Kate Wagner: “Classical music is cruel not because there are winners and losers, first chairs and second chairs, but because it lies about the fact that these winners and losers are chosen long before the first moment a young child picks up an instrument. … And if you bow out of this gladiatorial arena, where only the affluent and well-connected are armed, like I did, like many of my friends did, you are understood to be a failure who didn’t try hard enough.” – The Baffler
Tag: September 2019
Why Household Appliances Are Now Getting Their Own Little Melodies
“No longer do household machines merely bing or plink or blamp, as they might have in a previous era when such alerts simply indicated that the clothes were dry or the coffee was brewed. … You may be skeptical that an electronic jingle, however holistic, can make doing the dishes a life-affirming endeavor — or even one that might bind you, emotionally, to your dishwasher. But companies are betting otherwise, and not entirely without reason.” – The Atlantic
A Large, Newly-Excavated Section Of Pompeii Is Revealing Its Treasures And Recasting History
“The Regio V dig has already yielded skeletons, coins, a wooden bed, a stable harboring the remains of a thoroughbred horse (bronze-plated wooden horns on the saddle; iron harness with small bronze studs), gorgeously preserved frescoes, murals and mosaics of mythological figures, and other dazzling examples of ancient Roman artistry. That’s a surprisingly rich cache for what is arguably the most famous archaeological site in the world. But until now Pompeii has never been subjected to fully scientific excavation techniques.” – Smithsonian Magazine
Meritocracy Is Making Us All — Even The Rich — Miserable
“Meritocracy has created a competition that, even when everyone plays by the rules, only the rich can win. But what, exactly, have the rich won? Even meritocracy’s beneficiaries now suffer on account of its demands. It ensnares the rich just as surely as it excludes the rest, as those who manage to claw their way to the top must work with crushing intensity, ruthlessly exploiting their expensive education in order to extract a return.” – The Atlantic