Yes, There Were Even More)
“Scandals rocked some of its biggest institutions; around the fountain there was a twilight-of-the-gods feeling. … And it was not just Lincoln Center’s independent constituent organizations that faced turmoil: Governance woes continued to plague the center itself, which manages the campus.” — The New York Times
Britain’s Film Industry Is Thriving Just Now, But They’re All Afraid Brexit Will Wreck It
“If there are members of the UK cinema community who think Brexit is a good thing, they are all but impossible to find. Actors and film-makers were virtually unanimous in their advocacy of the remain campaign before the 2016 referendum. They still are, but now they are, at least, resigned to the reality of Brexit, as much as any industry can be.” — The Guardian
Amos Oz, Giant Of Israeli Literature, Dead At 79
“The author of 18 books in Hebrew and a longtime candidate for the Nobel Prize for literature, Oz was best known for novels including Black Box, In the Land of Israel and A Tale of Love and Darkness, his bestselling autobiographical novel. Much of his work, both fiction and non-fiction, explored kibbutz life and picked apart his characters’ often complex relationships with Israel and modern politics – reflective of his own. — The Guardian
‘Beast Jesus’ May Have Been An Art Conservation Disaster, But It Has Transformed The Town That Hosts It
The Lord really does move in mysterious ways, it seems. Not only has tourism to the Spanish town of Borja more than quadrupled, but revenues have funded places for the indigent in the local old-age home. — The Guardian
HMV, UK’s Biggest Music Retailer, Enters Bankruptcy For Second Time In Six Years
The chain, which has appointed administrators from KPMG, has been wallopped by online sales and streaming; it had an unusually weak Christmas shopping season this year. Customers with HMV gift cards are being warned to use them right away. — BBC
The Rise And Fall Of HMV
The BBC’s Jennifer Scott reviews a history that goes back to the very invention of the phonograph. — BBC
Hermitage’s Director Makes His Museum Major Player In Cultural Diplomacy
With a big Piero della Francesca exhibition at the St. Petersburg mother ship and exhibitions, exchanges, and even satellite museums abroad and regional Russia, Mikhail Piotrovsky, compares his Hermitage to the Sputnik program: “a mobile cosmic system with satellites in different orbits.” — The Art Newspaper