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How Hollywood Turned Graham Greene’s Novel “The Quiet American” Upside-Down

"Greene usually liked to see his novels adapted, but not this time. What Greene was trying to say about American ignorance and arrogance in foreign affairs was distorted ... by a Cold War, McCarthy-era fear of bringing a movie to the public that might be seen as 'anti-American.'" - The Baffler

The Meteoric Rise Of Art Star Anna Weyant

It has been a rocket-fueled rise to the top of the contemporary art world for Ms. Weyant—and far from her unassuming start in Calgary, Canada. Spotted on Instagram three years ago and quickly vouched for by a savvy handful of artists, dealers and advisers, Ms. Weyant is now internationally coveted. - The Wall Street Journal

The Long Effort To Decipher Linear A And Linear B, Two Of The World’s Oldest Alphabets

The scripts come from the Bronze Age civilization on Crete during the 2nd millennium BCE. It was a long and somewhat tricky process to establish that Linear B was used for a very ancient form of Greek; Linear A still hasn't been deciphered, but they're getting ever closer. - Aeon

Apocalypse Not: The American Mall Cannot Be Killed

Since the 1978 movie Dawn of the Dead, we have been using “the apocalyptic scale, the language and imagery of civilizational collapse” to describe malls. And yet: a 2021 study found that last year, the number of mall visitors was actually 5 percent higher than before the pandemic. - The Atlantic

The Enlightenment Libertine: Making Sense Of Casanova

"Giacomo Casanova practiced many trades — violinist, gambler, spy, Kabbalist, soldier, man of letters — but his main line of work was deceiving fools. ... His conquests in the boudoir, not to mention those in carriages, in bathhouses, or behind park shrubbery, have eclipsed his accomplishments while fully dressed." - The New Yorker

The Cheech Is A Big Step Forward

The Chicano generation of artists and activists that emerged in the late 1960s knew that self-empowerment requires historical knowledge. The same goes for art, which propagates and adapts from other art. Systematic study of usable, relevant Chicano art history is now underway in Riverside. - Los Angeles Times

How A Major Orchestra Goes About Choosing A New Concert Piano

The Pittsburgh Symphony was looking to buy a new Steinway concert grand for its concerto soloists. The price: $198,000. Fortunately, Emanuel Ax was there to play a concerto that week, so he was able to help music director Manfred Honeck and others make the decision. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Turns Out The Inability To Dance To A Steady Beat Is Genetic, Say Researchers

"A new study by Vanderbilt Genetics Institute researchers ... found a genetic link to our ability — and inability — to move to musical rhythm in time. Using data from more than 600,000 participants, the study identified 69 genetic variants related to the ability to move in synchrony with music." - Mel Magazine

Guaranteed Public School Arts Funding Could Become Law In California

The initiative on this year's general election ballot "would require the state to find a source of revenue to fund K-12 arts education equal, at a minimum, to one percent of the total state and local revenues that local education agencies receive from Proposition 98 funding." - San Francisco Classical Voice

US Orchestras Really Are Playing More Music By Women And Minority Composers, Finds Report

"Compositions by women and people of color now make up about 23 percent of the pieces performed by orchestras, up from only about 5 percent in 2015, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Institute for Composer Diversity at SUNY-Fredonia." - The New York Times

As Of July, At Broadway Theatres, Masks Will Be Optional

"In a statement, Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, said audience members were still encouraged to wear masks, but would not be required to beginning July 1. The policy will be re-evaluated on a monthly basis going forward." - Gothamist

Cut Our Funding In Favor Of The Regions, Says UK’s National Theatre, And We Won’t Be Able To Tour The Regions Anymore

"Cutting us back because of where our postcode is will have a direct and negative effect on the nationwide work that this move is designed to address," said NT director Rufus Norris. "It will have the exact opposite effect of their stated intention." - The Guardian

Another Call, This Time From Sudan, For Britain To Return Looted Art Objects

"Museum officials from Sudan are calling for the repatriation of cultural artifacts and human remains that were stolen by British soldiers and other colonizers in the late 19th century.  Many of the items in question were taken as trophies after the Battle of Omdurman in 1898." - Artnet

How BTS Became A Global Phenomenon To Rival Beatlemania

It was unusual for a K-pop group to start from a base of rap and hip-hop. It was even more unusual for a group to speak and sing openly of the struggles of youth. - The New Yorker

The Strange Case Of Google’s “Sentient” Artificial Intelligence

Where we’ve arrived instead is somewhere more foreign than artificial consciousness. In a strange way, a program like PaLM would be easier to comprehend if it simply were sentient. We at least know what the experience of consciousness entails. - The Atlantic

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