The Art Of Nairobi’s Dancing Buses

Matatu are the privately owned buses that have transported at least 60 percent of Nairobi’s population since the early ’60s. The word matatu comes from the Kikuyu word for “three,” referring to the three ten-cent coins used to pay for a ride to the city when matatus first started operating.

Netflix Spending $8 Billion On Content This Year

The company is competing against a range of traditional entertainment companies around the globe, and of course, against the need to work, sleep and do other things. Speaking at TED in Vancouver, CEO Reed Hastings noted that $8 billion is about what Disney spends. “That’s spread globally,” he said. “It’s not as much as it sounds.”

What In The World Is Happening Behind The Scenes Of The Nobel Prize For Literature?

A summary would include several committee resignations after a failed vote to exclude a poet whose husband – not who, herself – has been accused of rape and sexual harassment. But wait: “It turns out that you cannot resign from the Academy itself. The statutes, laid down in 1786, make no provision for it. Members are elected until death. All disaffected members can do is to withdraw from the Academy’s workings. After this week’s withdrawals there is no longer a quorum needed to elect any new members. King Carl Gustav XVI, the hereditary patron of the Academy, is reported to be preparing a change of the statutes to break the deadlock.”

Sales Of Thrillers Have Overtaken Everything Else In Britain, But Why?

There’s an old bromide that people want certainty in uncertain times – and crime fiction usually ends with a very certain solution, that of the main mystery. In addition, “while the essence of writing crime fiction might come down to speed and fluency, crafting and control are vital. It’s not easy and few do it really well. A crime novel that works is as taut as a drum. Plus, readers can quickly sniff out a fraud – someone writing up or down, or for the money, and it’s now a very competitive market.”

Can A New Program Help Increase Orchestra Diversity?

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra has launched a new education program, and half of the students will be Latinx and African American, by design. Executive Director Patrick Nugent said, “There’s a crisis of diversity in our field. … We will do a better job of attracting more diverse audiences if those audiences see themselves reflected on stage.”

The New ‘Harry Potter’ Play Is The Most Expensive Non-Musical To Hit Broadway

Part of the huge price tag came from gutting and redoing the Lyric, the theatre where it opens (after record-breaking previews) next week. Of course, one imagines it will easily make its money back.”It’s a huge bet in a flop-prone industry, but also a seemingly safe one, predicated on the expectation that Cursed Child will become a big hit on Broadway, a long-running production that can spin off profits for years.”