“For one thing, the most obvious candidate to replace one genius seems to be another genius. No surprise, maybe, but it makes you wonder whether the much-derided “great man” view of history, which ascribes historical trajectories to the actions and decisions of individuals, might not have some validity in science. You might wonder whether there’s some selection effect here: We overlook lesser-known candidates precisely because they weren’t discoverers, even though they could have been. But it seems entirely possible that, on the contrary, greatness always emerges, if not in one direction then another.”
Tag: 12.15.16
When Mariachi Ruled The Airwaves Of Yugoslavia
In the 1950s, thanks to an odd confluence of postwar economics and intra-Communist rivalry, Mexican music became arguably the top pop genre in Yugoslavia. Most of its practitioners weren’t Mexican; they were local..
Even A Century Ago, There Was A Campaign Against The Crass Commercialization Of Christmas
Here’s the story of the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving, co-founded by a famous stage actress and the daughter of J.P. Morgan.
Ten Contemporary Operas By Ten Women
“I’ve often been referred to as ‘that impudent brat.’ You’re impudent when you’ve no claim to power. But does anyone call a young man ‘impudent’? Instead he’s ‘that gutsy fellow,’ and ‘gutsy’ in this context means he commands respect and attention. Some male presenters proudly broadcast: ‘Now we’re presenting an all-women festival’ or ‘Now we’re focusing exclusively on women conductors,’ and yet if their inner attitude is ‘Now we’ve done our part and may continue on as before,’ nothing changes.
British Film And TV Academy Says Non-Diverse Films Won’t Be Eligible For Major Awards Starting In 2019
“To be eligible for the two awards, films must prove they have worked to improve diversity in two of the four following areas: On-screen characters and themes; Senior roles and crew; Industry training and career progression; Audience access and appeal to under-represented audiences. The measures comply with the diversity standards the BFI (British Film Institute) uses to guide its activities and the projects it funds.”
Cruise Ship Art – It’s The Biggest Art-Selling Gallery In The World
“Park West was founded in 1969, is based outside Detroit, and boasts it’s the world’s biggest art gallery. It sells pictures and sculptures at thousands of live auctions held on more than 100 ships each year. Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival all host Park West. And they all get a cut of the revenue. Park West has had annual sales as high as $400 million and counted more than 2 million customers. With those big numbers come bitter complaints.”
The Hazards Of David Foster Wallace Disease
“The specific quality of Wallace I wanted to mimic is what I’d call his gift of sight. He had a way of generating luminosity by perfectly capturing tiny pieces of sensation spliced out from even the most banal moment of consciousness—his descriptive powers could give the sound of an air conditioner the consequence of a dying star. He had seemingly endless receptivity.”
What We’ve Lost With The Destruction Of Aleppo’s Old City
“Lina Sergie Attar, a writer and architect who grew up in Aleppo, remembers a city that has been nearly lost after years of conflict.” (audio)
Nashville Symphony Posts First Budget Surplus Since Bankruptcy Scare
“It’s been a trying three years for the Nashville Symphony, which was teetering financially and barely avoided foreclosure on its iconic Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Now, audited financial statements show an organization that is operating in the black.”
An Obama Speechwriter Looks Back At The Last Eight Years, And Helps Prepare For The Next Four, Through The Lens Of Books
“It became more real: This good man was in fact going to be our president. He was going to call other presidents and be in charge. So if you ask me what I remember most from that day? The sunlight; my wife’s small brown hand in my own; the feeling that from this moment, our history could be amended, our Union made more perfect, our lives more free.
*
Now we are here.”