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New Yorker Writers Choose Their Favorite Books Of 2021

Nuff said. - The New Yorker

Is The Metaverse Inevitable?

It's said to be a “quasi-successor to the Internet,” with comparable impact and importance, that will give users an individual “presence.” - The Walrus

The Tangled Up Politics Of Post-Modernism

Regardless of whether we call our time “postmodern” or “neoliberal,” the present feels ripe for a more widespread understanding of the dialectical relationship between culture and politics—our lifestyles, beliefs, preferences, and tastes, on the one hand, and the material circumstances of our lives, on the other. - The Nation

The Politics Of Big Bird (And Sesame Street)

It is political not in a partisan sense but because the way we teach and protect children — and choose which children to teach and protect — is inevitably bound up in politicized ideas. - The New York Times

Peloton Wins The Internet With Viral Ad Featuring Mr. Big

Peloton bounced back in a big way: It resurrected Mr. Big for a commercial featuring none other than Peter Noth and Peloton instructor Jessica King. The dramatic advertisement quickly blew up online, amassing more than 45,000 likes on Twitter and spurring a slew of headlines. - Los Angeles Times

Why Would Vladimir Putin Be A Sponsor Of An Art Show About European Unity?

The message is clear: We are all made up of the same fundamental parts. Biologically, that might be true. Yet, Russia has never quite fit into Europe’s politics and culture. - The New York Times

Could You Live A Meaningful Life In A Virtual World?

"I think what happens in virtual worlds can, in principle, be very significant. You can build a meaningful life in a virtual world. We can get into deep social and political discussions and decisions about the shape of society in a virtual world." - The New York Times

Groundbreaking Critic Robert Farris Thompson, 88

He spoke and wrote of African civilizations as infinitely varied ethical, philosophical and aesthetic systems. To grasp their complexity and sophistication, he said, required a “guerrilla scholarship” that combined art history, anthropology, dance history, religious studies, sociology and ethnomusicology. - The New York Times

What To See When Geffen Hall Reopens Two Years Early In 2022

Rather than face the unenviable task of enticing post-pandemic audiences to a substandard hall, Lincoln Center and the Philharmonic will unveil an eagerly awaited, transformed venue almost two years early. - Architectural Record

A Dance Collective Formed In The Pandemic Decides To Go Big

The pandemic hit dancers hard. The president of a new dance network: "We all feel the rhythm in our hearts and we move, and so that's what we stand to do and that belief, that need existed long before the pandemic ... and it will exist long afterwards." - KLCC (Oregon)

What Actually Makes People Smarter Isn’t Doing A Bunch Of Brain Booster Puzzles

Sorry to the Sudoku fans (not that it hurts to do Sudoku, or crosswords, for that matter) - but what makes people smarter is working on problems together. - Slate

Banksy Is Selling T-Shirts To Help Four Protesters Accused Of Harming A Statue

The statue, in Bristol, was of a man who made the area rich through the triangle trade - "which kidnapped Africans and transported them to the Americas as slaves, then shipped the cotton and sugar they produced there to Britain to fuel the industrial revolution.' - The Guardian (UK)

What’s Going To Happen To Democracy?

No one really knows. "I have many ideas for how we might improve democracy in the United States, but it is genuinely difficult for me to envision the path from A to B, from the status quo ... to something more equal and inclusive." - The New York Times

Pour One Out For The Smallest Target In The World

It was performance art, a performance piece that stood for years, crumbling in the Texas desert and sun. - Glasstire

Yay, Winning A Pulitzer Price For Drama, But Yikes, Winning It In April 2020

The absolute worst time to win, perhaps, but Michael R. Jackson's Strange Loop somehow persisted through every theatre in the world being dark and every potential audience member on lockdown. - NPR

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