“It’s like what ‘Michelangelo’ said, right? He’s working with the marble and taking away everything that’s not the sculpture. And let’s put Michelangelo in quotes, ’cause was he really the one who actually said that? But, anyway, the idea still holds. I feel that whatever I’m writing exists already. … Like I’m following something through the woods. Eyes open. Ears open. Heart open. And I’m following a path that is sometimes behind me.” A Q&A with fellow playwright and MacArthur Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. – The Paris Review
What Is Liberalism? (Whatever It Is, It Seems In Decline)
Recent debates have tended to confuse rather than clarify matters. In left-of-center discourse, “liberalism” and “leftism” are often invoked as respective shorthand for neoliberalism and social democracy. Neither of these positions sits outside the boundaries of liberalism, broadly construed, and most of the positions currently marked as leftist have been supported in other times and places by those we’d describe as liberals. Still, even if this confrontation doesn’t signal a verdict on liberalism tout court, it does at least provide clear battle lines in a conflict with real stakes. – Dissent
How Philanthropy Can Get Smarter About Risk Management
“Donors are often confused about the appropriate levels of social risk and reward they should target in their philanthropy. They tell us they should bring the same risk aversion to philanthropic decision making that they display in their personal investment decision making. This is wrong. … Foundation officers and endowment managers too often prefer exceedingly safe grants and investments because of misapplied principles, biases, and concerns about their reputations.” – Stanford Social Innovation Review
Local Government Artist-in-Residence Programs Must Include Opportunities for Public Sector Innovation
“Current versions of local government artist-in-residence programs typically stop short of figuring out how to induce social change by focusing too much on the artists’ narrowly defined art projects. Often what is missing from these programs is the opportunity for artists to work directly with public sector workers on addressing public sector problems.” – Stanford Social Innovation Review