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The Diagram Prize For The Oddest Book Title Of 2021 Goes To —

Is Superman Circumcised?, which is, in fact, a serious study of the origins of the DC Comics character (subtitle: "The Complete Jewish History of the World's Greatest Hero"). It won the public vote against five other finalists by 28 percentage points. - The Bookseller (UK)

Why It’s So Difficult To Design Communities Resilient To Climate Change

The recent passage of a $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill is a big step toward tackling some of those problems, but as East River Park shows, even when money is at hand, our convoluted systems often make it difficult or impossible to find consensus and work at the speed and scale required. - The New York Times

Mezzo Jamie Barton Intends To Dismantle The Patriarchy, Or At Least Its Standard Opera Repertory

"I've spent a lot of years doing roles where I'm the third person in a love triangle, … and the lead soprano almost always has to kill herself, and those stories are 1,000% created by the patriarchy, and I'm not interested in them anymore." - The Guardian

NBC’s Live “Annie” Was “Pleasant”

You probably tuned in to NBC’s “Annie Live!” for one reason: to see if it would be a train wreck. - Washington Post

Spain’s “Scrap Cathedral”

Using bricks and wood scavenged from building sites, shards of stained glass, and stacked oil drums for pillars, former monk Justo Gallego spent six decades constructing a church of his own design in outer Madrid. He died last weekend, but a nonprofit will finish the building. - Yahoo! (AFP)

It’s Not You: Why It’s Getting More Difficult To Understand Movie Dialogue

"It's really a gumbo, an accumulation of problems that have been exacerbated over the last 10 years … that's kind of this time span where all of us in the filmmaking community are noticing that dialogue is harder and harder to understand." - Slash Film

The Pivot That Got One Of L.A.’s Biggest Dance Centers Through The Pandemic

"In August, the Los Angeles-area stalwart the Lab closed its dance space, a 12,000-square-foot location. … Instead, it has transformed from a dance studio into a 'creative agency and lifestyle brand,' as its website says — a feat of survival, and a strategic one." - The New York Times

Sondheim And The Art Of Mentoring

As a mentor, as a letter writer, as an audience member who showed up far beyond Broadway to witness new work, he quietly, faithfully nurtured generations of theater makers. - The New York Times

The Choreographer Who Designs Movement For People To Use Computers With

Lins Derry "is one of the world's foremost experts on the design of choreographic interfaces: the practice of using carefully designed bodily motions (think: using 'pinch-to-zoom' or swiping right or left on your mobile device) to bring humans and computers into productive dialogue." - Dance Magazine

Antony Sher, One Of Britain’s Great Stage Actors, Dead At 72

Though an accomplished writer and screen actor, he was most admired for theatre classics from Shakespeare to Pinter. In 1985, for Richard III and Torch Song Trilogy, he became, he said, "the first actor to win an for playing both a king and a queen." - BBC

After 25 Years, “Citizen Ruth” Is Relevant Again, And Star Laura Dern Is Very Pleased

In this Q&A, she says that in 1996, Harvey Weinstein and Miramax deliberately buried the movie, but that young people today (including her daughter's friends) have discovered it and love it, especially now that Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy. - Vulture

Why Sexual Grooming And Abuse Seem To Happen So Often In Ballet

"Unfortunately, ballet's rigid hierarchy, job scarcity and conditioning of dancers to be compliant makes it a comfortable environment for perpetrators to thrive in." Kathleen McGuire examines how it happens and what might be done to prevent it. - Pointe Magazine

Biggest-Ever Vermeer Show Is Coming, And It Could Be The Last

At least two dozen of the 35 surviving paintings of Johannes Vermeer will be on display in the spring of 2023 at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, whose director says he expects to borrow every Vermeer that isn't too fragile to travel. - The Guardian

Medieval Rock-Hewn Churches Of Lalibela Retaken By Ethiopian Government Forces

The UNESCO World Heritage Site and pilgrimage center has been one of the battlegrounds in the civil war between Ethiopia's central government and rebels from Tigray province, whose forces captured the town in August. - Al Jazeera

NPR Morning Edition Host Noel King Is Leaving For A Sort-Of Competitor

She is moving to Vox Media as editorial director and co-host (with current host Sean Rameswaram) of Today, Explained, Vox's morning news podcast. What's more, WNYC has agreed to distribute Today, Explained to public radio stations nationwide. - Axios

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