How Radio Technology Conspired Against Women’s Voices

Women who speak publicly and challenge authority have long been dismissed as “shrill” or “grating.” What’s less widely understood is how the design of the technology that transmits human voices has shaped this gendered invective since the dawn of the broadcast era: everything from microphones to modes of transmission have been optimized for lower voices. – The New Yorker

Daniel Barenboim Physically Attacked Former Berlin Staatsoper Staffer, She Says, And Her Bosses Did Nothing About It

Laura Eisen, then the orchestral manager of the Berlin Staatskapelle (the Staatsoper’s orchestra), has come forward publicly to allege that in March of 2018, the conductor “came toward me, grabbed me with both hands on my upper body (between my shoulders and throat) and shook me. As he did so, he screamed at me that I should disappear/leave the room.” – Van

Movie Box Office Was Down This Summer – But So Is Everything Else

“Out-of-home entertainment had a down summer in general. Attendance at Major League Baseball games is expected to fall for the fourth consecutive season, according to Two Circles, a sports marketing agency. Broadway attendance has declined 2.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Broadway League. Full data was not yet available for concerts, but early numbers suggest a decline, according to statistics from Pollstar, a trade publication.” – The New York Times

How Words Attach Themselves To Meaning

“Our language is full of interjections and verbal gestures that don’t necessarily mean anything beyond themselves. Most of our words – ‘baseball’, ‘thunder’, ‘ideology’ – seem to have a meaning outside themselves – to designate or stand for some concept. The way the word looks and sounds is only arbitrarily connected to the concept that it represents.” – Aeon