Scott Samuelson: “I also teach Plato to nurses’ aides, soldiers, ex-cons, preschool music teachers, janitors, Sudanese refugees, prospective wind-turbine technicians, and any number of other students who feel like they need a diploma as an entry ticket to our economic carnival. As a result of my work, I’m in a unique position to reflect on the current discussion about the value of the humanities, one that seems to me to have lost its way.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Al Feldstein, 81, ‘The Soul Of Mad Magazine’
“He had been a writer and illustrator of comic books when he became editor of Mad four years into its life and just a year after it had graduated from comic-book form to a full-fledged magazine. … Feldstein gave Mad its identity as a smart-alecky, sniggering and indisputably clever spitball-shooter of a publication.”
The Furshlugginer Greatness Of Al Feldstein’s Mad Magazine
“In fact, the Jewishness of Mads humor cannot be overstated: It was, for many people outside New York, the first place they ever heard words like knish and shnook. … We would not have had Spy magazine without Mad, nor The Daily Show, nor Colbert, nor CollegeHumor.com, nor Gawker.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.01.14
Insights: Cherry-picking Culture Track 2014
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-05-02
The economic impact of everything, continued
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth | Published 2014-05-01
Daniel Barenboim: ‘You can use music either to forget, or to grow’
AJBlog: Slipped Disc | Published 2014-05-01
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Actor Bob Hoskins Dead At 71
“In his moments of on-screen rage, he resembled a pink grenade. But he was defined from the outset by a mix of the tough and the tender that served him well throughout his career. … No other actor has a more legitimate claim on the title of the British Cagney.”
Forget ‘The Long Good Friday’ And ‘Mona Lisa’ – This Was Bob Hoskins’s Greatest Performance
“[His] appeal lay in a chirpiness forever on the edge of explosion. Yet his most powerful hour came playing a man with genuinely unsettling intent beneath that cuddly exterior.”
Is Art’s Primary Purpose To Be Therapeutic?
Jian Ghomeshi hosts a Q Debate over philosopher Alain de Botton’s “controversial contention that the goal of art should be self-improvement.” Holding up the opposing side is Canadian artist and writer R.M. Vaughan. (audio)
Full-Size Copy Of King Tut’s Tomb Opens In Egypt
“Installed two-meters underground, in a building next to the archaeologist Howard Carter’s house at the entrance of the Valley of the Kings, the project gives a boost to the trend of using precise replicas to promote sustainable tourism at massively popular ancient sites.”
How To Solve Egypt’s Looting Problem? No One Can Agree
“Looting in Egypt has reached crisis point, but there is widespread disagreement over the best way to stop the theft and illegal trade of antiquities. Cultural heritage experts in the US have signed a pact to tackle the issue, and companies such as eBay and Christie’s have pledged their support. Meanwhile, ordinary Egyptians are turning to Twitter to try to save their heritage.”
Cairo To Restore Saladin’s Citadel
“Like many of Egypt’s post-Pharaonic sites, the historic complex has not received the same level of conservation as more ancient attractions.”