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)
Well, things have changed: The Ted Lasso freakout has faded, while Squid Game's popularity has spurred producers to search for more "international drama." - Variety
In 1999, when musician Dame Hinewehi Mohi sang the national anthem in Maori at the men's Rugby World Cup, she got quite a backlash. Now, "awareness and celebration of Maori music is mirroring a shift in attitudes toward the language across New Zealand." - The New York Times
But not for its skill or beauty. One complaint: "Nothing could be less representative of Maria Callas, as no opera singer, not even a second-grade student at music school, would ever adopt such a pose with crossed arms in front of their chest." - The Observer (UK)
Many National Trust properties rest on profits from the labor of enslaved people. "The charity seems to have become a lightning rod for the boiling emotions of a nation in flux, racked by arguments over national identity, social justice, pride and guilt." - The Guardian (UK)
But they definitely help define the internet: "Years later, after the movie itself has been largely forgotten, you will still find images from it circulating, speaking a new dialect." - The New York Times
