“Tech companies seem to be recognizing that they need advice on the unprecedented power they’ve amassed and on many challenging moral issues around privacy, facial recognition, AI, and beyond. Philosophers, who contemplate these topics for a living, should welcome any interest in their work from organizations that are set on shaping humanity’s future. But they need to be wary of the potential conflicts of interest that can arise from these collaborations, and of being used as virtue-signaling pawns for ethically problematic companies.” – Wired
Author: Douglas McLennan
Placido Domingo Performs To Standing Ovations, Cheers
“In Domingo’s first performance since sexual harassment allegations surfaced against him, the crowd cheered every one of his big moments. He had to stop the standing ovation at the final curtain call, not wanting to take away love from the other performers.” – Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles’ LACMA Is Kind Of A Ghost Town Now
California is famous for its ghost towns, but you don’t expect to find one where L.A.’s major art museum once was. Or pay up to 25 bucks to see it. – Los Angeles Times
The Comic Books About Great Artists (A Good Idea?)
“There’s something inherently odd about using one artistic tradition to depict the life (to say nothing of reproducing the work) of an artist from a different tradition. And yet, not only are a growing number of cartoonists creating books about famous artists, but their approaches are dizzyingly varied. When is a comic book a fitting tribute to an icon?” – NPR
Why I Teach High School English
“Teaching is not for everyone, and that is a good thing. We need great teachers. We need people with patience and passion. High school teaching is entertainment. Erudition is worthless if you can’t communicate with kids. And kids—like everyone else—like to be entertained. To do this job right, you need to put on one hell of a show, back to back, for different audiences. That show needs to be genuine—and it needs to have substance.” – LitHub
Ferlinghetti At 100: Beating The Drum Of American Originality
“The fact that Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a friend and publisher of his better-known confreres, has recently celebrated his hundredth birthday in style by publishing Little Boy, an uncategorizable stream-of-consciousness bildungsroman offers an inspiriting case study of keeping the blessed callings of poetry, art, and political radicalism alive by example.” – The Baffler
Small Colorado Public Radio Station Takes Over Two Festivals
KSUT in Ignacio, Colorado was given the Folk N’ Bluegrass festival, which brings in about 2,000 attendees per day and the Four Corners Folk Festival, which draws nearly double that. – Current
The Complicated History Of “This Land Is Your Land”
“As the author of three books on Woody Guthrie, I sometimes wonder how the folksinger would respond to the criticism of “This Land Is Your Land” for its omissions. While we can’t know for sure, a glance at some of his unpublished writings and recently discovered recordings can offer some clues.” – The Conversation
Prague Grapples With Over-Tourism
In the years since the 1989 Velvet Revolution, a rising tide of visitors has flooded in, up from 2.62 million in the year 2000, to just under 8 million last year, drawn by Prague’s reputation as home to stunning baroque and gothic architectural gems – and cheap beer. Numbers this year are forecast to reach just under 9 million. – The Observer (UK)
To Desegregate Public Schools, NYC Proposes To Eliminate Gifted Programs
Gifted programs and screened schools have “become proxies for separating students who can and should have opportunities to learn together,” the panel, made up of several dozen education experts, wrote in the report. – The New York Times