Author: Matthew Westphal

Cuba’s Art Scene Awaits The Coming Rush Of Travelers

“As collectors, art connoisseurs and institutions eagerly gear up to travel to Cuba after President Obama’s decision to loosen the economic embargo, the art scene that awaits them is sui generis: a world whose artists are cut off from supplies and the Internet and, at the same time, celebrated by a coterie of international buyers whose curiosity and determination brought them to Cuba long before talk of a thaw.”

Why Andrea Martin Keeps Getting Parts (And Winning Awards) In Her 60s

“I’m not the girl who gets to make out with Ryan Gosling in a scene. I’m the housekeeper who comes in on Ryan Gosling and then I do a spit take and then trip over his underwear and knock my head as I walk out on all fours. That’s my part. So I think there’s longevity … I really think, if you are funny, I don’t think age has anything to do with it, honestly.” (audio)

America Has “Nutcracker”, England Has Pantomimes, Chicago Has “Burning Bluebeard” (What?)

“As holiday traditions go, the play Burning Bluebeard doesn’t exactly seem like a natural: no Cratchits, no elves, no Grinches, no sugarplum fairies. Its place in the season is all about timing. It’s based on the real-life story of a fatal fire that happened in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day – and it’s told by clowns.”

“Serial” Update: Jay Speaks Publicly For The First Time

“The star witness at [Adnan] Syed’s trial was Jay Wilds, a former classmate who testified that he helped Syed dispose of Lee’s body.” Jay declined to speak to the producers of Serial while the podcast seires was being prepared; now he feels he was unfairly portrayed and has spoken to a different outlet – with yet another version of the events in question.

Why Uber – The Idea, Not The Actual Car Service – Crossed A Cultural Barrier In 2014

‘”Like an Uber for’ is shorthand for describing an item or service delivered wherever you are and whenever you want it, but the phrase also hints at a much larger shift in people’s expectations about their interactions with the world. It turns out one of the most hackneyed phrases in tech this year may also be one of the most profound.”

How To Hack Your Holiday Memories

“What if we could choose which memories of the holiday season – or any season – will stand out most vividly and which we’re content to let fade with the passage of time? While it isn’t possible to do this with an exacting, sci-fi level of precision, it is possible to use some basic findings about human memory to increase the odds that you will remember that amazing New Year’s party but forget that Christmas-dinner squabble over Obamacare.”

Cracking The Sitcom Formula

When Noah Charney (a U.S. expat in Slovenia) was asked to write a sitcom for Croatian TV, he said yes, despite knowing little about either Croatia or sitcoms. As he learned from lots of Googling and watching old shows online, he learned that “there is a highly-specific, minute-by-minute recipe used to write the vast majority of sitcoms out there. And once you know the formula, it makes it much easier to write them, and much harder to watch them.”

Benedict Cumberbatch On Why Sherlock Never Gets Laid

“I think he also realizes he can’t beat female intuition; he can’t. So to embroil himself where he might be enslaved through adoration or sexual desire or any kind of power or chemistry to do with love is too big a risk for him. That doesn’t make him gay, and it doesn’t make him asexual. It means he’s purposely abstaining for the sake of his craft. Not something I do.”