It boils down to two concepts that sound simple but have profound implications: First, shorter distances are healthier than longer distances for commerce and human interaction; second, diversification — one farmer growing a dozen crops, for example — is healthier than monoculture, which is what globalization tends to create, whether it’s bananas or mobile phones. – The New York Times
Tag: 10.09.20
In Paris, Fashion Mavens Wonder If Their Art Can Provide Hope In A Dark Time
Another lockdown may be looming as the virus spikes in Paris again, but Fashion Week still had about 20 in-person runway events. Designer Andrew Gn: “We have to project ourselves towards better times. We, designers, are the core and the driving force of the whole fashion ecosystem. The weavers, printers, embroiderers, ateliers, all depend on our creative work. We must keep on.” – NPR
The Cleveland Orchestra Restarts Recording With Its Own Label
Does this seem like a headline from before the pandemic? Think again. The first recording was released in June, with more on their way. (But it may be a while before the orchestra can record live again in Severance Hall.) – The New York Times
Writer Elif Shafak On Leaving, And Loving, Your Homeland
Shafak, who says she can likely never return to Istanbul, says, “We do not give up on the places we love just because we are physically detached from them. Motherlands are castles made of glass. In order to leave them, you have to break something—a wall, a social convention, a cultural norm, a psychological barrier, a heart. What you have broken will haunt you. To be an emigré, therefore means to forever bear shards of glass in your pockets.” – LitHub
The Royal Ballet Leaps Back On Stage
“No one was ready, no one could even think that it would be possible that one day they would have to readjust ballet so that it would be social distancing in between,” say some Royal Ballet dancers. And yet, with various bubbles between dancers and “work spouses in the bubbles,” the ballet is going on at the Royal Opera House. – BBC
Writing As A Material Art
A book “is a fluid path from an idea, along a stream bed whose variations, detours and eddies are unknown until the water that flows into it finds itself moved.” – LitHub
If Cinemas Survive The Pandemic, A Glut Of Blockbusters Await Fans
Assuming we get a functioning vaccine and that some cinemas survive the pandemic, and that audiences ever trust again the idea of being stuck in a room with hundreds of other people for two or three hours, there’s going to be a lot to see. “Perhaps fans can look forward to a geeky bonanza, where a new tentpole arrives in multiplexes every other week. Or perhaps some of these films will end up moving to the small screen instead.” – The Guardian (UK)
Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood Sign Open Letter In Support Of Trans And Nonbinary People
Who had “Margaret Atwood versus J.K. Rowling” on their 2020 bingo card? Because that’s part of what’s happened since the author of the Harry Potter series went on an anti-trans jaunt in the past few years, culminating in her latest mystery plot. The open letter reads, in part, “We are writers, editors, journalists, agents and professionals in multiple forms of publishing. We believe in the power of words. … We say: nonbinary people are nonbinary, trans women are women, trans men are men, trans rights are human rights. Your pronouns matter. You matter. You are loved.” – Los Angeles Times
The Man Reshaping Gothic Classics For 21st Century Netflix Watchers
After all of the brouhaha – love, hate, reexamining, reevaluation, and a lot more – for Netflix’s series of The Haunting of Hill House, here comes an adaptation of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, called The Haunting of Bly Manor for the streaming service. That’s down to Mike Flanagan. And the challenges are similar: “Both series are fundamentally incompatible with the literary works on which they’re based.” – Slate
The Museum Of Chinese In America, Beset By Fire And Much More, Gets A Chance At Recovery
When a fire hit the New York Chinatow museum and the staff worried priceless archives were lost, that wasn’t the only issue facing the institution: The coronavirus shutdown and anti-Asian harassment were ever present threats as well. Now the Ford Foundation has stepped up to help stabilize the institution, which is small but vital to the history of New York. – The New York Times