Sometimes it's better to read than to experience. "I think I like winter weather best when it’s on the page and not the thing standing between me and the closest bar or the corner bodega when I’m out of popcorn." - LitHub
Or at least some of us have, according to the reaction to a New Yorker profile of actor Jeremy Strong. There's "a sense that the emperor’s method nudity has finally been exposed for what it is: pretentious, performative, narcissistic nonsense." - The Guardian (UK)
"By flooding the market with counterfeit Native American art and craftwork, these crimes cheat the consumer, undermine the economic livelihood of Native American artists, and impair Indian culture," said a law enforcement official. - NPR (AP)
Rice, whose Interview with the Vampire was a huge hit, died from complications of a stroke, her son reported. Rice's Gothic novels and massive popularity meant her book signings were "shows attracting dancers and fans in costume." - The New York Times
Photos shot as part of Cold War propaganda in 1970 show the utopian ideals - including Jim Henson's love of creativity and everyone's experimentation to reach kids with the least money and hope, and show them a world of possibility. - The Guardian (UK)
The 91-year-old musician and teacher may have contracted COVID-19 at one final performance where he received the Jazz Master award from the NEA. - Washington Post
Even as the new movie is playing in theatres, "everything about how West Side Story has unfolded suggests opera might be an ideal form to move the needle." - Los Angeles Times
The stories a grandfather on the Dingle Peninsula told his grandson of a visiting American, a scholar who took video with a hand-crank camera, led to the discovery in Chicago of hours of silent film reels from 1925 and 1926. - The New York Times
"Nonfiction writers make mistakes, too, of course. But not on the first page. As soon as I discovered my falsehood, I vowed to turn my back on nonfiction forever and write nothing but poetry, a genre in which you’re encouraged to lie." - LitHub
The actor, in the middle of yet another Marvel publicity tour, says he's about ready to quit acting and return to his first love, dancing. - The Guardian (UK)
One poet sped home from a teaching gig in Lebanon; another was diagnosed with breast cancer as the pandemic burst forth. "In many ways, their poems also convey just how different their lives were, even though they were living just 5 miles from each other." - NPR
Why? "Protesters accused Anna von Hausswolff of playing the 'devil's music.' But the priest who cancelled her planned Paris show said that was wrong." What year is this again? - BBC
Maybe! No spoilers (in this summary; the article contains a lot of spoilers), but "Peloton could reasonably consider litigation, especially if HBO did not disclose the story line involving the product." - The New York Times
Shares of Peloton, the fitness equipment company, fell 11.3% Thursday — tumbling to a 19-month low — after a key character in HBO Max’s “Sex and the City” revival, “And Just Like That,” was shown dying of a heart attack after a 45-minute workout on one of the company’s exercise bikes. - Variety
