“In other words, the use of English could be just as important to indigenous identity as mother-tongue languages.” Tristan Ahtone looks into the origins of the accent and what it signifies – to Indians themselves and to other Americans.
Tag: 03.06.17
Let’s Stop Pretending We’re Not Addicted To Our Screens
We are. We just are. “We’ll get a flood of dopamine that makes us feel wonderful in the short term, though in the long term you build a tolerance and want more.” The answer? Look to the 1950s.
Hallelujah! IKEA Introduces Furniture You Can Snap Together
“The fiddly ritual of assembling IKEA furniture is set to become a thing of the past as the furniture giant introduces products that snap together ‘like a jigsaw puzzle.'” No tools necessary! (includes video)
Our Addictions Are Multiplying In The Age Of Smartphones
In the past, we thought of addiction as mostly related to chemical substances: heroin, cocaine, nicotine. Today, we have this phenomenon of behavioral addictions where, one tech industry leader told me, people are spending nearly three hours a day tethered to their cellphones. Where teenage boys sometimes spend weeks alone in their rooms playing video games. Where Snapchat will boast that its youthful users open their app more than 18 times a day.
Imelda Staunton And Critic Agree: Eating In Your Seat Is A Crime Against Theatre
Michael Billington: “I’ve only lately become aware of how popular this is. … Some theatres, I’ve discovered, even encourage the practice by supplying a meal-and-drink package, as if their patrons might die of hunger or thirst during the arduous business of watching a play. Does it matter? I think it does.”
Where Saturday Night Live’s Trump Administration Satire Goes Flat
While the bits with Alec Baldwin (as Trump) and Melissa McCarthy (as press secretary Sean Spicer) tend to be solid, argues David Sims, “the rest of SNL‘s political satire, such as Saturday’s cold open that framed Attorney General Jeff Sessions as Forrest Gump, often leans on presenting the Trump administration as cheerfully unaware or low on brainpower. It’s a more toothless approach that’s far easier for viewers of all political viewpoints to dismiss.”
‘The 50 Greatest Conductors Of All Time’, Per Gramophone Magazine
Let the arguments begin!
Denmark May Upend Its Orchestra Ecosystem
Danish culture minister Mette Bock is planning to spin off the national broadcaster’s orchestra, choir and concert hall (possibly to the national opera house) and eliminate the Copenhagen Philharmonic (not the capital’s only orchestra), distributing its musicians and budget among four regional orchestras.
How Disabilities Are Portrayed On TV
On TV, disability is played for laughs, for horror (such as with the “evil cripple” trope), or ignored even by shows otherwise committed to diversity. While critics have coined the phrase “crip up” to refer to the many able-bodied actors who have played disabled characters, often to widespread acclaim, a study by the Ruderman Family Foundation found that 95 percent of all disabled characters are played by abled actors (full disclosure, I have worked for the Ruderman Family Foundation on other projects).
Frank McCourt Talks About The Perils Of Popular Success For Your Work
“The sheer volume of sales substantiates that readers respond powerfully to memoirs. McCourt’s work has been dismissed all too glibly as misery memoir, and deemed to be commercially driven or aesthetically and politically naïve by his detractors. Meanwhile, his supporters have responded to the emotional impact of the texts rather than discussing the complex set of diverse materials upon which McCourt has formed his narrative: namely Ireland itself, the status of the memoir genre, and Irish-American identity.”