He doesn't do smartphones, thinks talk shows are nonsensical, and reports: "Music is rapture, it’s not understanding. Go home all you music critics!" - Gramilano
For four years, someone has been impersonating dozens of agents, editors, translators, and others in the book business to get early copies of new manuscripts. Attempts to find the culprit end up going in circles, and the manuscripts never get publicly leaked. What's going on? - New York Magazine
Not only is the master's degree the quintessential example of a bureaucratic credential — drably functional and frequently deeply pointless — but much of its growth has been in fields that are themselves explicitly bureaucratic," writes William Deresiewicz. And then there are MFAs … - New York Magazine
A timely question, because that happened last Sunday night — as it does a couple of times every year or so. The bolt damaged the obelisk's electrical system, including its elevators; repairs take a few days. (includes video) - Artnet
"Through years marked by mold infestations, financial turmoil, leadership changes and homelessness, artistic director Robert Hill was the constant face of Orlando Ballet. … In his tenure, … attendance has sharply increased, the ballet's financial situation is the strongest it has been in years." - Orlando Sentinel
"Kaji created the puzzle to be easy for children and others who didn't want to think too hard. … Sudoku championships have drawn some 200 million people in 100 countries over the years." - AP
Wait, Scotland has a historical chronicle done in needlework like the Bayeux Tapestry? Yes, but this one wasn't completed until eight years ago, and the history it depicts runs from Robert the Bruce's victory in 1314 to Andy Roddick's in 2013. - The Guardian
"(Weeks) after a Hungarian bookshop was fined for selling a children's story about … a child with same-sex parents, the same book has been published in Russia – but with an '18+' label on it in deference to the country's so-called 'gay propaganda' law." - The Guardian
The very concept of “cultural appropriation” is misbegotten. As I’ve previously argued, it wrongly casts cultural practices as something like corporate intellectual property, an issue of ownership. - The New York Times
The bigger question facing studios, streaming services and talent agencies: How should stars and filmmakers be paid for movies and TV shows now that the business model is shifting quickly? - Los Angeles Times
For Fukuyama, the demise of the Soviet Union testified to the “total exhaustion of viable systemic alternatives” to––and thus, the “unabashed victory”––of “economic and political liberalism.” - Hedgehog Review
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
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
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
