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The Problem With Hatchet Job Restaurant Reviews

Ted Gioia: “Why write this way? Why compare tomato soup to totalitarian dictators? It’s fun. And it’s easy. There are no real stakes for describing bad food. For these pugilist reviewers, the worst outcome is a bored reader, and thus the sheer unimportance of the subject sanctions a degree of exuberant cruelty unmatched in any other branch of criticism.” – The New Republic

Why Right-Wing Talk Radio Is So Effective

Good talk show hosts know their job isn’t to find or interview “good guests”; it’s to build a trust relationship with their audience, cemented over years, caller after caller, day after day. Truly effective hosts like Limbaugh and Michael Savage talk to their listeners as if they’re close and trusted friends. This is a dynamic unavailable to podcasting or television, as it is impossible to replicate without live listener interaction. – The Nation

Ian Jenkins, Archaeologist And Curator Who Oversaw The Elgin Marbles, Dead At 67

“[He] always insisted that the sculptures should, like poetry or music, be thought of as superb pieces of human artistic endeavour, and regretted the role they had come to play in what today is termed contested history. He devoted many hours of research to them, reconstructing their original arrangement. This was harder than might be thought, as only about half survive, and he was quietly pleased … that some of his ideas had been incorporated into the displays at the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.” – The Guardian

Facebook’s Doom Machine

The cycle of harm perpetuated by Facebook’s scale-at-any-cost business model is plain to see. Scale and engagement are valuable to Facebook because they’re valuable to advertisers. These incentives lead to design choices such as reaction buttons that encourage users to engage easily and often, which in turn encourage users to share ideas that will provoke a strong response. – The Atlantic

The Looming Crisis For Immigrant Artists In The US

An O-1B visa is a temporary visa for “individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ultimately, it gives an artist permission to work in their job title for up to three years at a time. A crucial component to getting this kind of visa is showing evidence of substantial achievements and showing that you have work lined up for the duration of the visa. Enter Covid. – Dance Magazine

Virginia Governor Allocates $11 Million To Revamp Richmond’s Monument Avenue

“Virginia Governor Ralph Northam wants to redesign Monument Avenue, a promenade in the capital city of Richmond lined with shrines to Confederate generals” — four of which were removed as a result of Black Lives Matter demonstrations this past summer, while the fifth, of Robert E. Lee, has been covered with protest art — “and he’s tasked the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with the job.” – Artnet