He built a cult following in the 1960s underground with inventively odd satires, then hit the mainstream in 1969 with Putney Swope, in which a Black Power activist takes over a New York ad agency, followed by Greaser's Palace, the life of Christ as a spaghetti Western. - Variety
Researchers using an array of high-tech methods have found traces of alum, potash, lime, borax, and plain old salt in the wooden fronts of these old instruments — and the cellulose molecules in the spruce were rearranged by those treatments. - The Strad
"Truck driver shortages, widespread port congestion, and skyrocketing container costs are among the biggest challenges facing the book industry supply chain for the rest of the year and into 2022." - Publishers Weekly
"The plaintiffs" — local residents and a powerful labor union — "accuse the authorities of 'grave negligence', which they say exposed city dwellers, particularly children and those working to restore the cathedral, to dangerous levels of toxic lead dust." - The Guardian
"The Japanese government formally declared a state of emergency in Tokyo on Thursday, due to rising numbers of COVID-19 infections. Restrictions will be in place throughout the duration of the Games, and may mean that spectators are banned from some events in Tokyo and nearby prefectures." - Variety
"For every privileged kid too lazy to write an essay, there was a more complex story. To my surprise, of the hundreds of clients I worked with, many—maybe most—students were simply desperate for the help." - Slate
“An effort was made. Was it good enough? Was it the right effort? Was it an effort that was still within the blind spots that we have? Possibly." - Dallas Morning News
With pandemic limitations in mind, as of early July, the overall domestic box office has reached $1.05 billion in ticket sales, down 42.3% from 2020 and down 81.3% from 2019. - Variety
Netflix is the Kleenex of streaming, a brand so dominant it can stand for the whole of the market. (It’s not “Hulu and chill,” after all.) There are signs that this synecdochal power is waning, though. - Wired
"One is a former communist, the other a former mujahid. Both have witnessed and participated in Afghanistan's turbulent history over the past half century. They have seen the rise and fall of regimes and today sell books about the men who made and unmade them." - Newlines
Stage director Nicolas Kent and former Guardian security editor Richard Norton-Taylor have edited hundreds of hours of testimony, from early warnings to "bragging about fixing fire safety tests," into a verbatim theatre piece. - The Guardian
“When we were working on the story, it didn’t occur to us in our wildest dreams that not only would NBC pull the show, but Tom Cruise would return his Golden Globes.” - The Postscript
Alexandra Lange takes a look at the New York City congresswoman's "ability to get her message across visually, through graphic design, through fashion, and through social media." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
