Using this data from the brain, audiences create a non-conscious edit of the film in real time – reinforcing the films’ respective stories of science-fiction dystopia and a wandering, daydreaming mind. - The Conversation
Collective campaigns, lawsuits, international rules and IT hacks are all being deployed at speed on behalf of the creative industries in an effort, if not to win the battle, at least to “rage, rage against the dying of the light”, in the words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. - The Guardian
The oasis town of Chinguetti in north-central Mauritania, a major trans-Saharan trading stop in centuries past, has 13 libraries housing more than 6,000 manuscripts. As desertification spreads ever onward, outside experts fear for the books, but their custodians are holding on. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Paradoxically, we may come to want the things that we cannot have in an instant, that demand our time and patience before they will reveal all they have to offer: the art that demands that we slow down. - 3 Quarks Daily
"When I'm anchoring, I never have trouble, because the NPR studio is soundproof — there's no background noise to distract you, and I wear great headphones that I can crank loud. It's harder when I'm out in the field. … So far, there has always been a workaround." - MSN (The Washington Post)
Her ideas of war had come from art—from photographs of the devastated city of Warsaw, which appeared deserted in the still images; from books that described battle and carnage. In real life, people got used to war quickly. - The New Yorker
"What could be more pressing than an operetta about the housing crisis? This is something that everybody in Australia is grappling with at the moment. What was funny in adapting it from corrupt Soviet bureaucrats to greedy Melbourne landlords was that it was hilariously, disturbingly easy." - The Age (Melbourne)
In an identity crisis we question our purpose in life, what our role or place in society is, what values we ought to be committed to, or the meaning and significance of our activities. But having purpose, meaning, and a commitment to certain values doesn’t quite individuate us either. - 3 Quarks Daily
Earlier this month a video of five teen girls dancing -- bareheaded, outdoors -- to the Rema/Selena Gomez hit "Calm Down" went viral. The girls were promptly arrested, detained, and forced to make a video of repentance. Now women all over Iran are making similar videos and posting them in solidarity. - BuzzFeed
The political turbulence of twentieth-century Europe forced both Camus and Orwell to confront the question of truth as a matter of necessity, even and especially among their own colleagues and friends. - The Critic
"While the general consensus among industry experts is that digital access provides an opportunity for Broadway to reach new audiences and tap new revenue streams, they told TheWrap that there are many financial and logistical challenges that stand in the way of a broader rollout." - Yahoo! (TheWrap)
Hunter: "I think people have been really reticent to talk about spirituality or religion in these kinds of 'secular spaces.'" Ruhl: "For me, theater is very much a sacred space. … I think of theater almost as an incarnation of 'the word made flesh.'" - The Christian Science Monitor
For a start, one of the artists reclassified as Ukrainian was, in fact, an ethnic Armenian, as New York's Armenian-American community was very quick to point out. Another contested issue has been whether the dancers' costumes in some of Degas's paintings are Russian or Ukrainian. - The Guardian
A large survey of click stats from Upworthy.com (!) found that headlines with negative words had a higher clickthrough rate than those with positive words, that sad words were more effective than angry words, and that the general rate for any kind of headline is depressingly low. - Nieman Lab
"The Kimmel Center was trumpeted as Philadelphia's fifth public square — an 18-hour-per-day, seven-day-a-week arts center where you could show up anytime and find a concert or see a film. But the Kimmel has sent mixed signals about just how welcoming it really wants to be." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
