“If this devastating shutdown forces the Met to grapple with its role in American society and to shift the overwhelmingly traditional template of its programming, then there will have been an important upside to the crisis. The prestigious, gilded Met has hardly been a trailblazer in this regard, but it could set an example for other American opera companies and orchestras to use this time to think about — and rethink — their offerings.” – The New York Times
Author: Douglas McLennan
Carrie Mae Weems Wields Art Against COVID
There is no time for being artsy or coy, one might argue, when so many people are dying. This project also reveals a certain degree of modesty on Weems’ part — almost no one who drives past the billboards will know that an artist is responsible, as her name only appears in small letters at the bottom of each frame. – Dallas Morning News
The Writer-Diplomat Tradition
The writer-diplomat tradition, though largely ignored in the history of letters, has been critical to the development of many European and Latin American writers. Eight poets with diplomatic experience, including Octavio Paz and Czeslaw Milosz, have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. – Robert Fay
What Theatre Can Learn From Role-Play Games
“We believe that theatre artists could learn something from the collaborative storytelling techniques employed in tabletop role-playing games. As professional dramaturgs and gamers ourselves, it’s easy to see that theatre and TTRPGs share obvious points of overlap.” – Howlround
St. Louis Public Radio Ousts Its Leader
The flap between Tim Eby and some of his workers came to light in early August when journalists and producers of color complained about unfair treatment. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
How COVID Scrambled How Hollywood Finances Projects
COVID-19 has upended the revenue streams that Hollywood could once depend on. As theaters have yet to fully reopen and draw film fans, studios have had to find other ways to release their movies and recoup investments. – Los Angeles Times
How America’s Literary Programs Made The World Smaller
Even today, the institutions of creative writing in the United States reflect their origins in the Cold War. In the 1940s and 1950s, early advocates for such programs, including Paul Engle at Iowa and Wallace Stegner at Stanford, shared a common vision for American culture with the internationalists of the Truman and Eisenhower administrations and influential philanthropic foundations. – Chronicle of Higher Education
The Flaws And Blemishes Of Thinking Scientifically
Philosophers of science tend to irritate practicing scientists, to whom science already makes complete sense. It doesn’t make sense to Michael Strevens. “Science is an alien thought form,” he writes; that’s why so many civilizations rose and fell before it was invented. In his view, we downplay its weirdness, perhaps because its success is so fundamental to our continued existence.” – The New Yorker
These Artists Turned Medical Bills Into Art And Sold Them To Pay The Debt
MSCHF, the group responsible for stunts like Finger on the App and MasterWiki, is bringing attention to the failures of the American healthcare system with Medical Bill Art. Three real medical bills were rendered into oil paintings and sold for the amount of money owed via the art market. The work is aptly called 3 Medical Bills. – Mashable
The Kinds Of Theatre That Might Work Best Virtually
Plays that explore broken institutions, social unrest, and isolation may be uniquely suited to the Zoom platform with its fractured screen of boxes and its disruptive glitches, hiccups, and delays. – Howlround