Sure, the First Amendment prohibits the government from making a law “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” but current case law on religious freedom is deeply mixed. Why? Well, ask Netflix’s Wild Wild Country, a new documentary about a cult community in Oregon that is “a staggeringly improbable mélange of religion, New Age psychology, land-use and constitutional law, group sex, credit-card scams, xenophobia and immigration terrors, fundamentalism, election fraud, germ warfare, terror bombing, assassination squads, and Putin-style poisoning, all enacted against the haunting background of the Oregon high desert.”
Tag: 04.01.18
That Time, Long Before ‘Footloose’, When Irish Priests Tried To Get Dancing Outlawed
This is the history of how the Catholic Church in Ireland influenced the law in the 1930s – and made it possible for any parish priest to stop any dance he didn’t like, for any reason, with the full cooperation of the Irish government and police. One priest “was wary, in particular, of outsiders – ‘devils’, as he saw them. ‘Persons who came to these dances from outside towns in motor cars were scoundrels of the lowest type, and were devils incarnate,’ he said.”
Bulgaria Calls Julia Kristeva, French Philosopher And Intellectual, A Bulgarian Spy
She denies this firmly, but … wow. “Her more than 30 books have covered topics including linguistics, psychoanalysis, literary theory and feminism. Her many prestigious honors include the Vaclav Havel Prize, the Hannah Arendt Prize and France’s Commander of the Legion of Honor.”(Every single humanities grad student for the past 30 years is saying, “I KNEW IT.”)
Top AJBlogs From The Weekend Of 04.01.18
Sultanof Arrangements, Part 2
Today, Rifftides offers the second installment of scholar, teacher and historian Jeff Sultanof’s essay on pleasures and challenges in the craft of correcting arrangements. Exploring Buried Treasure in Plain Sight, Part 2 … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2018-03-31
Jeff Sultanof On The Archeology Of Arrangements
Rifftides is delighted that Jeff Sultanof has agreed to contribute another piece. A distinguished expert on arrangers and arranging, Mr. Sultanof is the author of the invaluable book Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2018-03-30
Replay: Angels in America on Broadway in 1993
Excerpts from a live performance of the original 1993 Broadway production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, shot for use by the press. The cast included Ron Leibman as Roy Cohn, Joe Mantello as Louis, … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-03-30
Almanac: Steve Gadd on art and craftsmanship
“I don’t consider myself an artist. I go out there and I try to play what’s right for the music. It seems to be a much more open approach and it would seem to allow … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-03-30
How Live Nation Rules The Music World, Including, Some Say, With Threats
Want to know how the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster affected the entire music industry, from management to tours to sponsorship and owning venues? The NYT explains, and explains the fees (as far as they’re explicable) as well. “At many concerts Live Nation is not just the ticket seller, but also the promoter, the venue operator or even the artist’s manager, with an opportunity to collect at every juncture.”
London’s Hamilton Explains Why He Loves ‘Black Panther,’ And Gives Book Recs As Well
Jamael Westman says that “Wakanda forever” is part of what he says when parting from friends now – “It becomes a state of mind” – and talks about why he likes playwriting podcasts: “Amazing playwrights like these can feel unreachable. You can’t imagine them as normal people because all you see is their name in shiny lights under an amazing play. But this humanises them – it’s like chilling in a writer’s room.”