The dropout rate at American universities has been high. What to do? Use mountains of data to find better ways of predicting who will do well when they get in. And no, it’s not just looking at whether you got good grades (duh)… – Politico
Author: Douglas McLennan
When Our Social Media Randomizes Our Memories, It Distorts Our Sense Of Self
Philip Kennicott: “When we remember our lives authentically, we ask a fundamental question: Why did I remember this thing, at this moment? The “Why now?” question gives memory its meaning. Facebook randomizes and decontextualizes memory and detaches it from our current self.” – Washington Post
Comedian Excluded From Performing At Montreal Club Because His Hair Style Is “Cultural Appropriation”
Even if the person wearing dreadlocks is not racist himself, the group says, the chosen hairstyle “conveys racism.” It calls cultural appropriation “a form of passive oppression, a privilege to be deconstructed and in particular a manifestation of ordinary racism.” – Toronto Star (CP)
Why Carol Channing Was Unforgettable
Charles McNulty: One of a kind, Channing was a like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Gracie Allen, with a personality voice that could make a tune completely her own. When she sang, pixie dust shot into the air. She was an Al Hirschfeld cartoon sprung into swooning life. – Los Angeles Times
Why We Need Theatre That Hurts, That’s Unpleasant, That’s Uncomfortable
“I don’t fault my friend for fleeing the theatre. This is art that hurts, though, to me, the pain seems entirely appropriate, even welcome. It’s not art of the cloying variety; it doesn’t depict pain that is pity-seeking, or that aims to emotionally hijack an audience on a ride through some dreary personal catharsis.” – The New Yorker
The Disney Princess Body Proportion Issue
“Disney princesses have extremely small waist-to-hip ratios that are nearly impossible to achieve naturally,” write anthropologist Toe Aung of Pennsylvania State University and independent researcher Leah Williams. They argue that such characters “might heighten or reinforce our preference for lower waist-to-hip ratios, and the perception that physically attractive individuals with lower waist-to-hip ratios possess morally favorable qualities.” – Pacific Standard
Orange County Has Changed Politically. Its Stages Don’t Seem To Have Kept Up Demographically
“While our political transformation was reflected emphatically at the ballot box in 2016 and even more so in 2018, the effects of O.C.’s increasing diversity haven’t been felt everywhere. The local theater scene, for example, reflects only part of the new demographic reality.” – Voice of Orange County
The End Of Authors? Hardly!
“The dictionary meanings of words are only potentially meaningful until they are actually employed in a context defined by the relation between author and audience. So how did it happen that professors of literature came to renounce authors and their intentions in favor of a way of thinking — or at least a way of talking — that is without historical precedent, has scant philosophical support, and is to most ordinary readers not only counterintuitive but practically incomprehensible?” – Los Angeles Review of Books
Winston Churchill, Artist
Of course he was better-known as a politician. But he was also a considerably accomplished amateur artist. His artistic work has had relatively little notice next to his political career, but his work is worth examining. – The American Interest
Five Trends That Will Shape The Visual Art Market In 2019
The rise of Taipei, a realignment in New York, Saudi money… the art world has never been so internationally dispersed… – Artsy