“Ancient stories, and texts that have stood the test of time, can be portals to honest and dignified grappling with present wounds and longings and callings that we aren’t able to muster in our official places now. It’s an embodiment of the good Greek word catharsis — releasing both insight and emotions that have had no place to go, and creating an energizing relief.” Krista Tippett interviews Bryan Doerries, founder and director of the project Theater of War. (audio) – On Being
The MTV Show ‘The Real World’ Jump-Started Reality TV As We Know It, But At A Huge Cost
In 1992, television wasn’t all about the latest competition or race or humiliation reported to the camera. So when The Real World started, it was a shock. Perhaps not as much of a shock – but a choice that has echoed for nearly three decades – is the way the show framed Black cast members. “The show often sacrificed nuance in favor of drama when framing the Black castmates for the network’s predominantly white audience.” – BuzzFeed
A Monument To Jefferson Davis In The Hands Of Anti-Racist Activists Becomes A Toilet
The monument, stolen (or “liberated,” if you prefer) from a cemetery in Alabama, will now be returned to its former owners, United Daughters of the Confederacy. “‘Everything about the South is painfully polite, even the racism, that is, until it’s not. We don’t have the luxury of being polite,’ the activists said in a statement. ‘We aren’t doing this for parades, to dress up and relive the glory days.'” – Hyperallergic
How Blockchain Is Transforming Partnerships
Blockchains may radically transform many facets of business life, but they’re a tool particularly well suited for collaborations. Put simply, blockchains are digital ledgers where several people have joint control over the shared information — a feature that makes them ideal for situations where trust and information sharing are important. The technical design of blockchains makes it virtually impossible anyone to change the contents of the ledger without approval from the other parties. Moreover, they can be paired with smart contracts — programmed codes that are automatically executed once certain conditions are met. – Harvard Business Review
Twyla Tharp Talks Dance With Terry Gross
“This last year, with the pandemic and its disruptions in terms of routine, discipline, just ordinary day-to-day activities, the body doesn’t know itself at the moment. So I can’t tell you what I can ask it to do until I refamiliarize myself. And I’m in the process of doing that. … Whenever I’ve finished one of these big projects, I’m out of shape, and that’s just a given. So I’ve been in this position before, not at this age, but I know that it is a commitment to get back into shape. It’s not going to happen on its own accord.” – NPR
Workers Start Cutting 1000 150-Year-Old Oaks To Rebuild Notre Dame’s Timbers
Experts have felled 59 of the trees at the Villefermoy forest in the Seine-et-Marne region, and a further 26 oaks will be donated by four state-owned forests managed by the National Forestry Office. The massive restoration effort will need 1,000 French oak trees in total. – Artnet
How To Draw More People Into Cities Again? Build More Culture Spaces
“Culture has been a potent driver of Chicago for decades, of course, but this still is a unique moment, especially with the new availability of federal money. Hence it’s high time to develop some new cultural spaces and both the private and the public sectors will need to get involved. This change of emphasis, which seems to me inevitable, could be a win-win situation, creating jobs and restoring the vibrancy of the city.” – Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)
Even Japanese Poetry Is Getting Messed Up By Climate Change
The natural world has always been a key subject of Japanese verse, and there’s even an established body of words — kigo — that categorize various phenomena by season and thereby evoke particular emotions. For instance, referring to a typhoon in a poem is supposed to anchor it in the autumn. But Japan, like many other places, is now experiencing “season creep”: the cherry blossoms in Kyoto this year peaked earlier than ever in well over a millennium of recordkeeping, and typhoons may now hit anytime from May to December. Increasingly, the kigo system no longer makes sense. – The Economist
Netflix Makes Deal With Sony To Stream Its Movies (And Preclude Sony From Starting Its Own Streaming Service)
Sony and Netflix also inked a first-look deal for movies made exclusively for streaming, boosting the slate of Netflix originals. Sony said those films will represent increased output on top of its theatrical slate, which was about 25 films in 2019. The deal also gives Netflix first look at licensing movies from Sony’s library. – Indiewire
Impromptu Arts Relief Funds That Sprang Up In Pandemic’s Early Days May Be Around Permanently
As lockdowns arrived and spread, many mutual aid networks, mostly small-scale, were put together on the fly to help the many thousands of suddenly unemployed arts workers. Those funds had been planned, and expected, to be temporary measures lasting only a couple of months. But, as the pandemic ran on and shutdowns continued, furloughs became layoffs; even now, as more Americans are getting vaccinated, much of the arts world won’t restart operations fully for more months or even the end of the year. So a number of those mutual aid groups are reorganizing as permanent entities. – Artnet
First Day For Performance Venues To Apply For Federal Pandemic Relief Was A Disaster
“As the government prepared on Thursday to start taking applications for a $16 billion relief fund for music clubs, theaters and other live event businesses, thousands of desperate applicants waited eagerly to submit their paperwork right at noon, when the system was scheduled to open. And then they waited. And waited. … Shortly after 4 p.m., the Small Business Administration — which runs the initiative, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program — abandoned its effort to salvage the broken system and shut down it down for the day.” – The New York Times
One Of Philadelphia’s Leading Pianists Held For Trial On Sexual Assault Charge
“[A] now-21-year-old Temple [University] student said that Mikhail Yanovitsky, 56, hugged, kissed, and fondled her while she practiced piano in a classroom at Temple’s Rock Hall in February 2020, then forced her to touch him sexually over his clothing while he spoke of ‘eroticism.'” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
This $1,780 Painting May Actually Be A Caravaggio
The 44″-by-34″ depiction of Christ with the crown of thorns was thought to be by José de Ribera, a minor 17th-century Spanish artist, and had been slated for auction in Madrid with an expected value of about €1,500. Then curators at the Prado declared that there’s “sufficient stylistic and documentary evidence” to believe it might be Caravaggio’s work, and the Spanish government promptly put an export ban on it. – Artnet
Protestors Occupying French Theatres Carefully Dance Through A Minefield
“After trade union representatives in Paris entered the shuttered Odéon Theater, a movement to occupy playhouses spread rapidly. … Yet with the infection rate rising, the movement finds itself facing difficult options. Protesters can’t be seen to flout restrictions or draw large crowds, so there have been no impromptu plays or theatrical tableaux. … Yet public actions are needed to rally support. As a result, the occupiers have walked a fine, often awkward line amid art, safety and their political demands.” – The New York Times