The grand consensuses of modern life online—the politics of approbatory or condemnatory agreement—keep culture from renewing and reinventing itself. When hipster lost its edge and went mainstream, we entered a period of aesthetic and moral stagnation. This wasn’t hipster’s fault, and—dear god—hipster was never going to save us. It is simply what happens when we defang the subversive element in culture, even the stupidly subversive. – Hedgehog Review
Author: Douglas McLennan
A History Of Celebrity (Why We Care)
Celebrity distinguishes itself from other forms of public approbation because it centres on the individual personality. Celebrities reflect our personhood – they show us who we are. But they also charm us with illusion, showing us whom we want to be. – Aeon
Why Other Experiences Help Make Better Artists
“You’re trying to do something new to you, and in some cases new to anyone. One of the sources of power for doing things like that is having really broad experiences.” That often requires trying, and failing, at a number of different activities. – Artsy
A Look Inside The Ruins Of Notre Dame
The man responsible for overseeing the reconstruction of Notre-Dame says the risks of a catastrophic collapse are small but that the true extent of the damage will not be known until at least the end of the year. Until then, it will remain a triage site. – Time
In Hyper-Curating Our Desires Have We Lost The Thread Of Reality?
One doesn’t have to subscribe to Plato’s ladder of ascent or gift of the gods to appreciate his point that the realm of selfish desire is the futile and corrupting alternative to more genuine longing. And one doesn’t have to be a philosopher to see how longing can open up a different logic of meaning in our contemporary aesthetic stage. – Hedgehog Review
Terry Gross Talks To Emily Nussbaum About TV
“Let a hundred flowers bloom. Everything is valuable in its own way and they don’t need to be in tension with one another. You can love novels and love TV shows and not feel like they have to be placed in some sort of hierarchy.” – NPR
The Evidence Is In On The Effectiveness Of Trigger Warnings
“Like many a random supplement, trigger warnings are probably useless for most people and potentially, though not definitively, a little harmful to some. So, with no clear upside, why risk it?” – Slate
Can Science Fiction Be Useful In Imagining The Future?
“The answer is one that divides futurists, writers, and academics. Some argue that there is power in narrative stories that can’t be found elsewhere. Others assert that in our quest for imagination and prediction, we’re deluding ourselves into thinking that we can predict what’s coming.” – Wired
Should The Roosevelt Statue In Front Of The American Museum Of Natural History Come Down? The Museum Asks Visitors
“Addressing the Statue,” with an accompanying video and website, examines various aspects of the monument and the president it memorializes. It explores the history of the statue’s design and installation, who the men at the bottom of the statue may represent and Roosevelt’s own racism. The museum examines its own complicity at points, too, with references in the video to its exhibitions on eugenics in the early 20th century. – The New York Times
Star Dancer, Felled By Autoimmune Disease, Gets Back To The Stage
Once a soloist at New York City Ballet with an auspicious future, Kathryn Morgan was forced to leave the company in 2012, felled by an autoimmune disease that saw her hair fall out, her weight rise and her balance disappear. – CNN