How Disco Changed The World (For The Better)

“In its proud and glorious mid-70s Manhattan heyday, disco was far more than that. It was a four-on-the-four bassline, euphoric strings, fierce cowbells and a soaring vocal straight out of the church and on to the dancefloor. More importantly it created a place – or rather it soundtracked a space – outside the mainstream. A place where black, Hispanic, gay and any combination thereof could come together and dance, love and just be without fear.”

The Meryl Streep Problem

“The issue isn’t really one of authenticity. Streep can be piercing in grief, as her searing Oscar-winning performance in “Sophie’s Choice” attests. But her characterizations are so well calculated that they call attention to their own artistry. The dancer is always distinguishable from the dance.”

Moving Beyond The Library To Become A Center Of Community Life

“With a bit of reverence, librarians carefully wind an antique library clock near the circulation desk in a temple of learning called the Providence Athenaeum. This is one of the oldest libraries in the United States, a 19th-century library with the soul of a 21st-century rave party. In fact, the Rhode Island institution has been called a national model for civic engagement.”

Tourists Rarely See The Louvre’s Sunny Face – Because They Enter At The Building’s Rear

“Of the millions of people who visit the Louvre each year, few ever realize that they have entered through the rear. According to the plans of Louis XIV and his ministers, Cardinal Jules Mazarin and Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the grand entrance was to be the East Front, a magnificent and perfectly preserved structure that is surely the most distinguished part of the entire Louvre complex and one of the grandest examples of architectural classicism in the world.”