“Science is expensive, and since we can’t fund every scientist, we need some way of deciding whose research deserves a chance. So, how do we pick? At the moment, expert reviewers spend a lot of time allocating grant money by trying to identify the best work. But the truth is that they’re not very good at it, and that the process is a huge waste of time. It would be better to do away with the search for excellence, and to fund science by lottery.”
Tag: 03.20.17
So Now An Album Is A “Playlist”? (Is This Further Corruption Of The Art Form In The Age Of Streaming?)
“As streaming becomes our dominant mode of listening, Billboard has begun measuring success song by song, stream by stream. In turn, pop albums are expanding. The more tracks an album contains, the more coin it can generate, the better the album can perform on the charts. As the container changes shape, so does the stuff that goes inside. And not necessarily for the better.”
On Sesame Street, Trump Was A Grump
“There are only three known episodes in which the character ‘Grump’ appears, each time playing the villain in a moral allegory. Whenever Grump visits Sesame Street, chaos is not far behind.”
Is Big-Budget TV Video Squeezing Out Movie Production?
“Cinema watching in the traditional way is definitely in decline. Television is growing partly because of the physical quality of televisions these days. Plus the combination of programmes made with proper production values so you can have a proper experience at home. All the money goes on the screen.”
What We Need These Days Is More Intolerance (Especially At Colleges)
“Intolerant is an effective slur, but critics who deploy it fail to recognize that intolerance is often desirable,” argues Alan Levinovitz. Something did go wrong at Middlebury, but it certainly wasn’t due to students’ intolerance. Indeed, higher education couldn’t function without intolerance.”
Robert Silvers, 87, Founding Editor Of New York Review Of Books
“The New York Review, founded in 1963, was born with a mission – to raise the standards of book reviewing and literary discussion in the United States and nurture a hybrid form of politico-cultural essay. Mr. Silvers brought to its pages a self-effacing, almost priestly sense of devotion that ultimately made him indistinguishable from the publication he edited, and it from him.”
Philanthropist David Rockefeller Dead At 101
The last surviving grandson of oil baron John D. Rockefeller, he rose to the chairmanship of Chase Manhattan Bank. “His stature was greater than any corporate title might convey, however. His influence was felt in Washington and foreign capitals, in the corridors of New York City government, in art museums, in great universities and in public schools.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.20.17
Love, Hate and Design Research
Sigh. We live in interesting times. Increasingly folks are driven further apart, retreating into factions that love one thing/person or hate another. Naturally, we are right and they are wrong. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2017-03-19
Operas That Dance
The Brooklyn Academy of Music presents Mark Morris: Two Operas (Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas), March 15 through 19. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-03-20
Film Composition
We had composer Chris Heckman in on Friday to talk with our composers about careers in Film Composition. … He was direct and informative with the students: no sugar-coating, no blasting the bad guys, just shared a clear sense of how the profession works. A few themes emerged. … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-03-20
The awkward master
Marsden Hartley was a major American painter, to my mind a great one. Robert Hughes called him “the most brilliantly gifted of the early generation of American modernists,” … Yet his work has never come close to receiving its due, … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-03-20
LGBTQ Producers Complain That YouTube Is Censoring Them
The filtering issue was highlighted in a video on Thursday by British user Rowan Ellis, who suggested that YouTube’s restricted mode appeared to have “some kind of targeted effect” for L.G.B.T. individuals. Over the weekend, many video creators and users complained on Twitter, recycling the hashtag #YouTubeIsOverParty, which was trending worldwide by Sunday night.
International Coalition Pledges $75 Million To Protect Heritage Sites In War Zones
In coordination with UNESCO, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH) aims to prevent heritage site destruction, fight trafficking of stolen artifacts and pay for restoration. But it also seeks to create a global network of storage and safeguarding sites.