Her work touched millions of people deeply, and not only those who consider themselves poets or poetry lovers. Oliver’s work managed to do something rare: It reached people who didn’t particularly like or “get” contemporary poetry. – Washington Post
Tag: 01.18.19
The Power Of Theatre: “Hamilton” In Puerto Rico
In bringing “Hamilton” to Puerto Rico, Lin Manuel Miranda called international attention to the island’s progress and also to its daunting obstacles. The island, in return, projected both its hopes and its frustrations onto the show. – The New Yorker
Everything Is (Could Be) A Museum Now
Cassie Grimaldi imagines some new contenders, such as the Center for Translation Of Vague Posts: “At this research center, linguists will work to interpret vague social-media posts, past and present, interrogating concepts such as “Who is this subtweet about?”; “What does this away message with unsubtle emo lyrics indicate about its author’s life?”; and “What does the Facebook status ‘don’t ask!!!’ actually suggest?” People will flock to the center to view its coveted Rosetta Stone: an emoji tableau.” – The New Yorker
The World’s Largest City Made Of Ice
Every winter the Harbin (China) Ice and Snow Festival assembles 200,000 blocks of ice to make a city. Millions come to see it. “The workers, most recruited from local villages, spend over a month each year cutting 3-foot-thick blocks of ice from the river and transporting them to the festival site, where they are sculpted and stacked by an even larger team of workers. Beginning before dawn and working through the day in temperatures that average -13 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers earn around $35 a day for some of the world’s most backbreaking labor.” – Wired
New Technology Coming Soon Will Fact Check Politicians In Real Time
Duke University researchers have developed the software. The new app for TV uses databases from Politifact and FactCheck.org to check statements made on live TV. – Washington Post (AP)
Netflix Spent $12 Billion On Video In 2018. It’s Only Going Up From There
After paying $15 billion for a “sustained ramp in its original content slate in ’19,” Netflix’s cash content spend growth will “moderate” in the years ahead, BMO Capital Markets analyst Daniel Salmon said in a research note. He anticipates Netflix’s content spending will hit $17.8 billion in 2020. – Variety
Did The People Around Robert Indiana Kidnap His “Brand” Before He Died?
It certainly looks that way. And now there are some recent sculptures (and ideas) that might need taking back… – The New York Times
Why Would Writers Sign Morality Clauses For Twitter?
“Off the top of my head, too-hot-to-handle topics now include anything to do with gender, sex, race, immigration, disability, social class, obesity and Islam (surely that list is too short). Writers who sign contracts with morality clauses would naturally shy from expressing views that depart from the dominant political orthodoxy, lest whole manuscripts be rejected and their advances be withdrawn.” – The Spectator
A Bad Idea Backed By Philosophy (Is Still A Bad Idea)
Sometimes philosophers argue for conclusions far outside the domain of ‘respectable’ positions; conclusions that could be hijacked by those with intolerant, racist, sexist or fundamentalist beliefs to support their stance. – Aeon
How Performing Arts Centers Are Evolving For The 21st Century
‘We really see that we have a role in creating pathways for creative people who are local and who are in the community to create work, have their ideas and get their work onto a stage – pathways for their work to find its way out into the wider world. And then the other way is pathways into this region, bringing work from the rest of the world to Geelong to keep us excited about what the arts are. That’s one of the ways that we’re starting to think about it for ourselves.’ – ArtsHub