The quickest way to the heart, and all that: “The activists offered pizza and veggie dumplings to protestors and members of the museum’s staff in an action far less boisterous than in previous weeks. In return, they were greeted with a milder security team and a relatively indifferent response from the Friday free pass museum visitors.” – Hyperallergic
Tag: 04.12.19
The CIA Scheme That Brought ‘Dr. Zhivago’ To The World
OK, fine, everything we thought was good in art from the 1950s and 1960s was indeed funded by the CIA in some way. As for Dr. Zhivago, “Literary propaganda was a company-wide preoccupation. The scheme went all the way to the top.” – LitHub
Parents Lead Push To Remove Sackler Name From Harvard Building
Parents who lost children to the opioid epidemic are pushing Harvard to take the Sackler name off a building that used to host the Arthur Sackler Art Museum. One: “Harvard, we want the Sackler name to come down. … This is a wonderful institution. And to be associated with the Sackler family is wrong, on every level possible. No more blood money.” – The Washington Post (AP)
A Playwright Who’s Been Dead For 80 Years Is At The Heart Of Contemporary German Theatre
Really, why is Odon von Horvath so incredibly popular in Germany right now? Oh: “European directors have rushed to rediscover Horvath, who chronicled the struggles of ordinary people during a time of political menace and social uncertainty.” – The New York Times
The Winners Of The LA Times Book Prizes Cover Today’s Hot Topics
And also the hot topics of 80 years ago. While Rebecca Makkai won best novel for The Great Believers, “Julia Boyd won the History prize for chronicling the Nazi party’s ascent to power in Travelers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism 1919-1945, a project that relied heavily on nearly century-old pieces of paper. ‘For anyone out there who has a box of letters in their attic and is thinking of throwing it out, don’t. Please,’ Boyd said.” – Los Angeles Times
Ignore The National Theatre’s Male-Playwright-Only Season
The reality is, the National Theatre is a leader in supporting women in theatre, at least according to one of its lighting designers. “If we want to give voices to women, then we need safe spaces to do so. This is about the direction of travel for our whole cultural sector and, while we can, and should, do better – the NT is a world leader.” – The Stage (UK)
Suzanne Farrell Returns To NYCity Ballet For First Time Since Peter Martins Fired Her In 1993
Farrell’s return to the company’s studios could be further evidence that its new leaders — Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Director Wendy Whelan — are continuing to make changes for the good. It also seems like a healing act. – Washington Post
Mark Redhill: The Trap Doors That Make Good Poetry
“Poetry has an inherent ability to not be linear, not be logical, be at times more about sound or suggestion than about direct meaning. This sounds a little bit like how the logic of dreams work.” – Toronto Star
Disney Used To See Netflix As A Way To Make Money. Now It Will Compete. Here’s What That’ll Look Like
Disney has thought about itself primarily as a maker of content. Netflix? That was the railway carrying the content to market. But Netflix has moved into content-making in a big way. So Disney is jumping in with its own streaming service to compete. – recode
Do Environmental Crises Of 500 Years Ago Have Anything To Teach Us?
Indeed, they do. The worst environmental disasters – the ones that killed the most people – were often deliberately worsened by predatory governments, companies and individuals. Societies that escaped environmental disaster were relatively safe from colonial exploitation, and flexible in the face of shifting environmental circumstances. We face an uncertain future but, like early moderns, there is much we can do to either ease human suffering in the face of environmental upheaval – or make it a great deal worse. – Aeon