Virginia Johnson, a founding member of Dance Theater of Harlem who was named artistic director in 2009, said the gift would go toward increasing the size of the company from 18 to 20 dancers, supplementing the organization’s lean staff and further encouraging the development of works by women and people of color. – The New York Times
Author: Douglas McLennan
Happiness Index: Why It’s So Difficult To Tell
Over the past two or three decades, the historical study of emotions has developed a rich set of tools with which to chart the ways that emotions have changed over time. Emotions such as anger, disgust, love and happiness might seem commonplace, but they are not so readily understood in the past. These concepts and the experiences associated with them are not historically stable. – Aeon
Board Games Are Thriving
In Germany, the home of modern board-gaming, the industry has grown by over 40% in the past five years; the four-day SPIEL trade fair this year saw 1,500 new board and card game releases, with 209,000 attendees from around the world. – Fast Company
Slideshare Has Become A Major Repository For Pirated Books
The more popular the book, the more pervasive the SlideShare piracy. Searches for the top five fiction and nonfiction books on the New York Times bestseller list (which includes authors ranging from Malcolm Gladwell to Delia Owens to Ronan Farrow) produce multiple pages of pirated e-book links on SlideShare for each title. – Fast Company
Book Print Sales Were Down 1.3 Percent In 2019
The decline was not unexpected, as sales in 2018 were driven by strong performances of a plethora of political books and the blockbuster success of Michelle Obama’s Becoming, which was the top seller that year with more than three million copies sold. In 2019, Becoming was the #1 title in adult nonfiction, selling about 1.2 million copies. – Publishers Weekly
Holographic Artists? Yes, And There’s More
Pop-star holograms are exploding out of a chemical reaction between three elements that have been influencing human decision-making for thousands of years: supply, demand, and survival instinct. – Artnet
How Are We Deciding Which Movies Are Actually Any Good?
There’s always been a divide between what the critical culture celebrates and what audience members actually want to see. “This three-and-a-half-hour Turkish film about the struggle between a boy and his father is a heartrending exploration of generational divides among a swiftly changing world …” “I don’t know, does anything blow up?” But that divide seems to be growing, with almost no living critic able to wield the kind of power figures like Siskel and Ebert used to have to get butts in seats, even so-called difficult films or subtitled films or art films. – The Guardian
New Music Education Prize Awards $1.75 Million
Dan Lewis: “My vision is to ensure opportunities to learn, perform and create music are available to all young people. Ideally, this would be happening in every school, but that isn’t the case, especially in low-income and historically marginalized communities.” – The New York Times
LA Philharmonic Extends Dudamel Contract Through 2026
At age 28, Gustavo Dudamel started his appointment as the L.A. Phil’s music director in 2009, his original five-year term quickly extended through the 2018-19 season and later through mid-2022. With that last extension, he gained the additional title of artistic director. – Los Angeles Times
Why Shouldn’t We Get To Choose How We Die? (And In What Style)
Many people no longer hold the kind of religious views according to which our time of death is not allowed to be of our choosing. There are an increasing number of countries where physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is permitted in a medical context. But why think that the right to choose our ending is given legitimacy only, if at all, on health grounds? Why don’t we have the right to end our lives not just when we want to but to also do so in style? – Aeon