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The Forgotten History Of The World’s First Restaurant

It opened in 1765 in, of course, France, with a Latin phrase inscribed on the front that translates as, "Come to me, those whose stomachs ache, and I will restore you." - Fast Company

Westerns Have Nearly Unbounded Literary Potential

The history of the genre is problematic at best. "Any writer writing a Western—even a literary Western—knows that they stand on the threshold of creating something that’s equally capable of rocking backward as it is of propelling forward." - LitHub

A Philanthropist Who Cares A Lot About The Arts

MacKenzie Scott's billions of Amazon dollars worth of donations came at a seriously good time. Why is her focus a surprise? Because "museums, musicals and violin lessons aren’t usually top of mind for donors in times of crisis, when so many other pressing needs crowd the landscape." - Washington Post

Making The Move From TikTok To TV

Is it possible? Is there even a difference between the two now? - The New York Times

Famed Music School Falls Silent As Taliban Take Afghanistan

"The students are very fearful about their future - not just of their education and their programme, but also about their life. They do not feel safe in Afghanistan." - BBC

America’s Founding Colonial Stories Are Nice Fairy Tales. The Reality Was Less Flattering

The political leaders and famous personages that tower over our imaginations are condensed to life-size. They make grubby, horrid choices; they bumble, fumble, and scheme their way through moments of import. - The New Republic

The Quiet Value Behind The Enduring Success Of “Antiques Roadshow”

In a show whose segments are punctuated by dollar amounts, there’s actually a quiet, persistent suggestion to direct our aspirations somewhere else: history, family, sentiment, even love. - The Atlantic

Our Misperceptions Of How The Brain Works

“Scientists have searched fruitlessly for brain boundaries between thinking, feeling, deciding, remembering, moving and other everyday experiences." But these "are poor guides for understanding how brains are structured or how they work.” - Quanta

How The Counterculture Became The Main Culture

It’s a truism that high culture, as it used to be known, has been steadily losing its authority since the rise of mass culture in the early twentieth century. - New Criterion

Eventually, One Gets Old Enough To Really Appreciate Proust

"Like Marcel, we've spent decades building our models of the world, and like him we're starting to see them for the gimcrack that they are. We're beginning to sense just how much effort is involved in holding a person together." - Literary Hub

How Publishing Literature Has Changed

Most authors have day jobs, which is nothing new; Herman Melville worked as a customs inspector. The difference in 2021 is that traditional side careers are less viable and also less “side.” - Vanity Fair

Thanks To Streaming, Indian TV Is More Daring Than It’s Ever Been (Or Is It?)

Certainly one encounters more kissing, bare skin, and profanity today than when there was a single, state-owned channel. (More high-quality scripts, too.) Studios like to claim that today's groundbreaking shows deal provocatively with difficult social issues — but some of the ground has been broken before. - BBC

Data Science: The Creepiest, Most Ominous Word In Macbeth

It turns out that Macbeth uncanny flavor springs from the unusual way that Shakespeare deploys one particular word, over and over again. - OneZero

At Last, Dorothy Parker Has A Tombstone, Complete With Epitaph

"Leave for her a red young rose,Go your way, and save your pity;She is happy, for she knowsThat her dust is very pretty." - The New York Times

Was The Nuclear Family As Our Primary Social Unit A Mistake?

If you want to summarize the changes in family structure over the past century, the truest thing to say is this: We’ve made life freer for individuals and more unstable for families. - The Atlantic

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