Under the new system, recipients of cultural funding needn’t be non-profit organizations or individual artists. Now “businesses and unincorporated groups” are also eligible to receive money from the city. – Sightlines
The Complications Of What Tolerance And Respect Mean
“Today many regard tolerance not as the willingness to allow views that some may find offensive but the restraining of unacceptable views so as to protect people from being outraged. Regarding tolerance as the demand of those who might be offended, rather than as a permission for those who might offend is to turn the idea on its head.” – The Guardian
The Source Story For ‘King Lear’ Had A Happy Ending. Why Did Shakespeare Make It A Tragedy?
Basically, because of all the plagues everyone had been through, says Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Greg Doran. “There is a big change in tone in his later work. Academics have speculated that this was to do with political unrest and change, the wake of the gunpowder plot, but experiencing the pandemic this year has made it clearer to me what lies behind it. Shakespeare just could no longer write straightforward comedies, or give a happy ending to Lear.” – The Observer (UK)
Who The Book Thieves Are
“Historically, book thieves have come in two varieties. First, there are the rogue custodians, those who exploit their privileged access to literary treasures. In June this year, Gregory Priore, an archivist at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, was convicted of stealing more than 300 rare books and other artefacts estimated to be worth around £6m over a 20-year period. Then there are the academics – or, at least, those who profess an academic interest in the texts they go on to steal.” – The Guardian
Gitxsan Got Talent: Indigenous Community Harnesses Internet To Champion Its Culture
By harnessing the very technology that once threatened to erase it, the group is renewing interest in the language. Gitxsan communities also have a mobile app, available on both the Google play store and the Apple App store, which they use as a resource for learning the language by listening to stories and spoken words. – Global Voices
The Makings Of A New Theatre Podcast Empire?
“We launched in October, 2019 with 15 podcasts. And here we are, a little over a year later, with almost 100 podcasts. Since the beginning it was very much the plan to have podcasts and record plays, musicals, audio dramas, and soap operas. It was never to replace theater and we certainly never anticipated the pandemic. When you see a show, you want to know more. What is happening behind the curtain?” – Forbes
Playing And Singing With Plexiglas Between Musicians May Not Be As COVID-Safe As You Think
A team of engineering researchers at Princeton has been running tests on how well the clear partitions protect people from the breath droplets of others nearby. The verdict? Well, Plexiglas barriers are fine as far as they go, but that’s exactly the problem … – NJ.com
How The Internet Broke Our Brains
“Imagine the 21st-century worker as accessing two modes of thinking: productivity mind and leisure mind. When we are under the sway of the former, we are time- and results-optimizing creatures, set on proving our industriousness to the world and, most of all, to ourselves. In leisure mode, the thrumming subsides, allowing us to watch a movie or finish a glass of wine without considering how our behavior might affect our reputation and performance reviews. For several hours a week, on Sunday evening, a psychological tug-of-war between these perspectives takes place.” – The Atlantic
A Plea For Books For Christmas
“Books remain the ultimate gift: easy to wrap, available in such a multifarious array that there’s truly something for everyone and, best of all, a desperately needed break from screens in the age of TikTok and Zoom. A book does not beep at you, spy on you, sell you out to marketers, interrupt with breaking news, suck you into a doomscrolling vortex, cease to function in a nor’easter, flood your eyes with melatonin-suppressing blue light or otherwise interrupt your already troubled sleep.” – The New York Times
Ben Bova, Science Fiction Writer And Editor Of Prominent SF Magazines, 88
Bova was a “hard” science fiction writer – that is, no fantasy, but a lot of space travel and the science that might ensue. He edited Analog magazine and published new generations of writers there and at Omni, where he was the first editor. He won many Hugos and a lifetime achievement award from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation “for fueling mankind’s imagination regarding the wonders of outer space.” – The New York Times
The Head Of WarnerMedia Is Suddenly An Industry-Wide Supervillain
Jason Kilar made what he thought was a pretty decent decision, given the coronavirus – to launch Warner Bros’ entire 2021 slate both in movie theatres (well, the ones that are open) and HBO Max. Filmmakers, agents, actors, movie theatre chains, and many others are bemused or furious. To put it mildly, many in and out of Warner Media “chafe at what they see is a lack of respect for Hollywood tradition.” – The New York Times
Anthony Veasna So, Whose First Book Was The Subject Of A Bidding War, Has Died At 28
The young Cambodian-American writer died suddenly and unexpectedly at home. He was on the brink of literary stardom as “the author of crackling, kinetic and darkly comedic stories that made vivid the lives of first-generation Khmer-Americans.” His book Afterparties will be published next year. – The New York Times
Prolific New Music Composer Molly Joyce Blazes A Trail
And with one hand, at that. She’s “among the most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome. She’s composed spectral, searching works for orchestra, choir, string quartet and percussion ensemble; collaborated with virtual-reality artists, dancers and poets; and studied with the likes of Samuel Adler, Martin Bresnick and Missy Mazzoli. … She has carved a unique sound as a composer by treating disability differently: not as an impediment but as a wellspring of creative potential.” – Washington Post
Christmas Carol Is More Than Humbug, Even For Those Weary Of Tiny Tim
Truly. Even this year, or perhaps especially this year. “‘Will you decide who shall live and who shall die?’ this Ghost of Christmas Present asked Scrooge, a question asked many times this year: Is it those in government who played down the disease, those in law enforcement who disregarded Black lives or those who have put others at risk during the pandemic?” – The New York Times
Which Of Steve McQueen’s Five New Films Should You Watch First?
Whew, they’re all part of a piece, of course – that’s why they come under the title Small Axe as an anthology series – but some are more full films than others. Let’s say you have three hours. Which one, or ones, are best? – Variety
What Should MoMA Do About Philip Johnson’s Massively Racist Legacy?
Truly, the man who was the founding director of architecture and design at MoMA is now a liability – or so says Harvard, which recently took steps to remove his name from the university’s buildings and official references. “His history with fascism, antisemitism and the Nazis is well documented. He tried to start a fascist political party in the United States, attended the Nuremberg rally of 1938 and described Hitler as ‘a spellbinder.'” – The Guardian (UK)
Modern Life Has Broken Human Brains
And that’s because our conception of time is driven not by the seasons, not by the light that exists during the day, but by a relentless clock and deadlines that won’t quit. – The Atlantic
John Le Carre, Chronicler Of The Internal And External Vicissitudes Of Spy Life, Has Died At 89
Le Carré, the pen name of David Cornwell, worked for the British Foreign Service, running his own spies, in the 1940s and 1950s. Then came the George Smiley books, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and le Carré’s career rocketed up. He best “explored the gap between the west’s high-flown rhetoric of freedom and the gritty reality of defending it, in novels such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Night Manager, which gained him critical acclaim and made him a bestseller around the world.” – The Guardian (UK)