For the last century, the advertising industry has been centered around this cardinal principle: Find the consumer’s problem and fix it with your product. When the problem is practical and tactical, the solution is “as seen on TV” and available at Home Depot. But when the problem is emotional, the fix becomes a new staple in your life, and you become a lifelong loyalist. Coca-Cola makes you happy. A Mercedes makes you successful. Taking your family on a Royal Caribbean cruise makes you special. – WBUR
Author: Douglas McLennan
An Indie Bookstore Apocalypse? (Maybe Skip This Story)
What’s clear to everyone is that the much celebrated “independent bookstore renaissance,” which coincided with the post–Great Recession economic expansion, is over. Hundreds of stores may never reopen again. The future of independent bookselling, a tenuous, low-margin business in the best of times, has never been gloomier. – The New Republic
What The Pandemic Revealed: Our Failure To Build The Things We Know We Need
Part of the problem is clearly foresight, a failure of imagination. But the other part of the problem is what we didn’t do in advance, and what we’re failing to do now. And that is a failure of action, and specifically our widespread inability to build. – Andreesen Horowitz
The Story Behind The Fantastical Dr. Seuss Library
The library is a bit jarring in real life. It’s more like the Space Age tower headquarters of the police, only with hundreds of sunkissed students pouring in, out, and around it. – The Daily Beast
Speculation: Independent UK Museums Likely Won’t Survive Virus
Independent institutions that usually depend on entrance fees and are not backed by regular grants or funding are thought to be most at risk. London’s Florence Nightingale Museum and Charles Dickens Museum are among those who have appealed for more help. – BBC
Cinemark Aims To Reopen Movie Theatres In July
Cinemark CEO and Board Director Mark Zoradi said there will be two weeks of “showing library product, high profile library product” as the chain expects a slow flow of attendance. The big blast off anticipated here is the weekend of July 17-19 which is when Warner Bros. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is blasting off. – Deadline
There’s Boredom And Then There’s Boredom As A Punishment
For people whose “confinement” looks more like days on end in pajama bottoms, media outlets scramble to provide useful tips for combatting quarantine-induced boredom. Users’ social-media feeds are flooded with content that makes light of how people are responding to the drudgery and how hilariously creative they can be in their attempts to break up monotony. Yes, the boredom of sheltering in place can be stressful, but for incarcerated people, that stress can be deadly. – The Atlantic
Indie Musicians Take To Social Media To Replace Live Gig Income
“Sales do not drive a career the way they used to, so it’s more imperative than ever for artists to stay out on the road. And right now we’re not talking about a diminishment of income, we’re talking about a cessation of it. It’s done. And no one can tell us for how long.” – Washington Post
Why Would An Oxford Professor Steal Ancient Papyrus?
Dr Dirk Obbink, an associate professor in papyrology and Greek literature at the university, was detained by officers from Thames Valley police. The force had received a report claiming the papyrus fragments that had been housed at the renowned Sackler Library in Oxford, which ended up in a biblical museum in the US, had been stolen. – The Guardian
Deborah Borda: How The NY Phil Is Thinking About Rethinking Its Future
A new virtual music platform, cancellation of tours and rethinking the renovation of the orchestra’s home. First – keep musicians employed and make sure they have health care – WQXR