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Facebook Says It Will Build A Universal Translator

“The ability to communicate with anyone in any language — that’s a superpower people have dreamed of forever, and AI is going to deliver that in our lifetimes.” - Protocol

The Place Of Punning In Poetry

"Wordplay is an embellisher. It prettifies poetry's architecture, … but it won't keep your walls and ceiling from coming down. Still, … it turns out there are moments when wordplay, taking on a structural element, does hold things together." Consider, for instance, the limerick. - Literary Hub

Supporters Of Ukraine Protest Gergiev Concerts Planned For NY This Week

Activists who support Ukraine are protesting a three-concert series at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall this weekend featuring Russian conductor Valery Gergiev. - NPR

Europe’s First-Ever Pop Star

"Charles Dibdin was no one-hit wonder, but a hugely prolific, extremely famous figure. He performed in operas and then wrote his own, composed more than a thousand songs, toured one-man shows around the country, and opened his own London theatre." - BBC

Madonna Banned Phones At Her Performance. Should Theatres Follow Her Lead?

The Queen of Pop had insisted that everyone attending deposit their phones into small pouches, which were then sealed, given back to us to hold on to, and only unlocked at the end of the show. - The Stage

What “The Music Man” Lost When The Broadway Producers Cleaned Up “Ya Got Trouble”

"Cutting the race-baiting from Harold's signature song feels like an easy enough fix, but … the elision leaves a vacuum at the show's center. Are the people of River City really that worked up about modernity? If Harold Hill isn't selling lightly coded racial anxiety, what exactly is he selling?" - Slate

Does The Motion Picture Academy Have A Problem With Music?

It was a slap in the face to the hundreds of composers, arrangers, orchestrators, musicians, engineers and other professionals whose work provides the emotional foundation for so much of today’s cinematic storytelling. - Variety

An Unpublished Leonard Cohen Novel Is Coming

"Written in Montreal in 1956 – the year Cohen published his first poetry collection – A Ballet of Lepers focuses on 'toxic relationships and the lengths one will go to maintain them'." - The Guardian

A Short History Of The Book Index

In the mid-15th century, the mass production born of Gutenberg’s press began to make the index a regular feature of the bound book. But its very ubiquity — and very utility — would make it an intellectual flash point. - The New York Times

The Artistic Director Who Transformed Opera Australia Is Stepping Down Next Year

"Among Lyndon Terracini's artistic achievements have been the staging of two complete Ring cycles – with a third scheduled for 2023 in Brisbane – the incorporation of digital screens into set designs, and the huge success of the annual Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour." - Limelight (Australia)

“Artemisia Gentileschi Is The Frida Kahlo Of European Art”

Both were gifted painters who worked in the shadow of a famous male relative — now Artemisia and Frida are the famous ones, feminist icons. "That's the thing," writes Christopher Knight, "about an icon: Stature is established but meaning can get stuck like a fly in amber." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

Francis Ford Coppola Is Going To Spend $120 Million Of His Own Money To Make His Dream Movie

"It is a film called Megalopolis, and Coppola has been trying to make it, intermittently, for more than 40 years. If I could summarize the plot for you in a concise way, I would, but I can't, because Coppola can't either." - GQ

All These Changes To The Oscars Telecast Aren’t Going To Bring Back Viewers

Three hosts, two fan-voted awards, eight categories cut from the live broadcast … "Too many of these Oscar decisions seem motivated by bone-deep insecurity — a sort of self-loathing from the Academy about what the show really is, let alone what it ought to be." - The New York Times

David Hallberg Is Getting Back Onstage To Dance

When he became artistic director of the Australian Ballet in 2020, only to have COVID strike, Hallberg had figured his performing days were over. But this year, for opening nights in Sydney (late April) and Melbourne (June), he'll be dancing in the big four-choreographer program titled Kunstkamer. (video) - ABC (Australia)

1,800-Year-Old Roman Mosaic Floor Unearthed In London

"The mosaic is thought to have adorned the floors of a Roman dining room, and the spot where it stands is near the Shard. … The find is the largest area of Roman mosaic to have been discovered in London in at least 50 years." - CNN

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