Two years since Mr. Macron pledged in a speech in Burkina Faso to enable “the temporary or permanent restitution of African heritage to Africa,” little additional progress has been made. – The New York Times
Tag: 11.22.19
Survey: Three-Quarters Of UK Youth Have Never Heard Of Mozart
Three quarters of young people in Britain have never heard of Mozart, a survey reveals. One in five think composer Johann Bach – who died in 1750 – is still alive. – The Daily Mail
George Eliot Was A Translator As Well As A Novelist – And That Profoundly Affected Her Fiction
Eliot’s work on Spinoza’s Ethics, one scholar says, “was the last thing she did before she wrote her stories and became George Eliot. A large part of Spinoza’s Ethics gives this insightful analysis of human emotion, and I think that’s something she obviously learned from, because she has this really amazing understanding of human emotions and how they work.” – The Guardian (UK)
This Is Gross: Severe Flooding Is Now A Tourist Attraction In Venice
The deal is this: “It’s picturesque. You have a very old city flooded with water. Visually, it’s beautiful. For tourists, it’s another attraction. Tourists don’t realize what a disaster it can be for local people. If you find a beautiful city with water, you just enjoy it.” – Slate
In Italy, Voice Actors Can Win Dubbing Oscars
Americans deride dubbing, but for much of the world, it’s a lot more pleasant than subtitles. They’re extra good at it in Italy, and thus there are awards: “The dozen-odd categories recognized excellence in voice dubbing, but also sound mixing, and story and dialogue adaptations. Capturing nuances like jokes and figures of speech are key elements of successfully transposing an audiovisual product, whether it’s a film, a TV series, a cartoon or even a video game, from one language to another.” – The New York Times
The Gutting Of Local Newsrooms Is Leading To A Civic Crisis
Suburban communities lose their coverage; attitudes about national outlets taint how people feel about their hometown newspapers; reporters cover way too many beats at a time; and other very serious issues occur when places lose their local newspapers or see them massively retrenched. – Nieman Lab
Gahan Wilson, Cartoonist Of The Macabre, Dies At 89
Wilson’s “outlandish, often ghoulish cartoons added a bizarrely humorous touch to Playboy, The New Yorker, National Lampoon and other publications in the era when magazines propelled the cultural conversation.” – The New York Times
The Philadelphia Orchestra Is Expanding Its Relationship With China Despite U.S.-China Tensions
There are many, many tensions between the two countries, but “the orchestra’s rock-star status in China offers it unique possibilities for bridge-building. Even youngsters are aware that, in 1973, it was the first Western orchestra to play in the People’s Republic of China. It has made 11 full visits since then, the most recent one in May.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
MacArthur ‘Genius’ Lynda Barry Is Using Her Grant To Explore Brain Creativity
She says it’s with the purest of pure artists: Preschoolers. “Barry is pushing the envelope on understanding how the brain creates and responds to words and pictures — a scholarly envelope that, in her mind, should be positively covered with illuminating doodles.” – The Washington Post
Origami Makes A Small, Crinkly Return
And it’s bigger than mountain folds, valley folds, and damp-paper shaping: “A few years ago, NASA engineers were able to create foldable telescopes and a flower-shaped shade to block out light from distant stars by using paper-folding techniques.” – The New York Times