"As with chemistry, the important thing is not just how the elements behave in isolation, but how they come together. Each language has rules for these combinations, which native speakers (and many teachers) generally grasp but don’t or can’t explain." - The Economist
When the artists go out, they find more than their favorite cafés: "Walking is their research. They photograph graffiti, look out for curious new images of street life, which make their way into their montage prints: canisters of clubbers’ laughing gas; women in burqas." - The Observer (UK)
Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's groundbreaking contributions have become both mainstream and topical. "An experimental dance company in Brooklyn? Nothing unusual about that now — yet Zollar was forging a new path when she founded Urban Bush Women in 1984." - Washington Post
Solange's creative studio, Saint Heron, hired a community bookstore founder to "curate" the first 50 items in the library, which will be mailed to those who request them for a 45-day loan period. - Hyperallergic
The Chieftains became bigger stars than the Rolling Stones in 1975, when Stanley Kubrick used their music in the movie Barry Lyndon - and that's when they quit their day jobs to perform Irish folk music full-time. - BBC
"Earhart was one of the earliest aviators, a record-setter, a college professor and well ahead of her time as a champion for women’s rights. Yet she is also one of history’s more enigmatic figures." - Washington Post
Hawkshaw, who composed the theme music for several popular British TV shows, was also a pianist and Hammond organist who "ended up working at more than 7,000 recording sessions." - The Guardian (UK)
"The 12-day journey, backed by Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, was the latest act in a race among spacefaring countries to generate public excitement about human spaceflight." - The New York Times
"Carmen Mola" was always pseudonym, but the fact that "she" was three scriptwriter men in tuxedos shocked the crowd (and the crime-thriller-reading world) at the Premio Planeta literary awards in Barcelona. - Washington Post
"Maybe it’s because of the advent of COVID-19 vaccines. Maybe it is because feet can be repressed for just so long. But it seems that everywhere, dancers are letting loose." - St. Paul Pioneer Press (AP)
"People in power have always had a way of working nuance to their advantage. If consent is also nuanced, are we ready to admit that creativity and power go hand in hand?" - Hyperallergic
But it is particularly virulent right now, especially in states where white parents and legislators feel threatened by - well, what? Not actual Critical Race Theory, but in some cases, literally any books by Black writers. - The Atlantic
"Protesters have for several years argued that a proliferation of new hotel projects in Dublin crowds out other vital development, such as housing and space for the arts." Developers, of course, argue that tourism brings jobs, and hotels bring tourists. - Irish Times
"Nearly everyone who knew him is gone, but the roses are a sort of saeculum that includes Orwell. I was suddenly in his presence in a way I hadn’t expected, and I was in the presence of a living remnant of the essay." - The Guardian (UK)