“By bringing the tools of computation and machine intuition to the table, AI researchers are giving us a more complete picture of how we learn. They are also broadening the study of education to include quantitative, numerical models of the learning process itself. “The thing that AI brings to the table is that it forces us to get into the details of how everything works,” says John Laird, a computer scientist at the University of Michigan. If there was any doubt that good teachers are important, machine learning is helping put it to rest.”
South America’s Favorite New Telenovelas Are Coming From — Turkey
“Dubbed into Spanish and Portuguese, [What is Fatmagul’s Fault?] has been a big hit across South America over the past year. In Argentina alone, episodes are viewed by more than 12 million people. And the show is far from a one-off, with a growing number of Turkish TV dramas among the most watched programmes across the continent.”
Political Protest, Philip Glass Operas, And ‘The Battle Hymn Of The Republic’
Alison Kinney: “I heard my first Glass opera, Satyagraha, days after a protest where I witnessed the use of unnecessary force by police against protesters … Since then, I’ve never heard the structures of Glass’s music simply as formal sound projections, onto a backdrop of historical source material. Now, I hear in the musical forms the forms of nonviolent resistance itself: holding steady, taking small steps forward, being beaten back, and getting up again.”
The Binge-Watching TV Critic’s Guilty Pleasures
Anyone who watches only “good” television reveals himself as a television skeptic. Anyone who likes only “good” television reveals himself as an automaton.
Book Critic: Why I Read Amazon Reader Reviews
“Here’s my semi-shameful secret: I like reader reviews. I often make a point of seeking them out. When reporters used to interview me on the subject, I’d feel obliged to note that you can find reviews on Amazon and (even more commonly) on Goodreads that are as considered, thorough, and well-written as anything that used to appear in your local newspaper. But actually I don’t care much about those reviews. I already know how people like me, people who read books professionally and with a particular set of aesthetic values, respond to a text. I go to reader reviews to see how the other half reads.”
Spock, Picard, And The Lessons Of ‘Star Trek’
“Spock’s inner struggle embodied the conflict at the heart of the series. It pitted unchecked, anarchical emotion against stoic rationality, atavism against civilization, present against future. … Picard and his crew were all human carbon copies of Spock – even-keeled, rational, and almost impossibly ethical. … That left little room for identification. You could aspire to be more like Picard, the very model of compassion and culture, but you could never truly understand his moral universe. He was nothing like us twenty-first-century humans. He was too alien.”
The Rules Of Language We All Know But Can’t Name
“You are utterly familiar with the rule of ablaut reduplication. You’ve been using it all your life. It’s just that you’ve never heard of it. But if somebody said the words zag-zig, or ‘cross-criss you would know, deep down in your loins, that they were breaking a sacred rule of language. You just wouldn’t know which one.”
The Man Who Wants To Fix Barnes & Noble
Some of that decline was attributed to a lack of new big hits to compete with a string of blockbusters last year, and to a cooling off of the sale of adult coloring books. A poor retail environment that cut into store traffic was another factor hurting sales, but B&N founder Len Riggio, who has returned as CEO following the dismissal of Ron Boire in August, acknowledged that B&N “[shot] ourselves in the foot somewhat by making unprecedented inventory reductions,” as well as “cutting expenses in the worst areas, mainly retail floor personnel.”
Jerry Saltz: The Lost Generations Of Critics
“I think we lost three generations of critics to academicism, writers made skittish about their own opinions, afraid, only following a party-line of preapproved taste, deluded into believing that there is such a thing as objectivity, and only writing for a tiny audience of employed institutionalists who might dole out a job. Or maybe I’m just trying to rationalize never being offered tenure or even a full time teaching job.”
Selling Books Can Make You Better At Writing Books
“What does working in a bookstore do to a writer, that isn’t done in an MFA workshop or in some other, self-cultivated environment devoted to books? For me, it’s radically expanded my reading list, my relationship to books, and how I treat the work of other writers in relation to my own.”
Lady Chablis Kept Us Riveted In ‘Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil’
“Ms. Chablis was a standout character in the book, in which the author, John Berendt, introduced the world to Savannah and the sometimes eccentric people who live there.”
Can Dancing Make You A Better Person?
“The evidence suggests that training in the physical expressions made the dancers more sensitive to them. And this indicates an interesting possibility, that the neurocognitive mechanisms that make people more sensitive can be trained.”
I’m A Deaf Actor, And I Don’t Want It To Define The Roles I Play
Genevieve Barr: “It’s an incredibly limiting way to live and to work. And because I have a disability that I cannot hide (or fully disguise), that means I stay firmly in the bracket of ‘deaf actor’, rather than ‘actor’. In the rigidity of the casting process, that can mean fewer than 10 auditions per year. … I can lip-read and hear with the use of hearing aids. Not as clearly as you, mind, but unlike you, I can crank up the volume. If my back is turned and you’re talking to me, I am probably not deliberately ignoring you. If you call out ‘house lights going dark’ and forget to tell me, I may fall off the stage. Working with me doesn’t sound so terrible, does it?”
