Lyndon Terracini was responding to a call from Australian composers, directors, musicians, and vocalists, who have called for a ”revolution” to remove what they describe as gender bias, sexism, and dramatised acts of violence against women in opera. – Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Douglas McLennan
How Medieval History Is Being Used To Fuel Conspiracy Theories
“Simple stereotypes about the Middle Ages aren’t just wrong; they have become weapons for white supremacy. As the great spire of Notre Dame fell, I knew the disaster, whatever the cause turned out to be, would fuel incendiary anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories based on white supremacist reconstructions of Western European history.” – Pacific Standard
The Rise Of Conspiracy Theory Culture
Shane Dawson is a capricious conspiracist. In the middle of his paranoid rant about the moon, he places his hands sincerely over his chest and says: “Once again, it’s a theory. I don’t want to get sued, or put in jail.” Then he narrows his eyes, as if to size up the whole field of space science, and scoffs, “But I mean, the evidence is not looking good.” – The New York Times
Washington DC’s Museum Pay Gender Gap (It’s Startling)
Women comprise the majority of museum employees, but in most cases they earn less than their male colleagues. – Washington Post
My But We’ve Become So Literal (When Sometimes A Metaphor Would be Better)
We want to quantify, data-fy and measure everything. And if not, then see literal images that we can quickly grasp. Are we losing the ability to imagine (and to dream)? – Aeon
The Irish Film Industry Has Grown Up. So What Does It Mean To Be An “Irish” Film?
“To resist globalisation, we need to insist on the importance of the local, whether that’s local food, local dialects, local industries. At its most successful, Irish cinema tells local stories that resonate as much abroad as they do at home.” – Irish Times
Why You Choke Under Pressure
“When we are performing our normal, practiced tasks everyday, we often are – counterintuitively — not paying attention to all the little details of what we are doing; our prefrontal cortex is running largely on autopilot. But in times of intense stress, like a playoff game, major presentation, or a job interview, your prefrontal cortex can go into overdrive. When the pressure is on, we often start focusing on the step-by-step details of our performance to try and ensure an optimal outcome and, as a result, we disrupt what would have otherwise been fluid and natural.” – Harvard Business Review
La Scala Picks A New Leader
Dominique Meyer, who is French and has been director of Vienna State Opera since 2010, has been celebrated for increasing revenue at the Austrian institution at a time when many opera houses are struggling. – The New York Times
JFK’s New TWA Hotel Reminds Us When Air Travel Was Fun (And Glamorous)
Michael Kimmelman: “When was the last time you lingered for pleasure at Kennedy Airport? When was the last time you felt happy to be there? An architectural advertisement for the thrill of air travel at the sunny dawn of the jet age, Saarinen’s reincarnated terminal is an unavoidable reminder of just how sad and degrading the experience of flying has become, if you’re not rich.” – The New York Times
Climate Change Anxiety Is Finding Its Way Into More Pop Culture
“Although movies and television have long toyed with doomsday scenarios, we’re now seeing deeper, more poignant treatments of the issue, with scenes of children and young adults trying to grapple with their fears about a fast-changing world.” – Washington Post