So where did hold music, the most vanilla of genres, go wrong? When experts have spent decades crafting tinkling tones to placate us, why does our blood still boil? The answer is not so simple. - Wired
After longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019, the country saw "the flowering of an artistic community that had long been harassed, censored and forced into the shadows." Now, says one artist, "we finally thought we were free and then this happened." - The Guardian
The challenge for the neoliberals was—how do you design institutions that safeguard the rights of property over borders, in an era when everyone is talking about national sovereignty, self-determination, and democracy in ways that might invalidate or cross out universal property rights? - Strelka
He made his mark as a staff writer for The Village Voice, covering everything from rap to Black hardcore, African-American identity to Michael Jackson. (He got death threats for a piece about Jackson titled "I'm White!") His essay collection Flyboy in the Buttermilk is considered a landmark. - NPR
Being able to engage in the practice of mindful, aesthetic and critical listening is as important to democracy as literacy. Yet, in comparison to the time and money put into early childhood reading development or STEM, these three modalities of democratic listening receive scant attention. 3 Quarks Daily
"In Assassins, the gun serves not as a tool of self-defense … but as an instrument of self-expression and self-realization. The assassins, who saw themselves as the 'good guys with guns,' are, in a perverse way, the epitome of American individualism." - The Conversation
Assassins — "It wasn't exactly a flop, but it's not exactly celebrated, either. … The songs are just as catchy, melodic, and surprising as most Sondheim, … but is there ever a good time to mount a musical in America about assassins?" - Salon
This year she's been focused on turning seven of Condé Nast's biggest publications into global brands, each under one leader. She is also ensuring that there are unlikely to be any more Anna Wintours — imperial editors-in-chief each with their own fiefs. - The New York Times
He grew up watching Jerome Robbins's original choreography in the film, and he's danced it himself in the West Side Story Suite Robbins created for New York City Ballet. So both Peck himself and the Robbins estate knew he could retain the original's spirit. - The Seattle Times
There are four major actresses in contention for an Oscar this year for biopics. While the Academy likes to reward such work, the denizens of social media often don't — especially when the character lived during the TV era and comparison clips can be posted. - The Hollywood Reporter
"On November 24, Ibe posted a drawing of a Black fetus in utero on social media, calling for more diversity in medical illustration. The drawing struck a chord with viewers, many of whom had never realized they had never seen a Black figure in medical diagrams." - Artnet
The younger sister of Maria Tallchief, Marjorie studied under Ernest Belcher and Bronislava Nijinska and was the first American to become an étoile at the Paris Opera Ballet. - The Oklahoman
Followings can affect who gets a book deal and how big an advance that author is paid, especially when it comes to nonfiction. But despite their importance, they are increasingly seen as unpredictable gauges of how well a book is actually going to sell. - The New York Times
The catch-all description for black, Asian and minority ethnic people will be ditched in favour of the use of more specific terms to describe ethnicity. - BBC
At time of writing, 77 countries have registered. A total of 109 are needed to break the record. But “where better”, asks Brophy, “to break it but Expo?” - Irish Times
