Historian Nir Shafir (editor-in-chief of the Ottoman History Podcast) explains how he figured out that all these artworks were forgeries and explores how and where they were made and why they fooled so many who should have known better.
Tag: 09.11.18
Haruki Murakami’s (Not So) Brief History Of Japanese Short Stories
“Having become a Japanese novelist (once and for all), I may have something of a problem on my hands in saying that I know hardly anything about Japanese fiction.” Considering that Murakami is writing this in his introduction to the English-language Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories, that may indeed be something of a problem. In fact, he maintains here that this makes him an excellent guide to this collection.
The Entire Staff Of This Public Radio Organization Asked Its Board To Fire The CEO (And They Did)
A 16-page letter from the staff to the board of the Association of Independents in Radio described a “toxic work environment” and detailed then-CEO Sue Schardt’s “unchecked gaslighting of staff,” “inability to collaborate” and micromanaging style, and “sexist and racist comments.” In sum, said the letter, “Sue’s leadership of AIR and treatment of staff directly contradict the organization’s mission of supporting and creating conditions for independent producers to thrive.”
More Scientists + Internet = More Progress? It Isn’t Turning Out That Way
Globalization, the digitization of knowledge, and the growing number of scientists all seem, at first glance, like positive trends for the progress of science. But these trends are Janus-faced, for they also encourage a hyper-competitive, trend-driven, and herd-like approach to scientific research.
How A French Grand Opera About A Rebellion In Naples Sparked A Revolution In Brussels
“Indeed, the musical performance had invigorated the crowd. The audience passionately chanted patriotic slogans, stormed into government buildings, and began destroying factory machinery. Within days, they were flying the flag of Independent Belgium, which was tied to a standard with shoelaces.” Lucas Reilly recounts the story of William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, Daniel Auber’s La Muette de Portici, and the Belgian Revolution of 1830.
Pleasures Of The Body Versus Pleasures Of The Mind: A Muddy Debate
The entire debate assumes a clear divide between the intellectual and bodily, the human and the animal, which is no longer tenable. These days, few of us are card-carrying dualists who believe that we are made of immaterial minds and material bodies. We have plenty of scientific evidence for the importance of biochemistry and hormones in all that we do and think. Nonetheless, dualistic assumptions still inform our thinking.
Viola Davis’s Great Challenge (And Why She Regrets Doing ‘The Help’)
“The responsibility of feeling like I am the great black female hope for women of color has been a real professional challenge. Being that role model and picking up that baton when you’re struggling in your own life has been difficult.” This ties in with what she regrets about The Help (which she found a wonderful experience personally): “I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom.”
Former Village Voice Writers On What It Meant To Work There
“The Voice was a cultural necessity for decades, a springboard for generations of passionate and relentless journalists, critics, and writers … Here, some of the Voice‘s most singular — Gary Indiana, Molly Haskell, J. Hoberman, Vivian Gornick, Melissa Anderson, Robert Christgau, Michael Miller, and Greg Tate — have shared their recollections about what it meant to work at that irreplaceable place.”
Gawker Will Rise From The Ashes Under A New Owner
Bryan Goldberg, who plans to relaunch the site early next year, wrote to staff in a memo, “We won’t recreate Gawker exactly as it was, but we will build upon Gawker’s legacy and triumphs — and learn from its missteps.”
Russia Cracks Down On Use Of Minority Languages, And Ethnic Minorities Fight Back
Even as the Kremlin pushes hard for the continued use of Russian in the former Soviet republics, it has begun discouraging and even suppressing the official use of native languages in the autonomous republics within the Russian Federation (Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, for example) that are home to Russia’s ethnic minorities. Crucially, Moscow is mandating severe cutbacks in the teaching of local languages in schools and firing language teachers (sometimes en masse). But the Bashkirs, Tatars, and others are resisting, especially online.