Stories

Mallory Rubin watches each House of Dragons episode three times before her two podcasts. "It would be hard to engineer a commentator better equipped for this moment, when growth-obsessed streaming services and movie studios have coaxed audiences toward the outer limits of franchise entertainment." - The New York Times

"Coltrane, across a decade of movies, imbued in him a depth and warmth that made him feel not just instantly memorable, but real. In doing so, he subtly pushed against the scripts’ inclinations to turn the character into mere comic relief or an adorable buffoon." - The Atlantic

Those attempting to preserve the space in the Lake District are having to sell due to England's budget cuts. Schwitters' "use of found objects and rubbish to create collages and surprising imagery laid the foundations for both pop art and today’s thriving conceptual art scene" - The Observer (UK)

"The Depp-Heard trial, which ended with an overwhelming win for Depp, helped create a 'playbook' for online hate against women that can now be used against women like Jolie as well as women who aren’t famous." - Vice

Jane Campbell, author of the book Cat Brushing and experienced psychotherapist: "What I wanted to say, from quite an angry point of view, was, yes, old women are totally functioning human beings." - Slate

Artist Hilma af Klint's first abstract painting came years before Kandinsky's. But "she saw her art as a spiritual message to mankind. She had much bigger ambitions." And because she didn't become famous, almost all of her work is concentrated in one foundation in Stockholm - The Observer (UK)

"When Lauren Anderson was promoted to principal dancer at Houston Ballet in 1990, she made history as one of the first Black women to be a principal at a major American ballet company." Now, the dancer sees her own story on stage. - The New York Times

Here's where to stream not Murder, She Wrote, but some of her (other) greatest work. - Vulture

"The question shouldn’t be whether a movie should capture Black pain. The problem in film arises when the camera only asks for an audience to witness." - Time

That's important for the planet: "There was this sense of wonder in everything, this sense of awe, not just beauty as some sort of painting you put on your wall, but as a feeling inside of you." - The Rumpus

Fangirls aren't frivolous - or, even if they are, it's in the service of creativity. "A handful of books, documentaries, films and memoirs are celebrating the fizzy, dizzying heights of female obsession and what it offers teen girls and women." - The Guardian (UK)

And that's good: "The human body is both beautiful and fragile, and inflicting so much carnage on it is deeply unsettling." - Wired

Tentatively, that is - the workers in the union still must vote to ratify the new contract. "Management compromised on all five of the demands that prompted the strike," and workers vote today (Sunday). - Hyperallergic

"Smells, bells, blood, guts, spectacle, and of course, bodies, bodies, bodies. Catholicism is a deeply theatrical religion based in provocative stories." - The Millions

In a 20th reunion special, Coltrane - who knew he was dying - said, "You could be watching in 50-years time, easy. I’ll not be here, sadly, but Hagrid will, yes." - Variety