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The Atlantic To Launch A New Book Imprint

Atlantic Editions will publish between six and 12 nonfiction titles per year, all trade paperbacks, sold for $12.85. Each book will be “a single-author collection of essays from the Atlantic’s pages, focused on a single topic.” - Publishers Weekly

Choreomania: The Great Strasbourg Dance Plague Of 1518

That summer, dozens of Strasbourgeois found themselves dancing and hopping uncontrollably for days on end, and more than a few died of exhaustion and hunger.  And that wasn't the only instance of such a phenomenon in medieval Europe, a mystery still unsolved. - BBC

When Ukrainian Music Thrived

“This is an excellent moment to think about why we attach the term ‘greatness’ to Russian, but not Ukrainian, culture. So why do we only know composers who we consider to be ‘great Russian’ composers?” - The New York Times

Peter Greenaway, Cinema’s Most Playful Post-Structuralist

"Right off the bat, Peter Greenaway wants to make clear that he's never really taken himself seriously as a filmmaker — although like so many of the paradoxes that comprise Greenaway's identity, it's not wise to take such a claim too seriously." - Variety

Why a Heightened Concern For Cultural Appropriation Now?

"It's easier than ever to steal a motif or a craft technique and transfer it on to a piece of clothing that is either mass produced or appears on a runway without credit or compensation to their original communities." - BBC

As An Election Approaches, Australia’s Main Opposition Party Announces A More Expansive Arts Policy

The Australian Labor Party "has pledged more transparent funding to arts and cultural institutions, an examination of a national insurance scheme to protect the live performance sector from further shutdowns, and a plan to boost Australian content on multinational streamers." - The Guardian

Wondering About The Orchestra Canon…

Simon Woods: “Redefining the canon” strikes me as a fundamentally pointless endeavor, as it still allows that there is some kind of objective set of values available to us that can help decide what’s in and what’s out at any one time. - Medium

DeafBlind People Are Adapting ASL Into A Language Of Touch

Protactile, as the new language is called, started with people (usually sighted) signing ASL into the hands of DeafBlind folks.  But many of ASL's signs don't really come across in touch, so DeafBlind people have been gradually developing their own vocabulary and linguistic conventions. - The New Yorker

Alex Ross: Why The South Dakota Symphony Is One Of America’s Most Interesting Orchestras

"I’ve experienced very few concerts at which a classical-music organization seemed so integral to its community." - The New Yorker

Ukrainian Soldiers Make Archaeological Find While Digging Defenses In Odesa

While digging ditches in anticipation of a potential Russian attack, Ukrainian military men discovered several amphorae (bottle-necked ceramic containers) estimated to be up to 2,500 years old. - ARTnews

The 389-Year-Old Oberammergau Passion Play Has Recovered From COVID

"Depicting the life, persecution, death and resurrection of Jesus, ... the oldest continuous running amateur theatre production in the world will open on Saturday with a 103-performance run until October ... after having been thrown off its usual schedule by two years owing to the latest pandemic." - The Guardian

A New Museum In Senegal For Repatriated African Art

Funded by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, the museum and community center called Bët-bi (Wolof for "the eye"), to open in 2025 in the country's Senegambia region, will (among other activities) serve as a way station for returned African artworks whose destination countries aren't ready to preserve them. - ARTnews

Rescued From The Clutches Of The Sex Toy Collective, “The Believer” Magazine Will Go Home To McSweeney’s

"After a journey even the creative minds at The Believer could not have imagined, the celebrated literary magazine is back in business and again being run by the company which first owned it." - AP

Saved: Dallas’s Classical Radio Station Will (Probably) Be Taken Over By The Region’s NPR/PBS Affiliate

WRR — at 101, the oldest radio station in Texas — is owned by the City of Dallas, which wants out of the radio business.  Pending City Council approval, WRR's license and operations will be transferred to KERA, which will maintain the station's classical music format and staff. - D Magazine (Dallas)

With A Billion Downloads, The Economist Has Become A Podcasting Powerhouse

The magazine's flagship audio property, a daily news podcast called The Intelligence, averages 3.9 million downloads each week and 2.5 million unique listeners a month; collectively, The Economist's five podcasts have had 1 billion downloads since launch in 2016. - Adweek

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