“I purposely weight my videos into about 50 percent that will age well, and be watchable a year from now and you’ll be fine, and another 50 percent that are just about what’s hot right now.” – Wired
Author: Douglas McLennan
“Nomadland” Wins Top Prize At Venice Film Festival
The drama stars Frances McDormand as a woman living as a nomad across America after the recent recession. It is based on the book by the journalist Jessica Bruder. – The New York Times
Toots Hibbert, A Father Of Reggae, 77
Mr. Hibbert holds a firm spot in Jamaica’s musical pantheon as the first artist to use the word reggae on a record, on the rollicking 1968 single “Do the Reggay” by his group, which was originally billed simply as the Maytals. By some accounts, it was an accidental coinage — Mr. Hibbert has said he was thinking of “streggae,” local slang for a “raggedy” woman — but it stuck, branding the new sound that would become Jamaica’s greatest cultural export. – The New York Times
Toronto’s Live Venues Have Begun Reopening.
“Right now, a lot of music venues are trying to navigate that and figure out, OK, if I can open up with X capacity and Y processes and protocols and infrastructure around my reopening, is it really worth it for me? Is it feasible to reopen to something far less than what 30 per cent of my capacity would be, with the number of checks and balances that I have to go through?” – Toronto Star
Just Because Film Festivals Move Online It Doesn’t Mean Unlimited Tickets
“A lot of filmmakers feel like, ‘I don’t want to put it online, I don’t want to risk somebody being able to copy it or download it.’ So I think there’s also caps for those reasons, to protect the filmmakers and their work.” – Toronto Star
Musicians Find Trump’s Choice Of Campaign Music Baffling
Trump’s music choices have regularly raised eyebrows. In May, Trump’s team played “Live and Let Die,” by Guns N’ Roses, as he toured a factory manufacturing masks at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The band responded by trolling Trump with a new t-shirt. – Bloomberg
French Government Attempt To Ban Feminist Book Backfires
A French government official’s attempts to ban an essay entitled I Hate Men over its “incitement to hatred on the grounds of gender” have backfired, sending sales of the feminist pamphlet skyrocketing. – Irish Times
Is Nepotism In The Arts Good Or Bad?
There are few issues that lead to such widespread feelings of anger and frustration as the idea of nepotism, especially in an artistic or literary context. For many would-be writers or actors, in particular, the suspicion remains that both industries operate as essentially a closed shop, and entry can only be obtained to the glamorous and well-remunerated professions through having a famous name or similarly high-profile connections. – The Critic
Social Media Has Become Toxic. So Why Do We Stay On?
Liberal and left-wing tech critics like to suggest that we post, even against our own self-interest, thanks to nefarious software design that has been built in service of a multibillion-dollar advertising industry. The right wing has a tendency to blame the incentives encouraged by a hardwired social hierarchy, in which “blue checks” “virtue-signal” to improve their standing within social platforms, even to the point of self-sabotage. Neither answer seems particularly satisfying. – BookForum
The End Of How We Do Higher Education?
With universities and colleges in desperate need of funds far in excess of the $14 billion in federal stimulus money allotted by the CARES Act, Covid-19 may well be what some have called an “extinction-level event” for higher education. Schools often run deficits in normal times; in 2019, nearly 1,000 private colleges were already borderline insolvent. Covid will cause many to shutter for good. It is accounting, not epidemiology, that drives university administrators to push for a rapid return to business as usual, effectively demanding that faculty and staff sacrifice their lives for the financial health of their employer. – The New Republic