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Why Thinking Rationally Is Such A Challenge

It’s not that we don’t think—we are constantly reading, opining, debating—but that we seem to do it on the run, while squinting at trolls in our phones. - The New Yorker

We Process Historic Events With Images. Afghanistan Is A Complicated Image

Phil Kennicott: "Countries, like travelers, want to make sense of things, which is why we reach for an image — a quick metaphor, a ready-made analogy — that will seal history in amber, give it a moral, cast it as a fable." - Washington Post

Director Of Salt Lake City’s Largest Theatre Company Resigns After Lies On His Résumé Are Caught

Christopher Massimine came to the Pioneer Theatre in 2019 after seven years at National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene, where he doubled the budget and oversaw the hit Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof. You'd think that would be enough — but Massimine did not. - The New York Times

National Company Of “Wicked” Hires “Director Of Social Responsibility”

Working closely with labor unions and other production partners, Christina Alexander will implement strategic procedures related to hiring practices to identify qualified candidates from underrepresented communities. - Playbill

Co-Founder Of Snopes Caught In Plagiarism Scandal

David Mikkelson and his then-wife started Snopes.com in 1994 in "a quest to debunk misinformation online." But a BuzzFeed investigation has found that he plagiarized dozens of stories from news outlets, frequently under a pseudonymous byline. - BuzzFeed

My Conversations With Suzanne Farrell

"Farrell is the only dancer who could inflect solos with such a dense and bewildering array of ideas that I felt I needed at once to see that performance again to work out what I had seen." - Alastair Macaulay

Thomas Quasthoff Is Singing Again — But Only Jazz

The acclaimed bass-baritone experimented with jazz (including one album) before he made a surprise retirement announcement in 2012. Now, at age 62, he says: "It's a different kind of singing, but I have now learned a new instrument – the microphone – and I love it." - The Guardian

Barbara Kruger On Being An Artist, A Consumer (And Not Being A TikTok Star)

"We live in this digital universe. Digital life has been emancipating and liberatory but at the same time it’s haunting and damaging and punishing and everything in between. It’s enabled the best and the worst of us." - The Art Newspaper

Curtis Institute Lets Go Its Longtime Star Oboe Teacher

Richard Woodhams, who retired after 40 years as the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal oboist in 2018, was told by the music school that his teaching contract will not be renewed. No reason has been given other than "Curtis has decided to move in a different direction." - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Theatre’s Employment Problems

The harsh reality of layoffs and rehiring has sparked much confusion and pain among theatre workers, especially the technicians whose shops have sat empty for over a year and a half but now need to be filled with skilled practitioners. - American Theatre

Another Glass Ceiling Breaks As Black Female Leaders Arrive At Dance Companies

Sarah Kaufman talks with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago artistic director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell; Dionne Figgins, Eliot Feld's successor at Ballet Tech; UNC School of the Arts dean of dance Endalyn Taylor; and Carolyn Adams, the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation's new director of education. - The Washington Post on MSN

Deepfakes Are Now Being Used In Business Presentations

Some bigwigs at EY (formerly Ernst & Young) have started using AI-assisted videos of themselves to impress customers. One partner, for instance, used the software's translation function to make a video of his avatar speaking fluent Japanese for a client there. - Wired

Robber Steals A Monet, Then Drops It As He Tries To Escape

The thief grabbed Monet's The Voorzaan and Westerhem Island (1871) from the Zaans Museum, just north of Amsterdam, on Sunday morning. When a passerby tried to stop the culprit and his accomplice from escaping, a shot was fired but both hero and painting were unharmed. - Artnet

R. Murray Schafer, Canada’s Leading 20th-Century Composer, Dead At 88

"(He) composed a large body of music in all genres — symphonic, chamber, opera, choral and oratorio — and was best known for his groundbreaking creations that were performed outdoors and incorporated sounds from nature into his music." (It was Schafer who gave us the term "soundscape.") - CBC

Hachette Will Pay $240 Million To Buy Leading Indie Publisher

No, they're not spending that kind of money for a literary press. Workman Publishing is the company behind the Page-a-Day calendars and the Brain Quest and What To Expect When … series of informational books. - Publishers Weekly

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