“People have been saying to me, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry you had to go through that!’ Well I’m not sorry — I think it’s the best thing that could have happened to me, considering where I am now. I feel reborn. Everything seems fresh to me. Now, how are things with you?” – Howard Mandel
Eastern Europe: Tension Between Trying To Forget Communist Past And Profiting From It
In many eastern European countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechia and Poland the locals’ desire to forget their collective traumatic past is paradoxically interwoven with the need for economic profit derived from commercialising remnants of the communist heritage. – The Conversation
At US Colleges: An Identity For Everyone
American academia is a hotbed of proliferating identities supported and largely shaped by the higher ranks of administrators, faculty, student groups, alumni, and trustees. Not all identities are equal in dignity, history, or weight. Race, gender, and sexual orientation were the three main dimensions of what in the 1970s began to be called identity politics. These traits continue to be key today. But affirmed identities are mushrooming. The slightest shared characteristic, once anchored in a narrative of pain, can give rise to a new group. – Harper’s
Mariinsky Ballet Restarted Performances, And COVID Struck. Now It’s Been Shut Down Again
“[The company] hosted galas at its St. Petersburg theaters, featuring solos and duets performed by dancers who had undergone weekly tests for coronavirus. More ambitiously, it had begun staging full-length ballets, with a run of … La Sylphide.” Audience members were kept masked and distanced, and the theatre was keeping the dancers on a fairly thorough testing and safety regime. That wasn’t enough: 30 company members have gotten sick, and ballet troupes elsewhere in Europe are watching nervously. – The New York Times
Radio Listenership Has Plunged. But NPR’s Listenership Is Up Ten Percent. Why?
Even as its legacy platform’s audience has declined, though, NPR says it is reaching more people than ever. The dip in radio listenership — 22 percent — has coincided with a record number of people turning to NPR on virtually every other platform. More people than ever are reaching NPR through the website, apps, livestreams, and smart speakers (“Alexa, I want to listen to NPR”). – NiemanLab