John McWhorter: "To simply know that the kinds of questions Rousseau stimulates are, indeed, questions makes you a better person in the sheer sense of understanding the complexity of the real world, something that escapes ideologues of all kinds." - The New York Times
“The Elgin marbles should leave this northern whisky-drinking guilt-culture, and be displayed where they belong: in a country of bright sunshine and the landscape of Achilles, ‘the shadowy mountains and the echoing sea,’” he wrote in the article. - The Guardian
No one could pretend that we’re back to normal yet. There likely is no going back — and after a year of overdue cultural reckonings, that may be for the best. - Los Angeles Times
New investors, including private equity firms, have poured billions of dollars into the market, viewing music royalties as a kind of safe commodity — an investment, somewhat like real estate, with predictable rates of return and relatively low risk. - The New York Times
Two weeks ago, I wrote that the U.S. needed a revitalized culture of experimentation. Now I think that what we really need is more experimentation in markets, because our markets are failing to promote new ideas that drive progress and growth. - The Atlantic
Nope. That honor goes to You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. "The 1966 concept recording is a fascinating document for fans of the musical, because it reveals how fully formed much of the score was before a stage incarnation was actually in the works." - Howard Sherman
Maybe not, but the performers are eager not to replicate last year's cancellations and lack of revenue. And yet ... a thousand screaming children in the audience? Well, technology helps. - BBC
"Well, friends, another grim and grueling plague year is drawing to a close, and that can mean only one thing." Reading - but why not the best reviewed books in translation of 2021? Why not, for instance, Jhumpa Lahiri translating herself? - LitHub
The 88-year-old Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin says Canada's commitment to making First Nations stories has grown tremendously. From where she began to now, she says, "to see our people being treated ... like human beings. It's such a big change." - CBC
Gugu Mbatha-Raw has become a producer as well as a star actor. "Acting is just one department of the entertainment industry. ... curious to know how every other department that is less visible can still evolve and become as diverse." - The Guardian (UK)
"Whether owing to regional or racial bias, or to the author’s deeply ingrained humility and privacy, Kenan has not taken his rightful place in the postmodern canon, though his fictional town of Tims Creek proved as generative as any Macondo or Yoknapatawpha." - The New York Times
