Audible isn’t exactly a giant-killer yet, but it is putting out an intriguing mix of content, one that—if you squint a bit—resembles the work being done by the publishing houses Audible simultaneously is partnering with and competing against. Audible is emphasizing its strengths while essentially taking what it can get from big-name authors—it’s a smart, patient strategy that is yielding results.
Month: July 2018
Lang Lang Is Back At The Piano After A Year Of Injury – Here’s Why That’s Such A Big Deal
“His return to the stage on Friday — to headline the season opener at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home in the Berkshires — is being closely watched not only by his fans, but also by the music industry. … The select group of artists who can still sell out concerts on the strength of their names includes Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and Renée Fleming — and Mr. Lang.” Michael Cooper explains what kept Lang Lang away from playing and what’s at stake now.
How One Bay Area Foundation Is Helping Keep The Arts Stable In America’s Craziest Real Estate Market
“[The Kenneth Rainin Foundation] has been ahead of the curve when it comes to providing Bay Area artists organizations with affordable spaces through its support for the Community Art Stabilization Trust. Through its work with the city of Oakland, it’s at the forefront in supporting traditionally underfunded arts organizations of color. And its Open Spaces program has astutely framed public art as a medium through which audiences can engage with work addressing issues like gentrification and poverty.” Now it’s adding yet another approach.
New York And The Rest Of The Dance World Discover That L.A. Has A Busy Dance Scene
“‘No nudity at all,’ said a dance presenter, incredulously, as she emerged from the final showing of the DCA LA Dance Platform presented here in early June. ‘That would never happen in New York.’ But the dance showcase … was not about what is happening in New York, or London or Berlin. It was focused on dance in Los Angeles, a city where companies, big and small, classical and contemporary, have historically struggled for visibility and viability.”
Claude Lanzmann, Director Of ‘Shoah’, Dead At 92
While he had an extensive career as journalist, editor, public intellectual, and lover of Simone de Beauvoir, it was with Shoah, a 9½ oral history of the Holocaust widely considered one of the greatest documentary films ever made, that Lanzmann gained world renown. He never retired: his final film, Napalm (about his youthful affair with a nurse in North Korea), and his miniseries The Four Sisters were both completed last year.
The Entire System Of Academic Publishing Is Broken. Here’s One Researcher’s Plan To Fix It
“Giant, corporate publishers with racketeering business practices and profit margins that exceed Apple’s treat life-saving research as a private commodity to be sold at exorbitant profits. … [Worse,] Elsevier has sued Sci-Hub, a website that provides free, easy access to 67 million research articles. … If we diversify our thinking away from the superficial field of journals and articles, and instead focus on the power of networked technologies, we can see all sorts of innovative models for scholarly communication.”
Robert Lepage’s Latest Theatre Piece Uses White Women To Play Black Slaves. Now Protests Have Shut It Down
Slav, which premiered last week at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, “bills itself as a ‘theatrical odyssey’ inspired by ‘traditional African-American slave and work songs.’ It also features a nearly all-white cast performing the music. Its director, Mr. Lepage, is white, as is its star Betty Bonifassi. … On Wednesday, the storm proved too much, and the jazz festival and Ms. Bonifassi canceled the show after only two performances.”
Boston Symphony’s Principal Flutist Sues Orchestra Over Unequal Pay
“Elizabeth Rowe, who joined the BSO in 2004 after winning a blind audition for the role of principal flute, says in the lawsuit she’s asked for years to be paid the same as the principal oboe — the best comparison to her unique position — but the orchestra kept her pay well below that of her peer.” The difference is currently $70,000.
Police Union Accuses SC High School Reading List Of Being ‘Anti-Cop’
“The Fraternal Order of Police [lodge for metro Charleston] is objecting to two books on Wando High School’s freshman [summer] reading list” – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds, both about police violence against black teens. Said the president of the union local, “It’s almost an indoctrination of distrust of police, and we’ve got to put a stop to that.”
LACMA’s New Building Is Running Late, Even As Costs Keep Rising
“The [Peter] Zumthor project is about six months behind schedule. The process, including building permits and entitlements, is taking longer than expected, [museum director Michael] Govan says. And the museum’s $650-million fundraising campaign, he adds, is ‘in pace with the project.’ Which is to say: going slowly.”