Scott Timberg: “Even if you scorn Boomer myth-making, the 50th anniversary of Revolver – perhaps the Beatles’ best album – is a big deal. It not only sent the band in a new direction, it showed new possibilities in rock music.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
When Zora Neale Hurston And Langston Hughes Took A Road Trip
“Here on St. Joseph Street [in Mobile, Alabama], on July 23, 1927, one of the most fortuitous meetings in American literary history occurred. … When Hurston invited [Hughes] to join her expedition – in her little car, nicknamed ‘Sassy Susie’ – Hughes happily accepted.”
Chutzpah: 90-Year-Old Woman Sees Art Depicting Crossword Puzzle, Fills In Answers, Claims Copyright On Vandalized Work
“The 1977 creation by the 20th-century artist Arthur Köpcke was lent to Nuremberg’s Neues Museum by a private collector, and is said to be worth around £68,000. The retired German dentist … said that she started filling in the artwork’s crossword puzzle because it bore the phrases ‘Insert words’ and ‘so it suits.’ … [Her attorney] says that far from harming the work in question, his client has increased its value.”
‘Game Shows’: In Chicago, They’re Turning Actual Games Into Theater
“Blame it on Midwestern bingo culture. Or maybe it’s a long tradition of immersive, unpretentious theatergoing involving cold beer and ornery nuns. Whatever. Whether card, video or board, Chicago is a thriving hub for theater based on or inspired by games. In many cases, shows are games.”
Court Battle Over Interview Tapes At Center Of ‘Serial’, Season Two
“The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to shut down a bid by filmmaker Mark Boal to block military prosecutors from subpoenaing unaired outtakes of 25 hours of interviews Boal conducted with Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who is facing a court-martial on charges he deserted a U.S. base in Afghanistan. Boal’s talks with Bergdahl became the staple of the second season of the celebrated podcast Serial.”
‘Library Anxiety’ – It’s A Real Thing For College Students, And (As Always) Librarians Are There To Help
“The phenomenon, which involves feeling intimidated, embarrassed, and overwhelmed by libraries and librarians, was first identified by Constance A. Mellon in 1986.” The problem is worse in 2016, with a generation who grew up with the web: “As soon as you need to use scholarly resources, Wikipedia isn’t going to cut it.”
Uncovering The Secrets Of A Hidden Degas Portrait – With A Particle Accelerator
“For decades, a mysterious black stain has been spreading across the face of an anonymous woman in Australia. She is the subject of a painting by Edgar Degas, the French Impressionist painter, and since the 1920s, the oil paints in her portrait have gradually faded, revealing the hints of another, hidden portrait underneath.”
The Olympics As Religious Ritual, Then And Now
“At the end of the fourth Christian century, an east-Roman emperor who followed the new faith abolished the pan-Hellenic contest as part of his general drive to stamp out paganism. … Pierre de Coubertin, the blue-blooded Frenchman who revived the classical games, did not hide the fact that he was competing with monotheism, and trying to reverse what he saw as a great historical wrong.” What’s more, “both the modern contests and their ancient Greek predecessors share many of the features of a giant sacramental feast.”
Brazil’s Leading Choreographer On Creating The Movement For The Olympics’ Opening Ceremony
Deborah Colker: “I wanted everything to bleed together. Like here in Brazil, where everyone is surviving and sharing together. Samba, funk – a style specific to Rio, born in Rio – and passinho, which combines breakdance and hip-hop, and maracatu, from northern Brazil. I mixed all of this.”
Finally, We’re Getting A Better Idea Of What Peter Zumthor’s New LACMA Building Will Look Like
“The Swiss architect has been working with LACMA Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan for years on an ambitious and controversial new building to hold the museum’s permanent collection. But details – architectural and financial alike – have been hard to come by” – until now. Christopher Hawthorne has a look.