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A New Canon Of Climate Change Literature

It's part of a growing trend in publishing for books focused on the climate, whether from big hitters such as David Attenborough or Bill Gates, or so-called “cli-fi”, climate fiction." - The Guardian

In Australia: Thousands Of Newly Canceled Gigs And Musicians Calling It Quits

With Australia reeling from the Delta strain, major festivals including Splendour and Bluesfest have been cancelled for the second year running, with an estimated 7,000 gigs and live events cancelled each week. - The Guardian

COVID Has Changed How People Will Work For Non-Profits

No longer will many nonprofit (or for-profit, for that matter) employees be cowed into the belief that 60-, 80-, 100-, or 168-hour weeks are acceptable business practices. - Alan Harrison

Dance Competitions – A Change Of Culture?

Dance competitions first emerged in the 1970s. Since then, they have spawned a distinctive, seductive subculture, mixing the hard-driving athleticism of organized sports with the presentational flair of performance art. - The New York Times

Origins Of The Term “Woke”

"A quarter of people think of it as a compliment, a quarter of people think it's an insult and the rest either don't know or have never even heard of the term." -BBC

The AI Program That Wrote A Guardian Essay Is Now Writing A Play

"The GPT-3 system argued (in the article) that humans had nothing to fear from robots. Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic, read it and felt inspired." A year later, GPT-3 is now co-author and co-star of the Young Vic's current show. - The Guardian

OnlyFans Reverses Ban On Sex Workers. Creators Are Still Worried…

What remains is an uncertain future for both creators and OnlyFans, which has plans to go public later this year. The site has more than 130 million users and 2 million creators... - Wired

Why Does English Have No Equivalent Of The Académie Française? Pestilence

The Royal Society of London actually did attempt to start one in the winter of 1665, with a committee that included poets Abraham Cowley and John Dryden. Plague broke out in London that spring, everyone who could flee the capital did, and that was that. - Lapham's Quarterly

Algorithms Are Directing How I Grieve For My Dead Mother

I can hide my mom’s photos or block her zombie Facebook account. But I’ve become accustomed to grieving this way. Technology has dictated what I remember and when, because I’ve let it. - Wired

What’s The Torture In Today’s Russian Prison Camps? Eight Hours A Day Of State Television

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny says the prison he's in isn't like the old Soviet gulag, with inmates doing hard labor in subzero weather. Instead, part of what he calls "psychological torture" is being forced to sit and watch Putin-controlled news media and "propaganda films." - The Irish Times

Smithsonian Kicks Off Multi-Year Project To Reckon With America’s Racial History

“Giving people the reality — here’s the information, here’s a way to contextualize the moment we are in — you can’t build optimism unless you face the reality of the past, the reality of today.” - Washington Post

Desperate Venezuelans Turn To An Old Video Game To Earn Hard Currency

A large community has grown up around a now-outdated version of the online game RuneScape — and many players in rich countries don't want to slog through the tasks required to build their characters' skills or hoards of gold. - Slate

The Psychology Of Movie Trailer Music

“It’s called ‘trailerizing’ a song. That means changing every aspect of the song but leaving the lyrics. People know the lyrics. The goal is to catch people’s attention." - Variety

Emerson String Quartet Announces Retirement

The group, which for decades has been one of the world's most admired of its kind, said in a statement that it will close up shop in 2023, after what will have been 47 years. - Vulture

Who That Album Cover’s Naked Baby Is Today, And The Real Reason He’s Suing Nirvana

Spencer Elden claims that the band exploited him with what he now calls child pornography — but he's been exploiting that image of his infant self for some time. His actual grudge appears to be over an art show. - Artnet

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