Our Gaps In Conversation Seem Universal, And Maybe Hard-wired

“When we talk we take turns, where the ‘right’ to speak flips back and forth between partners. This conversational pitter-patter is so familiar and seemingly unremarkable that we rarely remark on it. But consider the timing: on average, each turn lasts for around 2 seconds, and the typical gap between them is just 200 milliseconds—barely enough time to utter a syllable. That figure is nigh-universal. It exists across cultures, with only slight variations. It’s even there in sign language conversations.”

No, That Photo Of Drunk People And Paramedics In Manchester Is Not Like A Renaissance Painting

“Artists in those days trained for years in drawing, painting and sculpting, under exacting apprenticeship conditions, and when they did start making art in their own right, it was a deeply skilled and difficult enterprise. Works such as the Last Supper or the Sistine ceiling are among the greatest miracles of human achievement. It’s an insult to the capabilities of human beings at their most refined to casually compare this photograph with these works.”

Novelist Manuel Ramos Keeps History Real In His Books About Denver

“He is known as a crime writer, but that doesn’t quite capture what he does. His books are love stories, political dramas, mordant cautionary tales. Characters who are Latino, black and white, artists, professionals and laborers, are described in staccato chapters, like a catchy corrido. ‘It’s hard to find anything about Latinos in fiction about Denver,’ Ramos says. ‘I’m doing something that’s not done.'”

National Symphony Names New Music Director

“Months before expected, the National Symphony Orchestra has named Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda, 51, as its new music director. He will take over in the 2017-18 season, after one season as music director designate in 2016-17, the orchestra announced. His initial contract will run through 2020-21. It’s a coup for the NSO.”