It’s the insiders—the poets, the tenured—who like to “problematize” poetry and wield their whatabouts. The “prose poem” is one of the most abiding whatabouts. It remains an outlier, a problem. – The Walrus
Author: Douglas McLennan
The Tech Revolution Was Supposed To Be Fun. So What Happened?
For many years, Silicon Valley and the machines that came out of it were presented as personally, economically, and socially transformative, agents of revolution at both the level of the individual and the whole social order. They were democratizing, uncontrolled, anarchic, and new. Most of all, they were supposed to be fun—to open up a space of play and freedom. How is it, then, that just a few decades in, we find ourselves trapped in a dreary spectacle that seems to replicate the old patterns of exploitation and dominion in almost every sphere, but with a creepy new intimacy? – The New Republic
What Effect Do Morals Have On Our Political Leanings?
Peter Ditto created a survey website to learn to what extent different moral frameworks shape outlooks on political questions, and indeed the greater world. His findings were compelling, but likely unsurprising if you’ve ever had an irreconcilable political squabble at the dinner table: it’s our moral filters, not facts or rational thinking, that mould our ideological outlooks. – Aeon
This Year’s Giller Prize Finalists
The 2019 shortlist features three authors previously nominated for the Giller Prize. Ohlin was shortlisted in 2012 for the novel Inside, Crummey was shortlisted in 2001 for the novel River Thieves and Bezmozgis was nominated in 2011 for The Free World and again in 2014 for The Betrayers. – CBC
Is Audible’s New Captions Service A Copyright Violation?
The publishers’ attorney, said that Captions—a feature that scrolls a few words of an AI-generated transcription alongside a digital audiobook as it plays—represents a “quintessential” case of copyright infringement. – Publishers Weekly
New York Times Changes Its Bestseller Lists
After cutting the mass market paperback and graphic novel/manga lists in 2017, the Times‘ Best Sellers team will again track mass market paperback sales, as well as debut a combined list for graphic books, which will include fiction, nonfiction, children’s, adults, and manga. Two new monthly children’s lists, middle grade paperback and young adult paperback, will debut as well. (The Times retired its middle grade e-book and young adult e-book lists in 2017.) In addition, the Times will cut its science and sports lists, explaining that “the titles on those lists are frequently represented on current nonfiction lists.” – Publishers Weekly
How Math Has Helped Shape Our Culture
“When I say that mathematics is seen as not having a history, I mean that mathematical truths are supposedly eternal, they’re unchanging, it doesn’t matter the context, it doesn’t matter the time, they’re always true, one and one equals two. It’s been true since the beginning of time, whether there have been humans or historical figures or mathematicians who knew it or not.” – LongReads
Can Sound, Music, Physically Heal Our Bodies?
Interest in sound therapy has soared in tandem with renewed global curiosity about cosmic energy and spirituality. Case in point, sales of “healing crystals” have doubled in the previous three years. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Marin Alsop Remembers Christopher Rouse
“Chris was a collector, and a collector of unexpected things: meteorites, records, guns. He started collecting composers’ signatures when he was a kid and amassed what I imagine is the largest private collection of composers’ autographs in the world. He knew how much I loved Brahms ( because we argued about Brahms regularly) and gave me his Brahms autograph last week…kind hearted to the end.” – NewMusicBox
Margaret Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale” Sequel Breaks Canadian Bookseller Records
The novel, which is a sequel to Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, sold more print copies in the first week than any other Canadian book since BookNet Canada began tracking sales data in 2005. – CBC