Old phials in a 7th-century medicine factory now being excavated in Istanbul have been found to contain methanone (an antidepressant) and phenanthrene (a cardiac medication). And yes, there’s plenty of evidence that the Byzantines – and many other ancient cultures – knew about and used treatments for depression.
Tag: 10.19.16
Claim: Our Museums Have Been Taken Over By A Culture Of Complaining
“Since Robert Hughes wrote his book over 20 years ago, the culture of complaint has become ever more prevalent. Complaining has become an art form and a way of life. Much of contemporary art (as represented on the other floors of Tate Modern’s new extension) is a complaint about greedy corporations and the inhumanity men show to men – or, more often, to women. And it invites us to join in. Tate Exchange touts itself as ‘a space for everyone to collaborate, test ideas and discover new perspectives on life, through art’. That is, it’s a space for complaining. The corrosive effect of turning complaining into an artistic endeavour is becoming clear.”
The Library Is Dead; Long Live The Library!
“Gone are the days in which functional literacy, i.e., being able to read and write and do basic math, is enough for people to find their way around. The Internet bombards us with so many blocks of text, images, and videos that online navigation is turning into an increasingly complex and, for those lacking information literacy skills, mind-boggling enterprise.”
How Do You Get The Attention Of A Nation Binge-Watching The Presidential Election?
“At BookPeople in Austin, Texas, summertime sales of general fiction titles fell 12% from last year, while science fiction took a 26% hit. ‘I guess they don’t need science fiction because they’re getting so much in politics,’ says Steve Bercu, who is co-owner of the 46-year-old store. Sales of books about politics and current events, he said, surged 45% during the same period.”
Phil Chess, Co-Founder Of Chess Records And Pioneer Of Blues And Rock Industry, Dead At 95
“Mr. Chess and his brother Leonard Chess arrived in America as little boys, two Jewish immigrant kids from Poland. They started Chess in 1950, recording Muddy Waters, Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and other top musicians who spread the gospel of the blues. Teens in England and around the world heard the so-called ‘race music’ Chess helped popularize, and the cross-pollination helped birth rock.”
At 90, Chuck Berry Is Releasing His First Album In 38 Years
“Beyoncé and Radiohead may have surprised the world with unexpected records, but Berry likely just left a few jaws on the floor. Because on Tuesday, he announced Chuck, his first record since 1979’s Rock It.”
How Can The State Dept. Get Russians To Like Americans Better? Broadway Musicals
“When Russians were asked [in a survey] what they liked about Americans, they answered, in essence, ‘Not much.’ But when asked what Americans do well, oddly, one of the top answers was ‘musicals.’ (Russians obviously missed Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.) So America’s diplomats looked stageward for help and discovered Broadway Dreams, a decade-old nonprofit that runs week-long master-class programs throughout the United States and internationally.”
New App Lets Anyone Create Music. So How Will This Change Music?
“When we use screenplay-writing software we become used to moving scenes around physically, as if stacking neat plastic boxes. Similarly our music – once represented only as cryptic black scratches on white paper – is now circles and squares and starbursts. Whether this has any long-term effect on our cognition will be for the scientists to study; I wonder if our ability to conceive the invisible will change, or even shrink.”
Reading Books Has Always Been A Status Symbol Even Among Those Who Don’t Read Them
“The symbol of reading was, perhaps, bigger than the act of reading itself. Individuals sought to capture their devotion to books through painted portraits that depicted them deeply absorbed in reading a text. Paintings of people reading and portraits of individuals embracing a book became widespread in Renaissance art.”
The Chinese Billionaire Who Wants To Take Over The Global Movie Business
Since acquiring AMC Entertainment, the second-largest cinema chain in the US, for $2.6bn in 2012, Wang Jianlin, who is worth an estimated $32.5bn and has ties to the communist Chinese government, has been aggressively staking his claim on the industry. So far, he’s snapped up Europe’s biggest cinema group, Odeon and UCI, purchased the US production house Legendary Entertainment (the company behind the Dark Knight trilogy and Jurassic World), and boasted that he intends to soon buy one of the six major US studios.