Reihan Salam: “No, I’m not saying that it’s OK for Standard Oil to come along and gouge its customers because we don’t want to discourage future robber barons. I’m saying that having the government step in and squash Amazon before it actually uses its (supposed) pricing power to screw consumers will likely yield less innovative entrepreneurship. The only people who will win in this scenario are the mostly wealthy people who own shares in lazily managed companies.”
Tag: 10.15.14
“High Times” At 40: Can An Outlaw Magazine Survive The Mainstreaming Of Marijuana?
“It had always been the place where dopers gathered to gaze at photos of 9-foot-tall plants and truncheon-sized joints; to advertise their homemade pipeware; and, not least, to flip their collective bird at the man. … But lately weed doesn’t feel all that countercultural. And fewer weed smokers self-identify as outlaws. … Does the world still need High Times when square-ass Slate is running vape reviews?” Totally, say the editors.
What, Everybody Can Be Queer Now? LGBT Themes And Images Meet The Ever-Vexed Issue Of “Appropriation”
“In theatre, television and pop music, being gay has become ever more mainstream, while in the traditionally avant-garde art world, queer art (or art that draws on the codes and cultures of homosexuality) is no longer only made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) artists. … Who has the right to use this imagery and can anyone claim ownership of queer culture?”
Hanging A Tapestry In The Met Museum Is A Lot More Complicated Than You Think
“The tapestries are epic, intricate pieces, spanning up to thirty feet in length and weighing an average of 100 pounds – which begs the question of how, exactly, the museum hangs them. Luckily, the Met released a video illustrating the surprisingly arduous procedure of mounting van Aelst’s work.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.15.14
Outreach
AJBlog: Engaging Matters
Five Questions For Leonard Lauder As The Met Reveals His Cubist Collection
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts
Birgit Nilsson’s Legacy
AJBlog: OperaSleuth
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How Our Elite Colleges Have Failed Their Students
“More colleges with a higher tolerance for risk, for passionate weirdness in curriculum and teaching, might well help our children make a more distinctive world for themselves. How far off such hopes now seem.”
After Down Year, Warner Bros. To Cut $200 Million In Costs And Make Layoffs
“The studio released a handful of duds during the summer, including “Blended” and “Jersey Boys,” and now finds itself in unfamiliar territory: third place in domestic box-office share. The studio has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in nine of the last 10 years.”
National Book Awards Finalists
The prominent literary prize narrowed its nominees to 20 writers — a mix of heavyweights and many new ones. And across the Atlantic, Richard Flanagan won Britain’s biggest award, the Man Booker Prize.
Elena Ferrante Is One Of Italy’s Most Popular Writers (But Who Is (S)he?
“Over the past two decades Elena Ferrante – a pseudonym, of course – has become one of her country’s most exciting and compelling contemporary literary voices. And, as her celebrity grows, so too does the guessing game surrounding her identity.”
HBO To Launch New Standalone Streaming Service
“This will be transformative for our company,” Plepler said during his presentation at Time Warner’s Investor Day confab. Noting that there are now about 10 million households in the U.S. that are broadband-only, he declared: “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO.”