The conductor and president of Bard College, himself an immigrant, in a New York Times Op-Ed: “Not since the era of witch hunts and ‘red baiting’ has the American university faced so great a threat from government. … What, then, are we, the leaders of our institutions of higher education, to do when faced with a president who denies facts, who denies science?”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Where Did The Alt-Right Come From? Italian Futurism
Jay Griffiths lays out how the ideas and propaganda techniques of the early-20th-century movement can be heard and seen in the words and actions of Steve Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos, Nigel Farage, and Donald Trump. (Her thorough conflation of libertarianism with the alt-right and fascism is less convincing.)
John Adams Wrote An Opera About Nixon, But He Will Not Be Writing One About Trump
In a Q&A with Gabe Meline, Adams explains the difference he sees between the two men that makes the one more opera-worthy, talks about the other politically oriented work he has written and is still writing, and why his latest arrival at the airport reminded him of the ’60s.
The Psychology Of The Worry Spiral (So This Will Explain My Mother?)
Worrying actually serves a sort of purpose for most people – figuring out how to solve a problem or avoid a danger or deal with the aftermath of a disaster. “That’s not to say that anyone really enjoys the process – just that it can feel like a productive use of time, rather than a waste of it. … What separates the pathological worriers from the rest of the pack isn’t that they see a point to worrying, but that they have better follow-through.” (Oh, great, Mom.)
‘Spiral Jetty’ May End Up High And Dry As Its Habitat Evaporates
The Great Salt Lake is drying up at a worrisome rate.
Recreating Martha Graham’s Comic Ballet (Wait, What?)
Yes, Martha did one comedy, a Punch-and-Judy piece from 1941. And audiences did find it funny. The Martha Graham Dance Company found some archival footage of the piece, and hired choreographer Annie-B Parson (herself a “wait, what?” choice) to devise a new piece based on it. Siobhan Burke talks with Parson about how she did it.
Oprah Sells A Klimt For $150 Million
While the painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, was hanging at MoMA last year (she lent it anonymously in 2014), David Geffen approached her to say that Larry Gagosian had a buyer lined up. (Gossip!) And she made quite a profit.
How Iván Fischer And His Orchestra Triumphed Over The Travel Ban
The conductor’s current tour with his Budapest Festival Orchestra hit a big snag just before it started: one of the cellists has dual citizenship in Hungary and Iraq and was initially denied entry to the U.S. Then Fischer sprang into action.
Sotheby’s Sues Dealer Over Fake Frans Hals
Last year the auction house discovered that the Portrait of a Gentleman that it had sold to a collector in 2011 was a forgery – and it reimbursed that collector. So Sotheby’s is taking dealer Mark Weiss to court to get its money back.
Bolshoi Ballet Has ‘Recovered’ From The Acid Attack And The Ugliness That Followed
Historian Simon Morrison (Bolshoi Confidential) talks with Here & Now‘s Robin Young about how turmoil has abounded at the theater for all of its 241 years, and how the ballet company has stabilized following the horrific attack on former ballet artistic director Sergei Filin (and after Filin’s subsequent involuntary departure from the company). (audio)