Certainly, if you consider what’s currently happening in visual arts, it appears that we are in a major Surrealist revival. The most prominent bellwether is the Venice Biennale, which opens to the public on April 23. - Toronto Star
Art historians may say that they do not need numbers. There is the art: you just need to look, think, and write. But that is to misunderstand the nature of knowledge. All empirical claims are probabilistic, and the only issue is how to make them. Scientists estimate the truth: everyone else just guesses. - Inference
Researchers looked at 39 studies of play and included 17 in a meta-analysis that found when children ages three to eight engage in guided play, they can learn just as much in some domains of literacy and executive function as children who receive direct instruction from a teacher or adult. - Hechinger Report
The Oscars face a litany of problems, some of which are out of the organization’s control and others that are self-inflicted. Those include the unpopularity of the nominees, the fragmentation of the TV audience and the controversial pared broadcast presence of eight awards, meant to preserve ratings. - Los Angeles Times
Academic historians must now grapple with a new breed of students “for whom Paradox is the historical mother tongue and actual history is only a second language.” - The Atlantic
The project is expected to cost $400 million, with $250 million to renovate the pyramid Redwood Park and the Mark Twain Street located on the block. - SF YIMBY
Baryshnikov, the actor and ballet star, launched a fundraising drive to support Ukraine. But he also said Russian stars who do not speak out should not be targeted by the west. In contrast, Ratmansky, an admirer and friend of Baryshnikov, believes there is no excuse for not actively opposing the war. - The Guardian
"In a noisy, high-tech society, it’s no wonder they’re all the craze, but it appears mid-century modernism’s cultish popularity has all but blinded us to the basic needs it was initially meant to address." - The Atlantic
"That this undeniably unusual show found an audience when it launched ... made a certain kind of sense for the era. But its lasting success has surprised no one more than the founders themselves." - Vulture
And yet: "After years of Netflix and Amazon trying to produce and acquire their way to the top—despite the Hollywood old-schoolers who looked down their noses at it—Apple swooped in thanks to a movie it just picked up at Sundance." - Wired
Timing (and a relentless campaign): "After the bombast of awards season, it seemed fresh and fulfilling: a movie that told its story with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of heart. A movie that wanted only to move you." - Slate
Fourteen miles of fiber optic cable, 1500 lighting instruments, 14,000 PCR tests ... and a longer broadcast despite having fewer awards presented in full. - NPR
Truly, the first video games were silent. Can you imagine? But: "The hup, as it’s sometimes known, is the onomatopoetic vocalization of effort given by the player-character when initiating a jump." - Wired
"If Monster’s Ball is still the only movie in which a performance from a Black actress is recognized as superlative, does that mean that Leticia Musgrove is the best portrayal of a Black woman in the award show’s history?" (Hint: No.) - Vice
