When a group of straight male students were given a story about a protagonist like themselves, but who was revealed late in the story to be gay, they showed more empathy to the character (and were less likely to stereotype him) than were students who knew the character was gay – or was straight – from the start. Results were similar when white readers read stories about black characters. Publishers already know (or sense) this, but catch hell when they act on it.
Tag: 05.16.12
Amazon Customer Reviews Really Are As Good As The Pros (Harvard Business School Says So)
“Amazon reviews are just as likely to give an accurate summary of a book’s quality as those of professional newspapers, according to a study from Harvard Business School.”
Melbourne’s Top Art Museum Still Won’t Let People Sketch There – And Said People Are Angry
“A groundswell of anger about [the National Gallery of Victoria’s] restrictions on visitors sketching, painting or even taking notes has the gallery scrambling to amend and defend its guidelines. And a group of eminent local artists has joined a campaign to persuade those in charge to throw open its doors freely to those who want to paint before its great works.”
R. Crumb On The Art World’s Embrace Of His Comics
“People tell me this Museum of Modern Art in Paris is a really big deal, and that it’s very prestigious to have a show there. I guess I should be impressed. I don’t know.”
And Here’s Another Definition Of Science
“Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson may well be the Richard Feynman of our day, a ‘Great Explainer’ in his own right … In this short video, Tyson contributes a beautiful addition to this omnibus of notable definitions of science and explores subjects as diverse as the nature of originality and the future of artificial intelligence.”
Liverpool’s New Arts Center (Named After The Beatles’ Manager)
“The Neptune Theatre, a [380-seat] cultural gem in Hanover Street, has been renamed following a £1.2m refurbishment and is now called the Epstein Theatre. More than just a theatre, it will host live music, dance, exhibitions and comedy.”
Unlocking The Wealth Of The World’s Wikipedias
“But have you read all there is to know about UFOs in Spanish? Or Hebrew? To unlock such strange information, Brent Hecht of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and colleagues have created Omnipedia, a software system that lets users browse topics from up to 25 Wikipedia language editions at once.”
Australia’s Arts Funding Body Needs Major Reform: Report
“The Australia Council needs $21 million more in funding and should overhaul its grants application process to welcome emerging art forms, reversing the perceived prejudice towards big arts organisations such as theatres and opera companies.”
A Tenor To Run Finland’s Top Opera Festival
“More Finnish soloists, the premiere of a new Finnish opera to mark the centenary year of Finnish independence in 2017, and another new Finnish opera already before that – these are some of the plans put forward by 53-year-old tenor Jorma Silvasti, who has been named to be the next artistic director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival.”
Sonnets, Scenes, And Bar-Hopping: The New York Shakespeare Exchange
The NYSX means to explore “what happens when contemporary culture is infused with Shakespearean poetry and themes in unexpected ways.” What does that mean? For starters, a Sonnet Project (154 poems, 154 actors, 154 videos), and “a Shakespearean pub crawl, where at each location, a scene breaks out. They call it … Shakesbeer.”