While the term “think tank” is modern, it can be traced to the humanist academies and scholarly networks of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Oxford English Dictionary defines think tank as a “body of experts, as a research organization, providing advice and ideas on specific national or commercial problems.”
Tag: 01.31.17
‘The Father Of Science Fiction’? Who *Was* Hugo Of The Hugo Awards?
“The annual awards for best science fiction are called ‘Hugos.’ A futuristic story by William Gibson in 1981 was called ‘The Gernsback Continuum.’ But except for a few markers like these, Hugo Gernsback (1884-1967) has mostly vanished from our cultural memory, which is a pity, because he was an extraordinary man, and his influence on our modern age – electrical, science-permeated, and full of wonders – was outsized.”
Composer Michael Hersch Wins $250,000 Award From Johns Hopkins
The head of the composition department at the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University’s conservatory, Hersch was named the winner of the 2017 President’s Frontier Award, which goes to a JHU faculty member “poised to break new ground and be a leader in [his/her] field.”
Inside The Stained Glass Workshop At Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
A longread with photos about the conservators and craftsmen preserving traditional gypsum glass work at the Muslim holy site
Why Philosophy Has Fallen Out Of The Public Sphere
“Academic life has become more professionalised. They write for each other, not for the general reader. Academic political philosophy today, for example, has zero influence on the practice of politics.” In the 1980s it was said that Margaret Thatcher was interested in Popper, Friedrich Hayek and Michael Oakeshott. “I doubt now,” says Gray, “whether any politician could name a leading academic philosopher. No one would know who they were.”
The Singer Who Topped Charts By Embracing His Stutter
“Before his massive international hit ‘Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop),’ before selling millions of records globally in a style of music that hadn’t been popular in generations, and before he entered the National Stuttering Association’s hall of fame, Scatman John was just a kid in suburbia, … developing a stutter early in life that made communicating with others very difficult – and got him bullied.”
Gay-Themed Novel Wins Sebastian Barry His Second Costa Award
The Irish author is the first novelist to win the £30,000 prize for best book of the year in Britain twice. The winning book, Days Without End, is the story of two soldiers who fall in love during the American Civil War.
Clamp Down On Copyright? This Is Dangerous Complicated Stuff
“First, in the era of popular services like Netflix and Spotify, it ignores that music industry revenues in 2015 saw “the biggest increases in the past two decades,” while the film industry has reported record-breaking earnings—all while piracy is at an all-time low. Second, it ignores the significant promotional benefits creators receive from hosting their work on free, ad-based platforms, and the ample evidence that more restrictive copyright law does not mean less piracy. And third, claiming stronger rules will “reward creativity” is highly dubious in a world where copyright is used to silence critics, prevent sports fans from filming a match, take downa video of a child dancing to Prince, or otherwise censor speech online.”
The Myth Of A “Liberal Hollywood Elite”
“There are risks in speaking out. I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a unified liberal elite – if there were, people like Casey Affleck and Mel Gibson wouldn’t receive award nominations. (Or it means that the liberal elite is open-minded and forgiving, but that’s for another column.) But this year’s speeches have been overwhelmingly liberal. That may turn off some viewers, or make people with other opinions feel silenced. It may affect Hollywood’s bottom line: Based on box-office figures from the week before and the week of the Oscar nominations, none of the contenders I checked – Hidden Figures, La La Land, Moonlight, Fences, Lion and Jackie – showed an Oscar bump, an immediate post-nomination surge.”
In These Days The Arts Need Advocacy. This Is A Problem In Most US States
A large number of states (roughly a third) either have “no real functioning arts advocacy organization, or the existing organization was barely operational. That finding is particularly distressing as the sector now gears up for actions that may come – both on the Federal and on the State levels – that will impact the sector.”