Henry Wollman Bloch, Art Philanthropist And Co-Founder Of H&R Block, Dead At 96

The primary beneficiary of Bloch’s largesse has been Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: he spent three years as its board chairman, he and his wife are the name donors on the museum’s 2007 expansion and its 2015-17 renovation, and at the same time the couple gave a collection of 29 major Impressionist paintings to NAMA. – ARTnews

In China, Two Historical Soap Operas Go Viral, And The Communist Party Promptly Cancels Them

The Story of Yanxi Palace and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace smashed viewing records for the streaming services that showed them. Then the journal Theory Weekly (a title only a Communist bureaucrat could love) published an article condemning the series as “incompatible with the core values of socialism” and “[a] negative influence on society.” State media condemnation went on from there, and the series disappeared. Why? – The New Yorker

Suzanne Farrell Back At City Ballet – What It Means


Alastair Macaulay: “What makes Ms. Farrell so important? Her place in Balanchine history is central: She inspired him to make some of his most radically modernist works; opened up fresh torrents of Romanticism in him; showed how old roles could be transformed. She combined grandeur, musicality, wit, fervor and acumen to phenomenal degrees.” – The New York Times

Presenter Engagement

I have spoken with staff members of presenting organizations interested in community engagement who lament the fact that they are not in a position to select specific works themselves; they have to book what producing organizations are offering. Yet there are some ways in which the presenter is better positioned to support community engagement. – Doug Borwick

Truth Versus Lies: Suppressing The Lies From Being Heard Doesn’t Work

In On Liberty (1859), John Stuart Mill offers the most compelling defence of freedom of speech, conscience and autonomy ever written. Mill argues that the only reason to restrict speech is to prevent harm to others, such as with hate speech and incitement to violence. Otherwise, all speech must be protected. Even if we know a view is false, Mill says, it is wrong to suppress it. We avoid prejudice and dogmatism, and achieve understanding, through freely discussing and defending what we believe against contrary claims. – Aeon