Linguistic assimilation was meant to unify Italy as a country. "Even by the 50s, though, Italian remained a made-up language, manufactured and largely spoken by the intelligentsia, and associated with politeness and self-control." - LitHub
How? Safety, actually: "Producers sought out more controlled environments for outdoor shooting. Even with a 87-day shutdown, the number of shoot days on backlots dropped only 15 % from 2019 to 2020." And now studios want more land. - Los Angeles Times
The novel Brother of the More Famous Jack has just been reissued - and "The title alone deserves a party. It puts its finger on a big category – the person who gets used to being an adjunct. It’s a category traditionally inhabited by women." - The Observer (UK)
A new movie revives the (surprisingly intense) discussion. "Isabelle Popp ... proposed a 'words to Fabio' standard for mainstream romance coverage that boils down to: the sooner he’s mentioned, the less effort or expertise went into the story." - Slate
McGowan, who has died at 90, "created a new international area of academic study, now known as early dance, and received national honors in both Britain and France." It's hard to imagine modern thinking (or movies) about the French court untouched by her scholarly influence. - The New York Times
The composer changed musicals, yes, and he was generous with his work, allowing others to adapt it to the screen. Sometimes that worked well - Original Cast Album: Company - and sometimes (er, Into the Woods, 2014, anyone), not so much. - The New York Times
But he's not actor Will Smith. After the slap, "Will Smith — a podcaster, gamer and PR guy for indie game studio Stray Bombay who lives in San Francisco — girded for a new tweetstorm of commentary misdirected" at him.- Variety
Eric Yip is the youngest winner ever - and he's an engineering student. And "Yip, who cites Ocean Vuong as a writer who made him realise he 'had a right' to be heard, speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, but writes poetry in English." - The Guardian (UK)
The lead organizer started a new union from scratch, and raised money through GoFundMe. "It looked like a quixotic venture," to vastly undersell the difficulties. But Jeff Bezos' rocket ship sure didn't help the company's argument. - Slate
The test is still a problem, but not having it as a factor in admissions only harmed lower-income students in college admissions. How? "The SAT doesn’t create inequalities in these academic skills. It reveals them." - The Atlantic
Music rights were the issue for Christopher Bruce's Rooster, a ballet set to the music of the Rolling Stones. They were cool with the ballet - but in a twist, they didn't own the rights to their own music. - Irish Times
This seems transparently foolish. After all, it wasn't Jada Pinkett Smith or their adult children up there smacking Chris Rock. Yet: "Public relations specialists who focus on crisis management warned that the incident could erode the good will that the Smiths have built up." - The New York Times
First, physical books get banned for transparently hysterical "reasons." Then e-readers might be provided for free - with content that is outrageously expensive. But incarcerated people, say advocates, desperately need, and want, the tools that will keep their minds engaged. - Publishers Weekly
