- The Dark Magic of Ottessa Moshfegh
IT’s not often that I pick up a book and get a new favorite writer. But that’s pretty close to what happened when a story collection called Homesick For Another World, by a young … read more - Tab Hunter, 1931-2018
Tony Perkins, Tab Hunter. Is that glass about to crash? Tab Hunter passed away Sunday, it was announced by his husband. The 2005 autobiography Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star was filled with … read more - Min Xioa-Fen brings Jazz to the Chinese Pipa and Ruan
I have always been impressed with Howard Mandel’s musical choices for the annual Jazz Journalists Association awards gala. This year was no different, with a major awards nod to women in jazz. The show … read more
Author: Douglas McLennan
How The Tech Economy Has Bred An Increasingly Impenetrable Caste System In San Francisco
The pessimist in me, however, thinks San Francisco can only continue further down this path, with the old-money propertied class dying or cashing out, the non-techies getting squeezed, and everyone getting pushed into the four-level hierarchy. In case there’s any doubt, I find the growth of this rigid caste system horrifying, and antithetical to both liberal democracy and the American project. It also seems that, at least in San Francisco, we’re close to a point of no return.
New Streaming Service Bills Itself As Netflix For The Arts
Co-founder Simon Walker said the service would be home to the “freshest, most innovative, most adventurous performances around”. Content available from its launch includes David Tennant in Richard II and New York City Opera’s Brokeback Mountain, based on the story by Charles Wuorinen and Annie Proulx. Marquee has also teamed up with Opus Arte, the company that supplies filmed productions from the Royal Opera House and Glyndebourne.
How Technology Has Killed The Public Square
It took centuries for the public sphere to develop—and the technology companies have eviscerated it in a flash. By radically remaking the advertising business and commandeering news distribution, Google and Facebook have damaged the economics of journalism. Amazon has thrashed the bookselling business in the U.S. They have shredded old ideas about intellectual property—which had provided the economic and philosophical basis for authorship. The old, enfeebled institutions of the public sphere have grown dependent on the big technology companies for financial survival. And with this dependence, the values of big tech have become the values of the public sphere.
The Global Rot That’s Killing Vancouver
Metro Vancouver, in its way, with its Ferraris and Lamborghinis and its glorious backdrop of the mountains and the sea, is just as much a case study in the dark, broken and ugly side of globalization. At least 20,000 Vancouver homes are empty, and nobody’s really sure who owns them. The rental vacancy rate is less than one per cent. Another 25,000 residences are occupied by homeowners whose declared taxable household incomes are mysteriously lower than the amount they’re shelling out in property taxes, utilities and mortgage payments.
New HBO Boss: It’s Going To Be A Tough Year For HBO
“We need hours a day,” Warner Media CEO John Stankey said. “It’s not hours a week, and it’s not hours a month. We need hours a day. You are competing with devices that sit in people’s hands that capture their attention every 15 minutes.” HBO has 40 million subscribers stateside and 143 million worldwide, but Stankey insists that it wasn’t enough. He said that they have “to move beyond 35 to 40 percent penetration to have this become a much more common product.”
How Crime Rates Correlate With TV-Watching
In recent years, several studies have concluded that any aggression provoked by violent media is more than offset by decreases in violent crime that can be attributed to the same media. One study, in 2009, examined crime rates in the U.S. from 1996 to 2004. On the nights when theatre attendance for violent blockbuster movies, including “Hannibal” and “Spider-Man,” was high, rates of violent crime fell slightly, even in the six-hour period after midnight, when most movies had ended. Apparently, the people who were prone to violence were more likely to see a violent movie, and this kept them from committing crimes.
Director Robert LePage Calls Cancellation Of His Show Over Cultural Appropriation Uproar A Blow To Art
“To me, what is most appalling is the intolerant discourse heard both on the street and in some media,” Lepage said. “Everything that led to this cancellation is a direct blow to artistic freedom.” Lepage said theatre is based on the principle of someone playing someone else or pretending to be someone else.
Ireland Is Wealthier, Better Educated. And The Benefits To Irish Culture Are Obvious
When personal security and community confidence combine they can deliver social emancipation, as Ireland’s recent referendums and law reforms on divorce, same-sex marriage and abortion (on top of a strikingly diverse political leadership of late) amply illustrate. It is a veritable loosing of the conservative shackles of church, class and culture that has catapulted Ireland to the forefront of Millennial-style liberalism.
Moderation And Restraint Are Held As Virtues. But What Does Brain Science Say?
“Almost every major religious or philosophical tradition heavily emphasises the value of self-restraint as a pathway to a virtuous and satisfying life. It makes sense that impulse-control has been held in such high regard historically: the ability to curb destructive urges and prudently delay gratification makes life easier in the long run. So what does modern brain science tell us about the best ways to approach willpower?”