“Shame is one of the central subjects of Giovanni’s Room … But that’s not stating it strongly enough: the whole novel is a kind of anatomy of shame, of its roots and the myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do. … That was the balm of the book when I first read it, the sense it gives that the tragedy it recounts is anything but inevitable.”
An Olfactory Artist Recreates The Aromas Of 35 Cities
Sissel Tolaas has a collection – a library, if you will – of more than 6,500 odors in airtight cans as well as a “smell camera” she travels with. She’s created what she calls SmellScapes of towns as varied as Mexico City, Paris, Berlin, Cape Town, London, Kansas City, and, most recently, Singapore. Here’s how she does it.
Now That Computers Dominate Chess, Some Of The Art Of The Game Has Been Lost
“Grandmasters that have grown up with most of their training in the computer era play a much more objective style of chess. They’re less willing to dismiss a move because it’s ugly, or doesn’t appeal to their aesthetics.”
Survey: More UK Adults Prefer Theatre Than Sport For A Night Out
“A forthcoming report finds 26% of British adults identify theatre or opera as a great evening activity, compared with 17% who said the same for sports. Overall, 45% of British adults enjoy going to see live performance across all genres, rising to 63% among the under 25s.”
Are The Van Goghs Real Or Not – There’s Money And Reputations On The Line
If you do the math, 65 times, it amounts to more than $180 million: a handsome sum for an offhand find and well worth continuing to court experts over, even in the face of expert dismissals and disavowals. When the Van Gogh Museum rejected the sketchbook outright in 2008 — calling the works “monotonous, clumsy and spiritless” — the owners simply sought more opinions until they found one that fit.
The Steven Galloway Scandal Has Fractured Canada’s Star Literary Community
“Canada’s literary community punches above its weight. Its achievements are notable, but its numbers are relatively small. People tend to know one another – from school, teaching gigs, the writers’ festival circuit. All of this has now ruptured. Some long, meaningful friendships have dissolved. The program Galloway once led has ugly scars and deep divisions. Some very good people have left, or are leaving.”
Want To Study The British Monarchy’s Archives? Better Have A Non-propelling Pencil
This is a truly creepy story of mysterious secrets controlled by a private cabal of gatekeepers who deny researchers for no clear reason and seem to “regard their role, in part, as guarding the reputation of the British monarchy.”
The Factory Practice Of Reading Out Loud Inspired And Mobilized Workers In Cigar Factories
This is a story of the human readers – called “lectors” – and their political affiliations, and how technology changed everything.
Leonard Cohen Was Many Things, And One Was That He Was Unapologetically ‘Judaism’s Bard’
“It seems an obvious point, but it nods to a larger one that was either overlooked or underplayed in the extensive obituaries that followed Cohen’s death last week. Put simply, Cohen was an intensely Jewish artist — along with Philip Roth, perhaps the most deeply Jewish artist of the last century.”
The Beatdown About How The U.S. Should Archive Fashion
Essentially, there’s an argument between two methods. Both methods are on display right now, one in Michigan and one at the Met. “It seems we are a country riven not just by politics but — though rather more gently — curatorial approaches to clothes: populist versus elite; contextualized versus abstracted; local versus global.”
Sculptures You Can Only See If You’re A SCUBA Diver
It’s a destination artwork near California’s Catalina Island: “The structures are subject to the elements, dramatically changing appearance with the shifting tides, waning daylight, churning water and movement of divers, not to mention the instincts of fish — which were later spotted inside the pavilions, along with a sea lion mesmerized by his own reflection.”
What Did ‘Hamilton’ Star Brandon Victor Dixon Say About The Election *Before* Mike Pence Went To The Show?
The actor, who succeeded Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, was asked what the Founding Fathers might have said. “Democracy is at work. … We had an election between two contentious individuals and one side won. That’s what it is.”
Chair Of First Prize For Black, Asian And Minority Ethnic Writers Tells British Publishing It’s ‘Pathetic’
The prize is a thousand pounds, and British publishers have barely been able to scrape together 50 entries with the deadline two weeks away. “We’ve got loads of stuff from tiny publishers, really tiny ones. But where are the big ones? The fact is that they’re not publishing.”
This Spy Wanted To Pull A Snowden, Sort Of, But His Dyslexia Led To His Downfall
When an informer turned in a package from the spy, the FBI realized that his misspellings were the key – and there weren’t that many people this could be.
Can Netflix Win Over Its Harshest Critics, That Is, Pretty Much Everyone In France?
France really, really does not like Netflix. But Netflix is like a particularly persistent puppy, and it keeps going back and back to France with new and different ideas (and big eyes and a wagging tail). Did it get things right this year?
Boulder Ballet Tries A ‘Gentle’ Nutcracker For Audience Members With Autism
The Ballet, along with the Boulder Phil, is trying out a “sensory-friendly” ballet for kids and adults who may need to move or make sounds during the performance. Lights will be up at 35 percent, staff are on hand to answer questions, there’s a designated ‘quiet room’ and much more.
Sharon Jones Of The Dap-Kings, Who Was ‘Too Short, Too Black, And Too Fat,’ Has Died At Age 60
She was a “powerhouse singer” who had to do things like work as an armed security guard at Wells Fargo to support herself before finally hitting it big as the leader of a soul revival – and then finding out she had pancreatic cancer.
The German Government Stepped In To Save Thomas Mann’s House In Los Angeles
Wow, this is really pretty great: According to Germany’s foreign minister, the house will “be developed into a cultural center for debate over major trans-Atlantic issues, including migration, exile and integration. The house would also offer residency fellowships for artists and intellectuals.”
Trump Supporters Call For A Hamilton Boycott (And Twitter Is Filled With The Gleeful Idea That People Can Finally Get Tickets)
Like the “Trump Starbucks” thing organized to buy punish Starbucks by buying coffee and asking for it to be under the name Trump, this appears to be going well. “Finally, there were, naturally, a handful of ‘Hamilton’-related Joe Biden memes that cropped up to join the Twitter fray.”
“Hamilton” Cast Lectures, Audience Boos, Mike Pence; Trump Cries Rude!
It was a deeply felt and altogether rare appeal from the stage of a Broadway show — and it drew a surprisingly sharp rebuke from Mr. Trump on Saturday morning. The president-elect tweeted that the “Hamilton” cast had “harassed” Mr. Pence by making the statement and had been “very rude.”