What If Diversity Doesn’t Make Us Better?

“There’s a growing body of evidence that even if diversity— the kind that results from immigration — once made America stronger, it may not be doing so anymore. Robert Putnam, a liberal sociologist at Harvard, found that increased diversity corrodes civil society by eroding shared values, customs and institutions. People tend to “hunker down” and retreat from civil society, at least in the short and medium term.”

Why Missy Mazzoli Is The Composer Of Her Generation

“Seven or eight years ago, she started making waves with her chamber-ensemble-cum-girl-band, Victoire, a group with a funky alt-classical vibe that she formed as an outlet for performing her own music. Listening to the band’s post-minimalist drones overlaid with expressive spasms of melody in an electronic haze, playing at the Atlas on H Street in 2011, you might not have guessed that Mazzoli’s work was going to veer into the world of mainstream opera. But on Friday, the Washington National Opera will be presenting the world premiere of her third opera, a 70-minute piece called “Proving Up,” and the opera world counts the company lucky to get it.”

How Podcasts Are Democratizing Learning

“In a nation always on the go, it does seem as if the most serious intellectual production and consumption has been confined to the cloisters of higher education, where an elite professoriate soaks in high ideas in paneled seminar rooms safe from the hurly-burly of daily life. But what if a technology was able to bridge the gap, accommodating our culture’s hyperkinetic habits while also bringing to it gems of intellectual wealth from the ivory tower? To a large extent this is exactly what the best educational podcasts—which stress learning for the sake of learning—are doing.”

Artist Sells Off Space On Original Rauschenberg Piece To Advertisers

“Artist Nikolas Bentel is on a mission to destroy an original Robert Rauschenberg in a project intended to emphasize how the art market is, in his words, ‘a glorified stock market.’ Beginning this week, the artist – who is part of the New Museum-led incubator New Inc. – is selling off sections of the artwork as advertising space, so its surface will eventually be covered with an eclectic assortment of images.”

Here’s What A No-Deal Brexit Could Cost UK’s Culture Sector

The report predicts changes in employment and growth for key sectors of the economy across five scenarios, which model for whether the UK remains in the single market, in the customs union, secures a transition deal, or achieves a preferable trade agreement with the EU. “In total, creative industries across the country stand to lose up to £3.3bn and 27,000 jobs as a result of a no-deal hard Brexit,” a spokesperson for the Mayor said.