“Scene shops and lighting and sound shops got rid of a lot of their equipment during the shutdown. They sold it or did other things, so there’s literally not enough equipment on the shelves to go around.” - Hyperallergic
By editing an image to produce a desired result, a scientist can manufacture proof for a favored hypothesis, or create a signal out of noise. Scientists must rely on and build on one another’s work. Cheating is a transgression against everything that science should be. - The New York Times
Social media users have questioned Disney's intentions behind Reflect, saying the two-minute length didn't leave enough room for nuance, and the message of body positivity was muddled by making Bianca's self-image the primary plot driver. - NPR
Yes, horror has long enjoyed a loyal audience. But 2022 has proved an especially strong year commercially for chilling flicks, producing hits including Universal Pictures’ and Blumhouse’s “The Black Phone,” directed by Scott Derrickson ($160 million in global box office sales). - Los Angeles Times
Those who believe the trope, then, that classical music has little or no currency are mistaken. At least the leaders of Russia and Ukraine believe it is very important indeed. - The New York Times
At 65, Steve Keene may still be New York’s most prolific painter, and certainly the one most beloved in ’90s indie-rock circles. A college radio D.J. in his native Virginia, he got his start showcasing his paintings in scuzzy bars during his favorite bands’ sets, and did album art and commissions. - The New York Times
Questions of moral authority, the right to rule and the nature of a good leader are recurring themes in Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Recent political events could almost be ripped from the pages of these four plays. - The Conversation
Peter Brooks warns that our “mindless valorization of storytelling” makes us more susceptible to those with more malevolent intentions — “inertly accepting the notion that all is story, and that the best story wins.” - The New York Times
Isadora Duncan once famously claimed that if she could tell you what she meant, there would be no point in dancing it. That attitude—that dancers should be seen and not heard—continues to pervade the concert dance scene. - Dance Magazine
We all need to be able to take a step back and realize that just because we feel something disproportionately, it doesn't mean that it exists disproportionately, in reality. In reality, none of the changes people are being asked to make to make things more equitable are actually all that painful. - Wonkette
Some cite studies that have shown people who listen to books retain less than those who read them, which is bound up with how tempting it is to do other things while listening. - Wired
The mailroom was out of control. Employees helped themselves to books, telephone calls to Hong Kong, extra sandwiches during press week. They had a softball team. My duties included babysitting for the publisher’s assistant’s children. - LitHub
Lewis ultimately transcended category. With typical arrogance, he would frequently declare that there were only four real stylists in American music: Al Jolson, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams and, of course, Jerry Lee Lewis. - Variety
That quest for answers got a boost from Italian researchers in a paper published by the American Chemical Society that outlines the findings of their chemical analysis of two venerable violins. - Ludwig Van
It seems reasonable to pose the question of art’s relation to politics in the context of the specific crisis that democracy seems to have entered within the past 10 years or so. The dominant intellectual responses to this crisis have, if anything, pushed the arts further outside the sphere of political relevance. - Aeon
