One of the first things that struck Dvořák about Iowa was its emptiness. If he had come looking for the cheerfulness of home, what he found was this expanse of prairie, this sea of grass and grain that went on forever. “It is wild here,” he said, “and sometimes very sad.” – Plough
Author: Douglas McLennan
Coffee Culture, The Business
Coffee is sold less to provide an individual with pleasure than to support an industry with a skillfully primed audience. – The New Yorker
Is What We Believe Merely The Product Of The Luck Of Our Social Circumstances?
It’s important to realise that the concern about beliefs being socially influenced is worrisome only if we’re deliberating about whether to maintain belief from the perspective of doubt. – Aeon
Why You’re Feeling Zoom Fatigue
As experts in human-computer interaction point out, using Zoom means putting on a show for others without being able to rely on the cues we primates depend on in physical encounters. – Axios
“Hamilton” Education Now Free Online
EduHam was born as an offshoot of “Hamilton” itself, and Lin Manuel Miranda says the project — in which 250,000 students nationwide have participated — has proved to be a hit as much with cast members as younger people. – Washington Post
Dancing At Home? ABT Ships Dance Floors To Its Dancers
ABT polled the dancers to find out how many would be interested. Then they placed a single order for 68 pieces, paid for it all and shipped them out to company members isolating everywhere from Australia to Hawaii. – Dance Magazine
Streaming Yes, But The Tech Still Has A Way To Go
When it comes to live music streaming, and in particular, the capacity to play together real time over the internet, the technology could be said to be in a nascent state — still very much under construction. – Ludwig Van
We Like To Blame Cities For Our Ills. Is This Fair?
The demonization of density harkens to the heyday of urbanization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. American civic leaders and reformers of the time embraced the notion that urban social problems — disease, poverty, immorality — stemmed from the physical environments of cities. – CityLab
It Starts: Cash-Strapped NYC Proposes Cutting Cultural Affairs Budget
Now facing an immense shortfall in tax revenue—about $7.4 billion—the city has proposed a revised budget for the next fiscal year that would reduce the overall budget by $3.4 billion, compared to last year’s adopted budget. Among those cuts is a budgetary reduction of $10.6 million for the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA). – ARTnews
Distance Learning Isn’t Working. And There’s An Important Reason Why
The situation into which almost every parent in America has now suddenly and unwillingly been thrust could not be more different. One-size-fits-all education barely works in a classroom, but it is completely unmanageable with kids spread out across their various households working independently. – The Atlantic