“The ballet world took notice on Monday when Estée Lauder announced that the public face of one of its fragrances would be Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theater star. … [And] just last week Tiffany & Co. announced that it would feature another Ballet Theater star, David Hallberg, in its fall advertising campaign.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
A Philosopher Argues Why No One Has The Right To Refuse Services To LGBT People
Mark Reiff: “[The wedding-cake case] brings this supposed conflict between marriage equality and religious liberty to the fore. In my view, however, characterizing what is going on here as presenting a conflict between marriage equality and religious liberty is incorrect. To see why, it will be helpful to get familiar with some of the terms that political philosophers like myself use when we talk about liberties and rights.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.31.17
Kurt Weill in 2017
“Wherever I found decency and humanity in the world, it reminded me of America.” That this observation – recorded by Kurt Weill in 1947 – rings hollow in 2017 does not diminish the fascination … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-07-30
The NYC Influence
Over time, various cities emerge as strongholds of finance: Venice, Zurich, Edinburgh, Singapore, Hong Kong. These cities, though they have many other characteristics, have been known for taking a leadership role at some point in … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-07-31
Not too long, please
Back when I lived in a snug one-bedroom apartment not far from Central Park, I used to get my hair cut at Antonio’s, an unpretentious three-chair neighborhood barbershop with a Spanish-speaking staff and clientele. I … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-07-31
Was Every American Movie Of The ’60s And ’70s Really A Vietnam War Movie?
If you limit the genre to “movies that deal explicitly with combat, or the American presence in Vietnam generally,” you get about two dozen movies (including post-’70s films). Yet, argues Clay Risen, expand those limits somewhat and “the genre spins off into dozens of subcategories, the shape of which say a lot about how America has viewed the war over the decades since it ended.” (Risen includes Rambo, Hair, MAS*H, Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, and even Love Story and Shampoo.)
How, And Why, I Taught My Computer To Compose Its Own Music
John Supko: “As Bill [Seaman] and I saw it, human creativity can be defined as making connections – governed by unpredictable, subjective forces – between seemingly unrelated bits of information. Music is particularly well suited to serve as a model for the creative process. Human composers have multiple components of information – melody, harmony, rhythm – at their fingertips. … These elements tend to implicate each other and emerge together from the composer’s imagination. Bill and I wanted to emulate this organic emergence of interrelated elements in the computer.”
Philosopher Dies While Trying To Save Children From Drowning
Anne Dufourmantelle, a well-known professor and columnist whose entire career was centered on the concept and embrace of risk, was swept out to sea when she attempted a rescue under dangerous conditions at a beach near St.-Tropez.
Air India Once Amassed The World’s Greatest Collection Of Modern Indian Art – What’s Happened To It?
They don’t know – and that’s the problem. For much of the state-owned airline’s history, it was one of a very few serious buyers of living Indian artists’ work – in effect, a national art patron. Now that much of that artwork is worth many thousands of dollars (or more) a piece, there’s no proper inventory of what Air India bought over the years or where it’s supposed to be – and some of it has been turning up in the private market.
Millions In Gov’t Funding For Emma Rice’s New Theatre Company ‘Makes A Mockery Of The Entire Arts Funding System’
“Wise Children, the company, didn’t exist until nine days before the deadline for registering a National Portfolio Organisation application [with Arts Council England]. … It may be that the company’s success provides a resounding and gratifying riposte to a ridiculous cock-up at Shakespeare’s Globe … But you have to ask: would other bold artists, who hadn’t been blessed with the oxygen of publicity, be successful with a similarly astronomical application?”
BAM Starts Its First Formal Artist Residencies – And They’re For Dance
“The Brooklyn Academy of Music, in what it says is its first formal relationship with a residency partner, will join forces with the budding Lumberyard Contemporary Performing Arts organization in upstate New York to commission and nurture three new dance works.”
Publisher Withdraws Doctor’s Book ‘Mandela’s Last Years’ After Protests From Widow And Others
“[The memoir,] written by his long-time physician Vejay Ramlakan, discloses intimate details about Mandela’s health and family infighting prior to his death in 2013. … Members of the Mandela family have strongly objected to the book’s publication, slamming it as a breach of doctor-patient confidentiality.”