The Great Art Of Monstrous Geniuses (What To Do?)

Despite ample evidence to the contrary, many people remain stubbornly inclined to believe that great artists like Levine are somehow immune to the temptation to conduct themselves contemptibly. So it will be interesting to see what happens when the attention of the public turns, as it undoubtedly will, to the misconduct of still greater artists of the past.

Why Has A Once Obscure Canadian Psychology Professor Become So “Dangerous”?

“There have been several calls for his ouster from the University of Toronto — where he’s tenured — including a recent open letter to the dean of the faculty of arts and science signed by hundreds, including many of his fellow professors. Friends refuse to comment on him lest they be associated with his image. Critics hesitate, too, for fear that his supporters will unleash their online wrath. A graduate student at another Canadian university was reprimanded for showing a short video clip of Peterson to a group of undergraduates. One of the professors taking her to task likened Peterson to Hitler.”

Welcome To The Era Of The Crowd (And What It’s Doing To Us)

Because tech companies like Facebook and Google make money off the sale of our personal data to advertisers, they depend on the attention of the masses to survive. And because their algorithms shape much of what we see online, it’s to their benefit to coerce us into thinking of ourselves not as individuals but as members of groups. “The big tech companies,” Franklin Foer writes, “Propel us to join the crowd—they provide us with the trending topics and their algorithms suggest that we read the same articles, tweets, and posts as the rest of the world.”

Listening To Classical Music Every Day Saved My Sanity, And It Can Save Yours

Freelance writer, BBC Radio 3 presenter, and mother of a toddler Clemency Burton-Hill: “It turned out that, when I converted my listening habits into a conscious daily ritual, I began to feel less anxious almost immediately. I curated myself monthly classical playlists with a specific piece for each day. Getting on the Tube and pressing play, instead of automatically being sucked into a social media scroll hole, seemed to be spiritually stabilising. I began to look disproportionately forward to it. And it occurred to me that, if I could benefit in such a meaningful way from this small but powerful act of soul maintenance, so might others.”

Saltz: Border Wall Prototypes Are Minimalist Art

Jerry Saltz: “As with much minimalism, these prototypes are hard-edged geometry and impervious materials brought into the American landscape of the West and arranged to impose order, inspire awe, and try to manage and align mystic political forces — and to make something that while instantly obsolete, like some useless Stalin Gulag project, meant to last forever. Trump has made something that evokes a real monument — one that may correctly be said to stand for everything he believes in. And I think mustn’t be forgotten.”

Frank Lloyd Wright Building Bulldozed In Montana

“The owner of a historic Frank Lloyd Wright building in Whitefish, Montana razed the structure last week, immediately after last-minute negotiations with preservationists attempting to buy it fell through. Designed in 1958 – one year before Wright’s death – as a medical clinic, the 5,000-square-foot building is the first Wright-designed one to be demolished in over 40 years.”

Hugh Wilson, 74, Created ‘WKRP In Cincinnati’ And Directed ‘Police Academy’ And ‘The First Wives’ Club’

Mr. Wilson worked his way into comedy writing after starting out in advertising, and in 1978 he graduated from writer to creator when WKRP made its debut. … [He] introduced a different brand of misfits in Police Academy, his first feature-film directing assignment, for which he was also one of the screenwriters.”

Compulsory English Baccalaureate In UK Will Exclude 133,000 Students From The Arts

“The move towards a compulsory EBacc is likely to deepen the divide in the take-up of arts subjects between more affluent and higher achieving students and those facing more disadvantages. The Cambridge figures also reveal that drama, music, fine art and dance GCSEs are all taken up by fewer pupils from deprived areas and fewer lower attainers than others. Art and design is the only arts subject that bucks this trend.”