When journalist Frank Scully met Luigi Pirandello before WWII, they talked about Mussolini.
Tag: 08.04.18
Our Brains Trick Us, But We’re Learning To Trick Them Back
We have cognitive biases – like weighting something that will happen soon over something that will happen in the future – and they can mess us up. “A solid group of 100 or so biases has been repeatedly shown to exist, and can make a hash of our lives.” Is there a way to use our own cognitive biases to mitigate that potential mess?
The Blazing Hot Author Who Didn’t Even Read A Book From Start To Finish Until He Was 17
Jason Reynolds, who produces high-quality, award-winning young adult books (and now middle grade books too) at an astonishing clip, explains his strategy to get kids reading: “Young people – especially young men – it’s not that they hate reading, it’s that they hate boredom. So my thing was: I need to write a story that is interesting, that is gripping, that can connect to them and their experiences, and write something that’s not very intimidating.”
Can Bystander Video Create A More Just Society? [VIDEO]
Here’s the theory: “We live, at the moment, in a country where basic rights are really being violated. … There’s a real need to understand how video can help people prove what happened.” (But videographers and photographers need to defend their rights to film and take photos, too.)
Why Do Writers Love Writing About Long, Hot Summers?
Think about Call Me By Your Name or Sag Harbor, for instance. “At its most basic, this means a release from the usual constraints, although at the same time summer provides a usefully closed system.”
Authorities Bulldoze Ai Weiwei’s Studio In Beijing With No Warning
His team raced today to save as many sculptures and other artworks as possible as excavators clawed holes in the walls. “They came and started knocking down the windows today without telling us beforehand. There’s still so much stuff inside.”
Is Instant Internet Judgment Killing Thoughtful Discussion Of Theatre?
“To proclaim judgment prematurely shuts down any hope of respectful dialogue. We cannot come to a mutual understanding without a spirit of generosity and empathy (full disclosure: I need to remind myself of this too). To create lasting, systemic changes, we first need to be able to talk to each other. In our increasingly divided society, filled with echo chambers, we need to build our ranks, not cut ourselves off at the pass.”