“I’m Done With Going To The Theatre To Watch Movies”
“As a baby boomer, I find that my days of settling in to a short subject, cartoon and B movie with a box of popcorn and some candy are way over. I want to focus on a well-made movie in silence. Instead, I have to endure a reserved seat where I am stuck, typically around people chomping on their popcorn, fidgeting with candy wrappers, talking and checking the latest text on their cellphones.”
Remember That Sweet Story About 2 Museum Directors On Opposite Coasts Falling In Love? Here’s More
The original story in the NYT detailed the love story. Here’s more background: Anne Radice was for a time head of the NEA. She was “criticized for appearing to save the NEA but effectively neutering it—for doing what her predecessor had been fired for not doing when he stood up for art on First Amendment grounds. In quick succession, Radice followed words with actions.”
Brian Eno Denies Permission For Israeli Dance Company To Use His Music
“Eno, a prominent supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign aimed at Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, wrote to the dance company last month to deny them permission to use his music. Eno is also one of 1,200 artists who have signed the Artists’ Pledge for Palestine, refusing funding from or cultural contacts with Israel’s government.”
If ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Premiered Today Instead Of 45 Years Ago, Would It Be Less Controversial Or More?
Producer Richard Jordan: “In 2016, we consider public opinions, attitudes and tolerance to be much broader. We even mock the once-absurd and prudish reactions and attitudes of past generations. … [But] I question whether the reaction towards it would actually be more extreme … today. Would it even make it to the stage at all?”
Artist-In-Residence On a Container Ship Stranded At Sea
“The residency took an more decisive turn towards the strange this past week when the Hanjin Shipping Company, the world’s seventh-largest container line, filed for bankruptcy on August 31, leaving the current artist-in-residence, Rebecca Moss, and the crew on the Hanjin Geneva stranded off the coast of Japan.”
1,200-Year-Old Mosque Destroyed By Saudi Airstrike In Yemen
“The ninth-century mosque of the Prophet Shuaibi in the Bani Matar area of Sana’a, the capital city of Yemen, was destroyed by an air strike on 25 August. … The mosque, located on the Arabian Peninsula’s highest mountain, the Shu-aib Mountain, was known for the wooden carvings on its ceiling, according to UNESCO …, and was a holy place for pilgrims to the nearby tomb of the Prophet Shu-aib’.”
American Dance Institute Rebrands Itself As Lumberyard (Lumberyard?)
After closing its dance school in order to focus on developing and presenting new choreography and moving from metro D.C. to New York, the organization is preparing to open a four-building performance and residency center – called Lumberyard (hence the new name) – in Catskill, New York in 2018.
As Audience Numbers Rise, Donations To Arts Orgs Drop, Says Study
“A new study of arts and cultural nonprofit organizations from the University of Missouri suggests that there is no evidence that donors are influenced by high attendance numbers; in fact, it may be just the opposite, since higher attendance is linked to higher earned revenue.”
Why Banks Like Wells Fargo (And Politicians, Too) Keep Slamming The Arts
“Wells Fargo’s misbegotten ad campaign was merely the latest salvo in the ongoing disparagement of the arts and humanities as academic concentrations and career destinations, a refrain that is almost always paired with cheers for ostensibly more lucrative fields. … And it reflects a particular American tendency: to place the blame for massive social problems on the individual.”
The Lady Chablis, Scene-Stealer In ‘Midnight In The Garden Of God And Evil,’ Dead At 59
“Author John Berendt’s nonfiction account of life in Savannah was a pop-culture phenomenon of the 1990s and featured Lady Chablis as a sassy, blunt-spoken character who exposed some of the city’s dirty laundry. [She] insisted on playing herself in the 1997 movie directed by Clint Eastwood … and was featured in Time magazine and appeared on Today, Oprah and Good Morning America.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.08.16
Changemaker conference
I’m flying today — so happy to say this! — to DePauw University, where I’ll take part in … [the] 21CMPosium. … I’ve spoken many times about change in classical music, but this is the first time I’ve had an audience of changemakers. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-09-08
Brubeck Trio: Two “Indianas” Explained
Drummer, Rifftides reader and close listener Tarik Townsend expands here on his analysis of two 1949 Dave Brubeck Trio takes of “Indiana.” The discussion grew out of … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-09-08
The Higher Criticism and The Good Food Guide
The Good Food Guide is a peculiarly British phenomenon, founded in 1951 by one Christian socialist classical scholar … and edited for many years by another. More accurately, they … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-09-08
Gard Foundation Symposium–Our Communities: Day 2
Yesterday I began my reporting from The Robert E. Gard Foundation’s Our Communities: A Symposium on the Arts at The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread’s conference center. Today was a full day presenting the history and … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-09-08
[ssba_hide]
It’s Official: Fort Worth Symphony Musicians Are On Strike
“The musicians officially went on strike at 12:30 p.m. Thursday and symphony management subsequently canceled this weekend’s upcoming concerts … The strike, which was authorized by union members on Tuesday evening, comes one day after symphony management issued its ‘last, best and final offer,’ in contract talks. The offer was characterized by union leadership as the same proposal that musicians voted to reject on Sunday evening.”