Many people today take television seriously. Instead, Nussbaum’s contribution has been to argue for what precisely about television merits our serious attention. – Los Angeles Review of Books
Author: Douglas McLennan
Banff International Competition Makes a Dynamic Case For String Quartets
As a launching pad, a young quartet could hardly ask for more. And in the case of the Marmen Quartet, the prize followed on the heels of a first-prize victory in another of the world’s leading chamber music showcases — France’s Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. – Toronto Star
Do Book Prizes Matter? Researchers Crunched The Numbers
In short, prizes matter. But more surprising is the effect of a nomination alone. With only an appearance on the Booker shortlist, a book moves from total obscurity in the classroom and the pages of literary criticism to respectable showings in both—and it gets a healthy popularity boost along the way. Of course, a win gooses the stats across the board, but the difference between utter obscurity and modest fame is arguably greater than the difference between modest and runaway success. – Public Books
Malcolm Gladwell’s Impending Tipping Point
Nearly 20 years and millions of sales after his nonfiction debut, Mr. Gladwell is at something of a professional tipping point. He elicits from readers the kind of polarized reactions usually reserved for talk-radio hosts. To one camp, he is a master storyteller, pithily translating business concepts and behavioral science to a lay audience. To others, he is a faux intellectual, dressing up ordinary truths (such as an “Outliers” argument that success results from a combination of hard work and opportunity) as counterintuitive genius. How “Talking to Strangers” is received could cement Mr. Gladwell in one of those camps for good. – The New York Times
Claim: Arts In UK Rural Areas Are Disappearing
Ralph Lister, Director of the Somerset-based NPO Take Art, believes that England’s rural arts infrastructure could disappear entirely within the next five years unless ACE takes steps to address the funding imbalance. – Arts Professional
Do Transfers Of London Shows To Broadway Say Something About The State Of Broadway?
It is certainly possible to say that roughly a quarter of all the Broadway shows announced have at least one, if not both, feet planted in UK soil. But to those who wield this ‘fact’ to suggest US artists are getting short shrift, I say – with the appropriate eye roll – “Oh, please.” – The Stage
Ivan Fischer’s Daughter Got Kicked Out Of Music Conservatory For Exploring Her Range (Turns Out It Works As A Career)
“Classical singing is very beautiful but very specific. I meanwhile was developing an interest in all the other things my voice could do – I felt that I had such a rich instrument and I was only being taught to sing with 15% of it. I was listening to a lot of other styles of music, and what I enjoyed most was the singers who dared to be very raw, like Björk or Thom Yorke, incredible musicians and singers who are not afraid – if the emotion asks them to – to sound really rough and even ugly.” – The Guardian
Theatre Pros Grade Boris Johnson’s First Week
“What we’re watching now is a man realising that the character he invented for himself in order to get something he didn’t want doesn’t work when you’re prime minister. It was fine for panel shows and PR opportunities, and for getting him into No 10, but he didn’t think it through. He failed to write the final act, and now he’s trapped in his own clown, in a costume that doesn’t fit any more, being forced to perform in a circus that’s packing up around him. How funny is that?” – The Guardian
Boström Knausgård: You Don’t Know Me From My Ex-Husband’s Books
Questions of strength and weakness have hovered around Boström Knausgård ever since the novelist with whom she shares a last name wrote, in rather excruciating detail, about their life together and Boström Knausgård’s mental illness. Because the novel—like her other fiction—draws closely from its author’s past, it will surely invite comparison with My Struggle, by her former husband, Karl Ove Knausgaard. – Vanity Fair
An Overhaul In Leadership At Portland Oregon’s Major Arts Organizations
A massive overhaul is happening at the top of Portland’s biggest artistic institutions. Six of Oregon’s major arts organizations—including NW Film Center, Portland Center Stage and Chamber Music Northwest—have recently undergone changes in leadership, or are about to. It’s not just generational turnover, either: In many cases, the white men in charge are being succeeded by women and people of color. – Willamette Week