Adam Phillips tells us again and again, the quest for self-improvement is itself the problem. What we suffer from “are our self-cures”, otherwise known as “symptoms”; what we need to be cured of are our cures, and our hankering for them. “There is no cure.” - New Statesman
Korea accounts for 20 percent of worldwide classical music sales, with a much younger audience base than in the West. The K-pop juggernaut needs no elucidation. Koreans have embraced Western music and elaborated on it. - 3 Quarks Daily
Among my favorite Kushner quotes: “Dare to participate in the great historical mistake of your time.” The particular mistake he has in mind is “West Side Story,” a new movie, directed by Steven Spielberg. - The New York Times
Most of us assumed the dear old mag had shut down forever. In fact, it was only closed from 1969-71, before being relaunched as a quarterly; it's now bimonthly and was overhauled in 2013. Here's an overview of the Post's two centuries. - Columbia Journalism Review
U.S. copyright law seeks to protect “original works of authorship” by barring unauthorized copying of all kinds of creative material: sheet music, poetry, architectural works, paintings and even computer software. But recipes are much harder to protect. - The New York Times
Hani Rashid of Asymptote Architecture says his firm worked for years on a design, got necessary approvals — and stopped getting any communication from Moscow "just when we were ready to pour the concrete." After a year, he learned he'd been replaced with a local firm. - The Art Newspaper
ArtPlace leaders announced their venture would prove the arts was an economic engine. Investing in arts and culture, “can be the economic equivalent of bringing a manufacturing plant to a neighborhood.” By decade’s end, ArtPlace’s success had little to do with economics. - Philanthropy
The creator of Hamilton says the show's filmed version o on Disney+ has only increased demand for tickets to the staged production. (If only all shows could be hits like that one …) Lynn Nottage's new play, Clyde's, is streaming as well and could offer more data. - Playbill
When it comes to established and continuously active opera companies in North America, there is the Metropolitan, founded in 1883 ... and then San Francisco Opera. - San Francisco Classical Voice
You can't say that the country is humorless, but the Modi government's laws can have people fined or jailed on mere accusations (even false ones) of insulting the nation or religion, and Hindu nationalists egged on by Modi's party disrupt performances and threaten comedians. - BBC
Hosting platform Acast says that the average episode length of its 100 most popular podcasts is 38'10" — but it's not that simple. Comedy shows average 55½ minutes, news/politics programs 28 minutes. Podcasts aimed at commuters run about 40 minutes, those for people doing chores about 20. - Inside Radio
The 23-foot-wide ornament now sits 453 feet above Barcelona, crowning the basilica's Virgin Mary Tower. Some of the neighbors are mightily irked by the star, and even more concerned about a proposed giant stairway to the church's entrance that could involve demolishing three city blocks. - The Guardian
These changes include replacing rarely-used confession booths in the nave with art installations, installing new lights at head height rather than near the high ceiling, benches instead of the old straw chairs, changing the placement of the baptistery and tabernacle, and reworking the side chapels. - Yahoo! (AFP)
A study that used biometric feedback to measure immersion found that participants were more deeply engaged by content delivered via radio or podcasts than via TV or social media. (The research was commissioned, unsurprisingly, by a radio and podcast company, Audacy.) - Inside Radio
The 1999 memoir, which launched Sebold's career, recounts the rape and beating she suffered at age 18 and Broadwater's subsequent trial and conviction for the crime. Scribner and Sebold will consider how to revise the book before re-releasing it. - Forbes
