Kristen Roupenian ("Cat Person") considers two superfans, Annie Wilkes in Misery and Harry in With a Friend Like Harry, who completely lose the distinction between the stories they love and the men who wrote them — and she draws a comparison with the abortion-rights debate. - The New Yorker
If mainstream pop is designed to make people feel as if they’re on common ground with all of humanity, this music made listeners feel like they were in on a very specific joke. - The New Yorker
"Citing a campaign of sustained harassment by the Russian government, … Alexander Sofeyev, Anna Kuzminykh, and Veronika Nikulshina announced via Twitter that they left in order 'to take a break from constant arrests for a second.'" - Artforum
"Too often, those who fund our programs are, in effect, asking our team members to do more with less. There is a combined scarcity/charity mindset that permeates the entirety of our programs, forcing teachers and staff to make difficult choices about their livelihoods and quality of life." - Ensemble News
He started studying acting when he happened to be in the building where Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler taught — and went on to a highly praised 50-year career as a supporting actor in theater, film and television. - The New York Times
Thomas, 76, will now embark on a monthslong course of therapy and has canceled all his public appearances through the end of October. - San Francisco Chronicle
"The history of dance in Cuba" — from the Alonsos' national ballet company in 1948 to today's protests — "shows us how artists not only negotiated with the state, but also related to and drew inspiration from their … imagined national community to express themselves." - The Washington Post on MSN
Researchers at University of Notre Dame are developing an artificial neural network to read complex ancient handwriting based on human perception to improve capabilities of deep learning transcription. - Tech Xplore
Starting in the 1950s, small companies would roam the village festival circuit, setting up tents and showing old films with aging projectors cast off from the cities. Yet, as cell phones and internet service reach rural India, the market for traveling talkies is disappearing. - Atlas Obscura
"Seventy percent of India's musicians practice folk, but they earn only 2% of the industry's revenues. … Many listeners today only hear the genre through movies, or adapted by indie bands," something the nonprofit Anahad Foundation is working to change. - The Christian Science Monitor
The survey of 75 leaders also found a need to safely discuss big ideas. "Right now we do not have an ability to have a healthy conversation. … There's fear and apprehension in the field, and we have to figure out how to talk to each other." - Variety
The ceremony honoring independent film "will replace its best actress and best actor categories with a single category for outstanding lead performance. For the first time, there will be a category for supporting roles: outstanding supporting performance." - The New York Times
"Across southern Europe, large wildfires have so far killed eight people and caused mass evacuations while also threatening to damage ancient cultural sites. In Greece, authorities have partially closed the Acropolis and other major archaeological sites while battling with dozens of conflagrations around Athens." - Hyperallergic
The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, a partnership with Lloyds, sets aside £750 million to offer cancellation insurance that private companies have been unwilling to provide during the pandemic. The plan will open in September and run for a year. - Variety
Residents of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site that's home to 11 landmark 13th-century churches and a major pilgrimage destination for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, have fled — along with government troops — as soldiers from the Tigray People's Liberation Front march in. - Yahoo! (AFP)
