Meet Philosopher Martha Nussbaum, Winner Of This Year’s $1 Million Berggruen Prize

Martha Nussbaum, 71, is the author or editor of more than 40 wide-ranging books covering topics including the place of the emotions (including negative ones like disgust) in political life, the nature of human vulnerability, the importance of liberal education and connections between classical literature and the contemporary world. She is also known for helping to advance the so-called capabilities approach to economic development, which holds that progress should be measured by things like increases in life expectancy and education, rather than simply by increases in income.

Steven Spielberg Signs Up Lena Dunham To Write A Screenplay About A Syrian Refugee, And The Twitterverse Gets Angry

“@lenadunham constantly talks about representation as crucial to enrich storytelling. Yet, in practice, she has shown a disregard for actually elevating those voices. Now, she’s been signed on to write a Syrian refugee’s story? Hollywood, was no female Arab writer available?” That was one typical response to the news that Spielberg and director J.J. Abrams had hired Dunham to pen the script for their film version of A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival.

William J. Murtagh, ‘The Pied Piper Of Preservation’, Dead At 95

“As entire city blocks were razed in urban renewal projects, interstate highways were paved across the countryside and architectural marvels such as New York’s Penn Station were demolished to make way for bigger, newer structures, Dr. Murtagh helped lead a growing resistance effort that culminated in the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. In its aftermath, he was appointed the first ‘keeper’ of the National Register of Historic Places — a job that made him the curator of America’s now-sprawling catalogue of significant districts, objects, buildings, sites and structures.”

Fired Violinist William Preucil Will Be Replaced On Suzuki’s Teaching Recordings

The now-former concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra was dismissed for good last week following an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct with students. The news has distressed many teachers and parents of children studying violin with the Suzuki Method, as Preucil was the violinist playing on the official Suzuki instructional recordings. (His parents were among the first teachers of the method in the US.) So Suzuki International and Alfred Music have announced that they’ll be issuing new recordings with another violinist as soon as practical.