Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense. They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors, raw extrusions of capital piled up until it hits the clouds. These towers are not only the product of advances in construction technology – and a global surfeit of super-rich buyers – but a zoning policy that allows a developer to acquire unused airspace nearby, add it to their own lot, and erect a vast structure without any kind of public review process taking place. – The Guardian
Author: Douglas McLennan
Rules Of The Road For Copy Editors
“There’s nobody I know who does words for a living who doesn’t adhere to certain either odd or essentially irrational preferences or distastes. I think you simply need to sort of contain yourself. Like, pick six things you want to be ridiculously stubborn about, not dozens and dozens and dozens of them. You have to choose your irrational battles.” – NPR
What A Nation’s Story Does For The Nation
“Nation-states, when they form, imagine a past. That, at least in part, accounts for why modern historical writing arose with the nation-state. For more than a century, the nation-state was the central object of historical inquiry. But in the 1970s, studying the nation fell out of favor in the American historical profession.” – Foreign Affairs
Report: Some Ways We Should Support The Arts
Business models for virtually every industry are changing – and many industries are seeing their foundations rocked. So how to find new ways to support the arts? In the UK the Cultural Cities Enquiry makes a series of suggestions, including a tax on tourism. – The Stage (UK)
The Story Of The Suffering Artist Is A Dangerous One
“On the face of it, the story of how I wrote my fourth novel – which I was lucky enough to sell for my first comfortable yearly salary – could resemble a heartwarming success story. It could readily be used to justify the trope of the suffering artist; the idea that we produce our best work when experiencing hardship. The truth is, we don’t. It’s a dangerous myth used to systematically devalue artistic labour.” – Irish Times
The Bizarre Deceptions Of A Writer Who Seemed To Have It All
Nobody has accused Dan Mallory of breaking the law, or of lying under oath, but his behavior has struck many as calculated and extreme. The former colleague said that Mallory was “clever and careful” in his “ruthless” deceptions: “If there was something that he wanted and there was a way he could position himself to get it, he would. If there was a story to tell that would help him, he would tell it.” This doesn’t look like poetic license, ordinary cockiness, or Nabokovian game-playing; nor is it behavior associated with bipolar II disorder. – The New Yorker
The Wonder That Was Aretha
“Aretha stands at the pulpit, her eyes closed, her chin raised. She hums her way into and around the first note. Then breathes deeply, exhales the music. She sings the first word’s first syllable once on its own, turns a simple “Ah” into a ladder: “Ahhhh-ahh-ahhhh.” She repeats, joins it to the next syllable, holds that sound—“Ah-maayyyyy”—as long as she can, angling upward as she goes. The choir, even before she hits “-zing,” raises their hands in praise.” – New York Review of Books
The Posters For Science Talks That Look Like They’re Advertising Cool Bands
Bob Goldstein’s posters are visually varied, ranging from psychedelic print negatives, to sharp infographic visualizations, to turn-of-the-century scientific etchings, to understated watercolors. They really are like gig posters for scientists, because the design is born from fandom of the research itself. – Fast Company
How Richard White Became A Professional Tuba Player
Only 1.8 percent of U.S. symphony members are African-American. When he was at Peabody, White met with the then-Dean to mull ways to make the institution more diverse and accepting, “because it was weird walking around and not seeing anyone who looks like me. I learned that when you communicate to people what is going on, they will pay attention. They didn’t care that I was only black person in school. I was Richard the tuba player, which is ultimately crazy, because that’s what you want. I’m not sure I want to be Richard the black tuba player. I wanted to be Richard the tuba player.” – The Daily Beast
Unfair Comparisons: Social Media Leads Us To Compare Ourselves To Everyone. It’s Exhausting! (And Not Good For Us)
“We are outnumbered and out-posted by other people and it can make us feel unequivocally terrible if we let it. It’s never been easier to be insecure about ourselves and our achievements thanks to the ever-present torrent of ‘updates’ posted by mostly well-meaning people seeking opportunities for connection and validation.” – The Conversation