“If you combined the fastest and slowest types of social media, the result could be both must-see and never-forgotten.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Was The Trial Of Socrates About Free Speech Or Rule Of Law In A Democracy?
“There is no dispute about the basic facts of the trial of Socrates. It is less obvious why Athenians found Socrates guilty, and what it might mean today. People who believe in both democracy and the rule of law ought to be very interested in this trial. If the takeaway is either that democracy, as direct self-government by the people, is fatally prone to repress dissent, or that those who dissent against democracy must be regarded as oligarchic traitors, then we are left with a grim choice between democracy and intellectual freedom.”
A Great Broadway Tradition, Lost: Sneaking In For Act Two
“There was a time when ‘second-acting’ – sneaking into a Broadway theater at intermission before the second act – was as common as the cigarette break in the middle of a musical. It was a time-honored rite of passage, practiced by generations of starving actors and students of the theater. … But today, when security is ultravigilant and shows are under pressure to sell out night after night, the practice has all but gone dark.”
Is The Mysterious Medieval Code Of The Voynich Manuscript Actually Meaningless Gibberish?
“The manuscript has baffled cryptographers since book dealer Wilfrid Voynich found it in an Italian monastery in 1912. It contains hundreds of pages of fine calfskin parchment, which scientists have dated to the first half of the 15th century. … Academics continue to hotly debate whether the manuscript is an elaborate hoax designed to fool 15th-century book collectors, or a detailed secret code that remains unbroken.”
Here Are Five Finalists For Design Of New Port Authority Bus Terminal In New York
“The designs that may one day replace the existing hellish landscape [sic] of the Port Authority Bus Terminal are finally here. Earlier today, the Port Authority revealed the five finalists and their mammoth proposals for a new bus terminal as part of the agency’s international design and deliverability contest.” (Aw c’mon, it’s not that bad.)
The Personalities Of Rocks, A Chemistry Award For Volkswagen, And $10 Trillion Prizes: The 2016 Ig Nobels
“Investigations into rats wearing pants, the personalities of rocks and the truthfulness of 1,000 liars won Ig Nobel prizes on Thursday night at Harvard, where Nobel-winning scientists gathered to honor the strangest research of the year.”
Maastricht Art Fair Makes A Move Into Manhattan
“The American debut of the European Fine Art Fair … is more than just another event on the cultural calendar. It’s an attempt by the fair, whose 270 exhibitors face a shrinking audience in Europe, to secure and revitalize its future.”
William Eddins To Step Down From Edmonton Symphony At End Of This Season
“Eddins, who lives in Minneapolis, Minn. and spends about 14 weeks of the year in Edmonton, joined the ESO in 2005. Under his tenure, the orchestra worked with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Renée Fleming, started a late-night series of performances, and played unconventional works by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů and weirdo genius Frank Zappa, among others.”
Simon Keenlyside Back In Action After Almost Two Years Of Throat Trouble
First he felt a “tick” in his vocal cords during a live simulcast of Rigoletto from Vienna (he had to bow out mid-opera), then his doctors told him he needed thyroid surgery. “Luckily it was a false alarm, but they had to take some out, and they did a bad job. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I couldn’t sing a note for five, six, seven months. Nothing.”
Pierre Huyghe Wins Second-Ever $100K Nasher Sculpture Prize
“Huyghe, 54, succeeds last year’s inaugural winner, Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, who received, as Huyghe will, the $100,000 grand prize, along with a special award created by Italian architect Renzo Piano, who designed the Nasher.”