Matthew Westphal – Page 1738 – ArtsJournal Wayback

The Pollyanna Hypothesis: All Languages Have A Positivity Bias

All of them? That’s what the research says. Mike Vuolo and Bob Garfield explain. (podcast)

Gravity Illusions: San Francisco’s Hills Are So Painfully Steep That We’re Going To Dance About It

“[Karen X.] Cheng, a former Microsoft Excel employee turned dancer, ‘viral video consult,’ and Queen Latifah guest, collaborated with filmmaker Ross Ching for the trick-heavy homage to slopes. … the project was inspired by Dan Ng’s photos that ‘correct’ San Francisco’s awful angles.”

Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.22.15

Vancouver Opera To Abandon Regular Season, Become Spring Festival

“The 55-year-old institution, the second-biggest opera company in the country, will no longer run a full season. Instead it will concentrate three of its four productions over three weeks in late-April and early May.”

Historic Church In Nantes, France Wrecked By Fire

“A huge fire has destroyed part of the 19th Century basilica of Saint-Donatien in the French city of Nantes. The blaze broke out on Monday after morning Mass, with worshippers evacuated from the building.”

Publisher Strips Hergé’s Heirs Of Millions Of Dollars In Rights To Tintin Drawings

“The heirs of Hergé, the creator of the popular Tintin comics, were dealt a crushing blow in Dutch court this week. In a shocking decision, the court ruled that they do not have the rights to the iconic boy reporter character.”

Jack Rollins, Manager And Mentor To Generations Of Comedy Legends, Dead At 100

“[He was] a sharp judge of talent who saw more than a shy gag-writer in Woody Allen and believed that the manic improvisations of Robin Williams would crack up audiences … To his clients – who also included Billy Crystal, David Letterman, Lenny Bruce and the team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May, an American pantheon of hilarity – he was a father-confessor, real estate agent, psychiatrist, marriage counselor and financial guru.”

Genteel Old Savannah Is Developing A Hip Art District

“The idea of a vanguard arts district may seem counterintuitive in this slow-paced city of courtly manners and stately architecture, but after almost two decades, an emerging area called the Starland District may finally be hitting its stride.”

Why Do People Commit Violence? Not Depravity, But Morality

“Across practices, across cultures, and throughout historical periods, when people support and engage in violence, their primary motivations are moral. By ‘moral’, I mean that people are violent because they feel they must be; because they feel that their violence is obligatory. They know that they are harming fully human beings. Nonetheless, they believe they should.

Long-Lost Merce Cunningham Work Is Reconstructed In Boston

“Merce Cunningham used chance to choreograph his legendary solo dance Changeling. Now chance has given new life to this long-lost work.”