Can Public Radio And TV Help Bring A Sharply Divided America Together? Should It?

Andrea Smardon: “To answer these questions, I talked with innovative producers who are working on projects that attempt to bridge political and cultural divides. This work is going on across public broadcasting — at local stations, by independent producers and at national organizations such as NPR and StoryCorps. Few journalists view themselves as ‘healers,’ but everyone I talked with agreed that public media does have a unique role to play in this moment.” – Current

Richard Lariviere Has Steered Chicago’s Field Museum Through Some Pretty Rough Waters

When he became CEO of the city’s natural history museum in 2012, it was in enough financial trouble that its debt was on the verge of being downgraded. Then there was the “cringeworthy” Native North America Hall. Now that hall is being reworked with input from Native Americans, the debt is steady, attendance is up, and the endowment has grown by 45% to $435 million. – Crain’s Chicago Business

National Academy Of Design In New York Will Not Be Reopening Its Museum

“After years of financial crises, shifting leadership and painful internal debate about its future, the National Academy closed its museum, separated from its school and began selling off its Manhattan properties in 2016.” Says one of the organization’s co-chairs, “The National Academy became the thing that devoured itself. The museum and school were draining all the resources. There wasn’t any money for the programmes that would actually improve the academicians’ lives.” – The Art Newspaper

Brazilians Face The Fact That Their Greatest Writer Was Black

“The traditional historical photo of [Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis] shows a man whose skin is nearly as light as his crisp white dress shirt. … Machado was known to be the descendant of freed slaves, but the new rendering, which shows him as a black man, has shaken Brazilians, prompting some to reconsider how they previously read his work and angering others who feel his legacy had been whitewashed.” – The New York Times

Once Again, An Errant Tweet Is The Last Straw: Director Of Berlin Jewish Museum Resigns

“Pressure had been mounting against the director, Peter Schäfer, over what critics said was an inappropriately political stance for the head of a cultural institution tasked with explaining Jewish traditions, history and art. … But it was a post by the museum’s Twitter account last week that sparked the backlash that Mr. Schäfer could no longer withstand.” – The New York Times