“The systematic eradication of arts education in schools, sky-high drama school audition fees, chronic low pay and a lack of diversity behind the scenes are all contributing to a diversity crisis on our stages and screens.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
Fears About The Harm To British Culture From Brexit
“The Last Night of the Proms is supposed to be a celebration of Britishness. But this year there is a crisis of national identity, as people in the arts confront the cruel act of self-harm that Brexit represents. Last year’s Leave vote in the EU referendum divided the country and threatened the unity of the UK. It also revealed a cultural fault-line, between the young and the educated who saw the advantages of membership of the EU, and older and less privileged people who felt excluded and used the referendum as a form of protest.”
The Effort To Unite African Literature
“It’s become clear that Jalada is where the future of African literature is being written. A project with a pan-Africanist scope might have drowned under the logistics of communication and distance, or lost its energy in fundraising. Instead, meetings have yielded true mentorships and editorial relationships, and correspondences have blossomed into long-term collaborations, as the contributors to each anthology have become a part of the broader network.”
Could Playing A Video Game Counteract The Ravages Of Brain Aging?
Playing a videogame will certainly make you better at that game. But the evidence that playing a game makes you better at life—remembering and focusing in everyday situations—is weak at best. Psychologists call these types of benefits “far transfer,” and they’re the ultimate goal of every brain game designer.
For Musicians To Get Paid It Starts With Metadata (Finally A Plan)
That “information gap” refers to the data around who helped create a song. Publishers might keep track of who wrote the underlying composition of a song, or the session drummer on a recording, but that information doesn’t always show up in a digital file’s metadata. This disconnect between the person who composed a song, the person who recorded it, and the subsequent plays, has led to problems like writers and artists not getting paid for their work, and publishers suing streaming companies as they struggle to identify who is owed royalties. “It’s a simple question of attribution,” says Panay. “And payments follow attribution.” Over the last year, members of the OMI—almost 200 organizations in total—have worked to develop just that.
Cable Weather Coverage – Is The Windswept Reporter Really Necessary?
“The tradition of television crews standing in the middle of a dangerous storm goes back decades, reflecting the hunger to be on the scene for a nationally significant event. But the news value of dangerous stand-ups — in which a correspondent is seen in the field talking to the camera — is increasingly being questioned, particularly with the rise of social media.”
A New Generation Of Architects Makes Its Mark With Breathtaking Speed
“Thanks to a percolating economy and the technological revolution that swept through architecture while most of these designers were building their practices, many of them are producing work at speeds and scales that were not possible even a decade ago.”
Sotheby’s Reveals How Much The Berkshire Museum Could Make Selling Its Art
“Sotheby’s announced the price estimates for the works. The Berkshire Museum holdings will be offered at auction starting November, and will continue through 2018. The museum has said it hopes to raise some $50 million from the sale. Leading the sale is a work by Norman Rockwell that has attracted the most ire of those protesting the move.”
Houston Ballet Mops Up
Repairs are well underway at the Center for Dance, and the Academy should be back to a full schedule of classes by Sept. 11. The subfloors from both the small studio and the dance lab on the first floor have been removed, as well as two feet of drywall. A new pump and electrical panel for the water system is currently being installed.
Meet Ira Lightman, Poetry Plagiarism Detective
Lightman is feared, reviled and lauded in the poetry world. For some, he’s a tireless vigilante, bravely aiming his chin at his enemies. For those enemies, he’s a bully and a witch-finder with an unnatural obsession. For others still, he’s in error; some of his targets aren’t plagiarists at all, they argue, just sloppy note-keepers. Moreover, Lightman makes no allowances for the practice of “intertextuality”: when you take someone else’s poem and use its structure, mood or language as a foundation for something new.