“Does it bother me that Saoirse Ronan doesn’t have an Oscar? Yes. ... She should have won for Brooklyn, Lady Bird, Little Women, all three of them, epochal. But I worry more that she’ll win for something less astounding.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
“Through her work, she was an early—if accidental—proponent of so-called color-blind casting, in which a performer’s race does not limit the parts available to them, long before such a concern became standard in the industry. She deserves compassion, not judgment.”- The Atlantic (MSN)
Maillet “shaped a new literary language for an isolated French-speaking minority, becoming the first non-European to win France’s most prestigious literary prize.” - The New York Times
“French president Emmanuel Macron has said he is concerned about the 'arbitrary detention’ and health of Boualem Sansal, days after the French-Algerian author began a hunger strike over his imprisonment in Algeria.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Professor Elbow contended that indoctrinating freshmen to think and write in an inflexible, formulaic style — with the teacher as the only audience member — inhibited creativity and confidence at a key moment in their intellectual development.” - The New York Times
Suddenly, voting members learned, they “will no longer be paid salaries as does away with a controversial element of how its voting body is organized.” The voting members are being offered a severance package. - The Hollywood Reporter
“I wanted to gather my physical books into a wall – or better yet, a cave – around me that would both protect me from this new reality and let me cry in peace within it. Failing that, I took mental refuge in them instead.” - The Guardian (UK)
Microsoft is shutting the app down in May. “But although Skype will be gone, the memories it evokes — not to mention the sound of its weird and wonderful ringtone — will stay with many of us for years to come.” - The Verge
“In a collective act of civil disobedience and inspired by the 2022 women-led uprising in Iran and many women’s continued defiance of restrictive social laws, Iranian filmmakers say they have decided to finally make art that imitates real life in their country.” - The New York Times
The cuts are spread over six departments, including advancement, education, publications and archives, but do not affect curators and top executives. - The New York Times
Yes, thanks to recent political and cultural developments, we now have the freedom to appreciate the work of various American heroes in a new, “common sense” way. There are countless composers we can reclaim from the far left. - Song of the Lark
A new director (formal title: general administrator) will soon be taking up his position (one appointed by no less than the French President) at the Comédie-Française. He's Clément Hervieu-Léger, 47, and like most of his predecessors, he's a longtime member of the company who both acts and directs. - The New York Times
The kingdom’s status as the birthplace of Islam is the very basis of its identity; as such, its pre-Islamic past was largely taboo. Yet current Saudi leaders see the ancient rock-hewn monuments of the Nabataeans (who also built Petra in Jordan) as the linchpin of a developing tourism industry. - History Today
