Stories

“Toy Story” Is One Of Disney’s Most Dependable Franchises

Analysts expect the fifth installment of Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story” franchise will pull in at least $150 million in the U.S. and Canada, with some predicting as much as $175 million — either of which would set a franchise record, topping the nearly $121-million opening of 2019’s “Toy Story 4.” - Los Angeles Times

“The Seduction Of Certainty”: Playwright Moisés Kaufman On The Roald Dahl Bio-Play “Giant”

“Most plays about prejudice comfort the audience with clarity. They reassure us that we would have recognized it immediately. Giant offers no such reassurance.” - Observer

Debating The Color Of The National Mall Reflecting Pool

The Reflecting Pool now evokes the joy of a Green Bay Packers victory. Or a high-school prank. Or St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago.It most certainly is not the gleaming American-flag blue that Trump’s repainting of the pool was supposed to produce. - The Atlantic

David Hockney Was Working Class. Artists From The Working Class Have A Much More Difficult Time Today

Through policies and schemes, previously unheard-of opportunities for people of his background began to open up, without which he would not have become the success he is considered today. The situation today for aspiring artists from a similar background is much starker. - The Conversation

What Literature Teaches Us About Neurodivergence

Far from being a modern phenomenon, neurodivergence has a long history. In other words, people whose ways of thinking, sensing or behaving differed from social expectations have always existed. Members of my research project have described discovering these historical figures as like finding neurodivergent ancestors. - The Conversation

Why The New Obama Presidential Center Is Not Officially A Library

It isn’t a presidential library if it isn’t run by the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Obama Foundation had two big reasons for deciding not having NARA involved. So President Obama’s papers and archives will be made available to the public digitally while the Obama Center serves other functions. - Chicago Sun-Times

Ballmer And Bezos And Benioff: Mega-donors To The Obama Library

The foundation collected six donations of $50 million-plus, including one anonymous contributor. - Chicago Sun-Times

The Woman Trying To Rebuild Oakland’s Arts Program

Oakland currently allots its entire arts community only $300,000 in grants — in contrast to the combined $29 million that Grants for the Arts and the San Francisco Arts Commission apportioned across the bay last fiscal year. - San Francisco Chronicle

The Meanings Of David Foster Wallace

The Bible warns that “all craftsmen who make idols will be humiliated.” American culture, perhaps in an effort to stave off potential embarrassment, often creates idols only to later destroy them. - Liberties Journal

In Its Centennial Year, The Book Of The Month Club Has Become Kind Of Cool

Since its rebrand as Book of the Month (no more club) a decade ago, the subscription service has grown every year and now has over 400,000 members. Its strength, says chairman John Lippman, is human curation: “We don’t depend on algorithms to determine your next book.” - Publishers Weekly

The Philosophical Consequences Of Simulations

Students tend to have a low tolerance for fanciful hypotheses and abstruse thought experiments. All but the most philosophically inclined roll their eyes at Descartes’s famed “evil demon” scenario in which the reader is meant to reflect on whether any of her beliefs couldn’t have been presented as a deception of a malevolent spirit. - Hedgehog Review

New Brain Study Reveals How Bilingual People Process Language

When deciding how to make a word singular or plural, for instance, bilingual people exhibit strikingly similar brain activity regardless of whether they are speaking in their first or second language. - The New York Times

Some Dance Forms Are Deeply Culturally Coded. How Can They Be Reinterpreted In Contemporary Choreography?

Choreographic researcher and artist Nazira Yerbolkyzy is among a new generation of practitioners working to reframe this relationship by exploring how traditional movement philosophies can be reinterpreted through contemporary choreography and movement analysis. - BroadwayWorld

£1 Billion Film/TV Production Complex Approved For Brownfield Site In London

“A £1 billion regeneration project to transform an industrial site in North London into a ‘landmark’ film and television studio site has been given the green light” — by a one-vote margin — “from Camden Council.” - The Standard (London)

Louvre Is “Running On Fumes,” Its Director Tells French Senate

Christophe Leribault: “To put it bluntly: despite its imposing majesty and the daily dedication of its staff, the Louvre is running on fumes. Its facilities and infrastructure are reaching the end of their lifespan.” - ARTnews

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