Speaking during its opening weekend, Fergus Linehan, a Dubliner who has been the festival’s director since 2015, said many performers had refused to be paid in sterling. – Irish Times
Author: Douglas McLennan
In Praise Of The Civic Plaza
You sit in a plaza and it occurs to you that other people have been in your situation, whatever it is, and this knowledge is at the heart of civility. There are no answers, only stories—the answers keep changing, the stories stay the same for centuries. – Harper’s
Blame Video Games For Violence? First, The Evidence Doesn’t Support It…
Games have shifted from a broad cultural enemy—a gory medium that all types of people might hold responsible for social disgrace—to a political tool. Video-game violence was once a bipartisan worry. Now it’s a largely Republican talking point, deployed for tactical political gain to great effect. – The Atlantic
Study Suggests We’re No Busier Than We Used To Be
The authors find little proof of increasing busyness among the population. Yes, as expected, people were spending far more time on digital devices in 2015 than they were in 2000. But the data provides little evidence that people now spend more time multitasking or that they’re switching more often from one activity to another, which might make our time seem fragmented and frantic. – Literary Review
Brain-To-Text: Neuroscientists Figure Out How To Decipher Words From Brain Signals
With a radical new approach, doctors have found a way to extract a person’s speech directly from their brain. The breakthrough is the first to demonstrate how a person’s intention to say specific words can be gleaned from brain signals and turned into text fast enough to keep pace with natural conversation. – The Guardian
The Digital Revolution That’s Hitting School Textbooks
As more and more coursework winds up online, the Balkanization of teaching resources cuts ever deeper. – Wired
Orange County’s Crystal Cathedral Reborn – But Music Still Doesn’t Work
Tim Mangan: “To put it briefly, these were cathedral acoustics: echoey, murky, swimmy, with a decay time of several seconds. Aurally, it was like playing in a high school gymnasium or Carlsbad Caverns. It’s no place for a couple of hundred musicians to perform an intricate piece of classical music.” – Voice of Orange County
Senate Confirms Trump’s Pick For NEA Chair
Remembering Hal Prince, Gruff Truth-Teller
No figure in Broadway history had a bigger influence on how shows looked and behaved in the second half of the 20th century. – Los Angeles Times
Tanglewood’s Bet On Staying Relevant
Unlike some new facilities attached to performing arts complexes — the Kennedy Center’s REACH extension, opening in September, comes to mind — TLI is not aiming to be radically new or different. Its mission includes expanding the older, more affluent audience it already cultivates in the region. – Washington Post