“Each of the attendees submits a screening form in advance and undergoes a COVID rapid test on-site, in an ivory-walled corridor that suggests a 1940s hospital on a Ryan Murphy set. Face masks are mandatory; wearable “passports” reflect row assignments, and the “Social Distance Ground Crew” lights the way with tarmac-style batons. To me—effectively a pandemic-era shut-in, having spent the year working from home—the protocols married the politeness of a school field trip with the novelty of an intergalactic mission.” – Vanity Fair
India’s Top Documentary Filmmaker Can Barely Show His Work There Anymore
“[Anant] Patwardhan views his filmmaking practice as comprehensive — not just researching, shooting, and completing films, but also taking them on tour and holding discussions, involving the communities and people he profiles. … Even if he is routinely cited as India’s leading documentarian, actually showing his films there is a bedeviling challenge” — especially his latest, Vivek (“Reason”), about the current wave of Hindu nationalism.” – Hyperallergic
Researchers Use AI To Analyze Dead Sea Scrolls
For their study, the researches utilized artificial intelligence technology to examine the writing on the scrolls, comparing the look of certain letters and analyzing patterns that appear in the ink. The study did not offer details on the identities of the two possible authors of these texts. – ARTnews
Ten Trends In Architecture To Combat Climate Change
From reducing waste and maximising urban greenery to collaboration and lobbying for change, solutions to reduce pressure on the planet are now taking centre stage. – Dezeen
NPR And PRX To Offer Paid Subscription Option For Podcasts
NPR will give listeners the choice to pay — via its own platforms, Apple, or Spotify — a yet-undetermined monthly fee in order to receive its podcasts without advertising sponsorship messages; the network will also make this option available to member stations for their podcasts. PRX will offer a $4.99 monthly subscription to podcasts it distributes via four channels on Apple Podcasts; again, subscribers will be able to bypass underwriting announcements. – Current
How Those Algorithms Manipulate Your Behavior
University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler and Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein popularized the term “nudge” in 2008, but due to recent advances in AI and machine learning, algorithmic nudging is much more powerful than its non-algorithmic counterpart. With so much data about workers’ behavioral patterns at their fingertips, companies can now develop personalized strategies for changing individuals’ decisions and behaviors at large scale. These algorithms can be adjusted in real-time, making the approach even more effective. – Harvard Business Review
The Contentious History Of Grammar Books
In that era, a Grammar was second only to a Bible as a necessary object in a God-fearing household. While the Bible provided moral instruction, the Grammar, as a guide to correct linguistic behavior, might shore up confidence and help one get ahead in the world. A pageant of pedants, both male and female, squabbled for their share of the market. – The New Yorker
Jerry And Kenny’s Excellent NFT Adventure
Jerry Saltz and Kenny Schachter team up to “test” the NFT market. “To be clear, NFTism doesn’t necessarily disrupt anything but rather presents a market alternative to the traditional gallery system. In the process, it ushered in a unexpected audience of crypto collectors, empowered a whole new generation of artists with easy access to that audience, and instilled the (potential) windfall of a 10 percent resale residual to NFT artists in perpetuity. On another note, make no mistake, this is not just the domain of the youngin’s. There are a slew of artists well into their 70’s and 80’s” – Artnet
Tempest Storm, Last Of The Great Old-Time Striptease Artists, Dead At 93
“Routinely named in the same ardent breath as the great 20th-century ecdysiasts Lili St. Cyr, Blaze Starr and Gypsy Rose Lee, Ms. Storm was every inch as ecdysiastical as they, and for far longer. … [She] continued plying her craft until she was in her 80s — not because she had to, but because she could.” (And, by the way, she said about her way of working, “I think taking off all your clothes — and I’ve never taken off all my clothes — is not only immoral but boring.”) – The New York Times
What Ever Happened To All Those Quibi Shows? They’re Now ‘Roku Originals’
“The streaming device maker will rebrand the Quibi library, which it bought in January, as Roku Originals in the run-up to debuting them on its free, ad-supported Roku Channel later in the year. Any future original programming will fall under that banner as well. … The Roku Originals library includes some 75 shows” — with expensive talent and production values — “from Quibi, including a dozen that hadn’t been released when Quibi shut down in late 2020,” collapsing after about six months of operation. – The Hollywood Reporter
The New Whitest-Ever White Paint Could Potentially Replace Air Conditioning
The paint, developed at Purdue University’s mechanical engineering department, reflects 98.1 percent of the sun’s rays, while the strongest heat-resistant white paints currently on the market reflect 80 to 90 percent. The new pigment’s superpower is that, by absorbing so little infrared heat, it actually cools the material it’s covering below the ambient temperature. (So far, tests show 8 degrees below ambient at noon and 19 degrees at night.) Nothing like that has ever been achieved before, and the potential implications are huge. – Smithsonian Magazine
Bad Feelings At Second City In Chicago: Old Food Service Staff Is Fired And President Resigns
The 90-odd people who worked, some for decades, as waiters, bartenders, dishwashers and the like were told last fall that their furloughs were officially layoffs. But now Second City has a new owner and is making plans to reopen — and those workers find out that, rather than getting a chance at their old jobs, all catering at the theater is being outsourced. (The new contractor says former staffers get first crack at applying for the new jobs.) Meanwhile, president and CEO Steve Johnston has up and quit. – Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)
Researchers Figure Out Why Some Picassos Have Deteriorated More Quickly Than Others
“The study centred on four paintings inspired by the Ballets Russes, the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev’s itinerant dance troupe, which Picasso produced in no more than a few months while working at a friend’s studio in Barcelona in 1917.” – The Art Newspaper
Classical Music Podcasts Are Coming Into Their Own
“Classical music has been surprisingly slow to embrace podcasting, a medium ideally suited to illuminate its sounds and stories. But something changed in the last year, with live performances on hold because of the pandemic and the music industry belatedly exploring new platforms.” Joshua Barone has a look at three notable podcasts, including one that follows the creative process of three composers over weeks. – The New York Times
Detroit Symphony’s Long-Serving CEO, Anne Parsons, To Retire Next Year
“Parsons faced a financially embattled DSO when she took the reins in 2004, followed by grueling labor strife several years later. She ultimately helped guide the organization to fiscal stability, along with global acclaim for a series of pioneering digital initiatives. Parsons also oversaw the appointment of two music directors, Leonard Slatkin in 2007 and Jader Bignamini in 2020.” – Detroit Free Press
The Pursuit of Equity
The intent is to overcome the very real danger that the nonprofit arts industry’s “equity statements” could easily become like the “thoughts and prayers” responses to mass shootings — worthy sentiments that lead nowhere. Without “feet to the fire” targets of some kind it’s too easy to slide into the comfort of the status quo. – Doug Borwick