Sure, it might make their publicists cringe, but bestselling authors like Elin Hilderbrand, Stephen King, and even J.K. Rowling are happy to comment on politics, using their social media feeds (and their readings).
Month: July 2018
No One (Older Than 25) Can Quite Figure Out Why Teens Love This Tweet About Gatsby
Seriously, Gen-Z: Why? Why do you love this tweet about a Gatsby-style party? (Come for the generation gap question; stay for the teens’ long takes on the tweet that somehow still don’t explain it, at all.)
Looking For Univision? You Won’t Find It On Dish Or Sling Right Now
Not good for Spanish-language channel consumers (including soccer fans): “Univision has been seeking higher fees to bring its Spanish-language channels closer to those charged by English-language networks, such as ABC, NBC and CBS. But Dish has balked at Univision’s demands and declined Univision’s offer of a two-week contract extension to continue the talks.”
Just What In The Heck Is Going On At The Lincoln Center?
Things aren’t exactly great at the moment. Whew: “Now on its fourth leader in five years, Lincoln Center — the country’s largest performing arts complex — finds itself suffering from shuffled priorities, financial difficulties and instability at its highest rank during a time when cultural organizations are struggling to retain and build donors and audiences.”
A Queer Feminist Bookstore Opened In Mississippi And Made Someone Faint
OK, the person fainted because they’d had too much to drink, and the opening was too packed, but still. More Q&A: “Who’s your favorite regular? There was the five-year-old daughter of the owner of a thrift store on the next block who would come in, find some books, walk to the front, and hand me a five-dollar bill over the counter with a beatific smile. She wasn’t totally clear on the concept of sales tax, but I usually covered it for her.”
Carly Simon Heads Up A Sprawling Compound Of Music And Art
“James Taylor was 22 when he bought 175 acres of woods with the proceeds from his first record deal. On a stormy June afternoon nearly half a century later, Carly Simon, his ex-wife; their children, Sally Taylor and Ben Taylor; Ben’s partner, Sophie Hiller, and their friends, the musicians John Forté and David Saw, were gathered in the rambling house that has grown up like a wagon wheel around the original structure, with hallways that hopscotch over rooms and staircases in odd places.”
Top AJBlogs Posts For The Weekend Of 07.01.18
Engagement Beyond Mere “Customer Service” The basics of “customer service” include patience, attentiveness, knowledge, responsiveness, and consistency. So, here’s a simply beautiful example of one company’s practice that far exceeds those basics– courtesy of a friend who discovered this … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2018-06-30
The Museum and the Narrative: Too Political? Tomorrow is Canada Day, and the Art Gallery of Ontario is marking it with the opening of new galleries of art made in Canada that will, for the first time, give primacy to indigenous art–at least … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-06-30
Tinsel I’m always here for a disposable rush from a bit of shiny trash. But if there’s a message to the first part of Taylor Mac’s sock-knocking extravaganza A 24-Decade History of Popular Music – … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-06-29
What Is A Hole (And How Does Our Definition Affect How We Understand Reality)?
Consider the holes in doughnuts. No, not the “doughnut holes” made out of the dough, because they’re clearly not holes. “If we do not take the removed dough to be the hole, then what do we take the hole to be? Are holes material things, where material things are physical (like tables and chairs), or are holes immaterial things, where immaterial things are not physical (like abstract entities)? Or are holes not even things at all?”
The Philadelphia History Museum Is Closing, Perhaps Never To Open Again
Could this have been different if Lin-Manuel Miranda had set Hamilton in Philadelphia instead of New York? (That’s … sort of … a joke.) In reality, the city of Philadelphia was blindsided by a decision from Temple: “City officials were in talks with Temple University to form a partnership that might keep the institution afloat. But this week, they learned that the university had abruptly pulled out of the partnership discussions, leaving the museum’s future uncertain.”
How To Write About Genocide In A Rock Musical
Lauren Yee, who wrote the new musical Cambodian Rock Band, explains why it works so well. “Cambodian music is not just covers of American or Western music. It’s really this modern, distinctive sound that is found nowhere else. It is kind of all these influences, from traditional Cambodian music, French New Wave, some of the Vietnam War-era radio. It is so ingrained in the culture in a way that I just find incredibly unique.”