One of the few Soviet opera singers to become famous beyond the Iron Curtain, she made many appearances at the likes of La Scala and the Met in addition to her extensive career at the Bolshoi.
Author: Matthew Westphal
English Theatre Closed Due To Statue Hanging From Roof
“Sunderland Empire has cancelled all shows this week after high winds caused the statue on the roof of its building to break loose.”
Charlie Hebdo’s Next Cover Features Muhammad Himself (Because Even He Is Charlie)
Never ones for prudence, the satirical French weekly’s editors have made the Prophet – holding a Je suis Charlie” sign – the cover boy for what they’re calling the Survivors’ Issue.
We Are All Charlie? Not In Australia, Where It Would Be Illegal
“Satirical French publication Charlie Hebdo could not be printed in Australia under existing restrictions on free speech … Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson [said that] the restrictions contained in section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act would ‘ensure it would be shut down’; he was supported in this position by media law experts.”
The Real Problem With “My Husband’s Not Gay”
“The problem, though, with making reality television about gay men who don’t want to be gay is that it will invariably lack empathy for the pain that likely defines those men’s lives. The failure of My Husband’s Not Gay is one of style, not substance; but the fact that it has been protested for its substance says a lot about the cultural tensions surrounding homosexuality in America.”
Why Oscar Has Never Much Cared For Wes Anderson Movies
“Critics love them and audiences, represented by tickets sold, like them pretty well. But the Academy almost completely ignores them. Anderson’s eight feature films have received just four Oscar nominations total … [and] have lost every one. … Whether or not you like Wes Anderson movies, their failure with the Academy highlights several shortcomings of the Oscars.”
Painting The Town Of Johannesburg – Pink (Yes, Literally)
“Led by the Colombian-American artist Yazmany Arboleda, the group [Beware of Colour] wanted to draw attention to the neglect of the city’s downtown buildings. A good number of them sit empty, even while many South Africans live in shacks. … Which is why he and roughly 30 other artists marked them with about 264 gallons of hot-pink, water-soluble paint.”
Why Is Narrative Powerful Enough To Change Minds And Even Politics? It Rewires Our Brains
“For thousands of years, we’ve known intuitively that stories alter our thinking and, in turn, the way we engage with the world. But only recently has research begun to shed light on how this transformation takes place from inside. Using modern technology like functional MRI scanning, scientists are tackling age-old questions: What kind of effect do powerful narratives really have on our brains? And how might a story-inspired perspective translate into behavioural change?”
Leo Tolstoy’s Diary Obsession
From his student days, the Count tried to use what we now call journaling as a tool for everything from self-improvement to capturing the nature of time, memory, and the innermost self. (It didn’t really work, alas.)
The Etymology Of “Cockamamie” Is Just That
Lexicographer Ben Zimmer talks to Lexicon Valley‘s co-hosts about the verkakte Yiddish origins of this meshuggene word. (podcast)