“Since Sunday, the Louvre’s staff had been refusing to work, fearful they might catch the coronavirus from someone among the museum’s more than 30,000 daily visitors. … The museum’s management, its doctor and staff representatives met throughout Tuesday to consider measures to protect workers from the virus, and employees voted Wednesday morning to accept them.” – The New York Times
Tag: 03.04.20
Simon & Schuster Up For Sale
It is unclear how much ViacomCBS, which has owned the publisher for more than 25 years, might fetch from the sale. Book publishing is no longer a growth business but its revenue has been relatively stable in recent years. Simon & Schuster has some of the world’s most recognizable authors, including Mary Higgins Clark, Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough. – Los Angeles Times
Calls To Cancel SXSW; Concert Industry Shudders
This was going to be one of the busiest summers ever for festivals and stadium shows, so any disruption is going to have an impact,” said Dave Brooks, senior director of live and touring for Billboard. “If there are cancellations, and if it’s a down year for the industry, [top concert promoters] Live Nation and AEG could probably weather it, but it could be a death knell for some independent promoters.” – Los Angeles Times
How Quickly Rome Collapsed Under Coronavirus
“I had not noticed anything strange, but then I walked through the historic center, and it hit me: in the past few weeks, as the virus spread, the city emptied out. The crowds lining up to enter the Colosseum or visit the Forum have thinned; the mobs throwing coins in the Trevi Fountain or climbing the Spanish Steps have all but vanished; restaurants and bars usually overflowing with patrons are almost vacant. It is customary, of course, to lament the phenomenon of mass tourism in Italy; even the tourists themselves grumble and dream (as I do) of how nice it would be to visit the Sistine Chapel in solitary splendor. But the actual effect of the emptying out, at least for the current reason, is terrifying.” – The New Yorker
Publishers Pull Out Of Emerald City ComicCon In Seattle Over Coronavirus Fears
The event drew 98,000 attendees last year and, as COVID-19 spreads in Washington state, many are worried that a large public setting such as ECCC may be a breeding ground for infection. Notably, in 2009, PAX, a video gaming convention in Seattle, spread H1N1 virus, or swine flu, to at least 100 attendees. Washington’s Department of Health has already advised people, especially people over 60, to stay away from large gatherings. Yet, ECCC is still happening. – The Stranger
The Show Must Go On – How Performers Are Adapting During Coronavirus
While the coronavirus has taken a big toll on the arts world in terms of closed venues and canceled events, it has also spurred plenty of show-must-go-on creativity in some of the hardest-hit areas, as performers and organizations have tried to adapt to trying circumstances. – The New York Times
London Book Fair Canceled Over COVID Fears
The event was already set to be a ghost town when it opened its doors, after publishers and rights agencies began withdrawing en masse over the last week. Some of the world’s biggest, including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Hachette had already pulled out, as had Amazon and a host of literary agencies including Curtis Brown. – The Guardian
Misplaced Priorities? We’re Studying “The Brain” But Not People
The more we learn about genetics and the brain, the more impossibly complicated both reveal themselves to be. We have picked no low-hanging fruit after three decades and $50 billion because there simply is no low-hanging fruit to pick. The human brain has around 86 billion neurons, each communicating with thousands of others via hundreds of chemical modulators, leading to trillions of potential connections. No wonder it reveals its secrets only very gradually and in piecemeal fashion. – Aeon