“The Detroit Institute of Arts announced this afternoon that it won’t join the dozens of creditors and others who are filing formal objections to [the] city’s eligibility for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Today was the deadline to file objections.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
NPR Chief Steps Down After Less Than Two Years
Gary Knell’s departure for the National Geographic Society “continues the rapid turnover at the top of the audio and digital news outlet over the past few years. Knell took over the top job in December 2011 after the former chief executive, Vivian Schiller, had resigned nine months earlier amid fallout from two major controversies under her leadership. Schiller lasted just 26 months in the job.”
The Dawn Of Audiobooks
“Long before anyone had ever heard of audiobooks, Caedmon Records made a name for itself recording authors reading aloud from their work. Many Americans first heard the voices of their favorite writers through the Caedmon Literary Series, launched in the 1950s.”
Alexei Ratmansky On His Time Leading The Bolshoi Ballet
“The worst thing is the snobbery of this place, that ‘we are the best because we are the Bolshoi'”. That I hate. And maybe I did something intentionally or unintentionally to challenge this, by inviting guest artists, or giving them material that they had to struggle to work on, to discover their weak sides.” A look back at an interview from 2008.
Beatles Jukebox Musical Flops On Broadway
“Let It Be, a concert show in which musicians dressed as the Beatles trace the group’s history and recreate its top songs, has been a hit in London since it opened at the end of 2012. But its New York producers announced on Monday that instead of running through Dec. 29, as planned, the show would close on Sept. 1.”
Poet John Hollander, 83
“Mr. Hollander’s wit, inventiveness and intellectual range drew comparisons to Ben Jonson and 17th-century Metaphysical poets like John Donne.”
Melbourne Symphony Boss Says Board Members Should Give More Money (Board Is Not Pleased)
“Melbourne Symphony Orchestra managing director Andre Gremillet has ruffled feathers on the orchestra’s board by advising the 10 directors they will be expected to dig deeper philanthropically, but he has stopped short of saying how much he expects them to give.”
More Is More: Why The “Paradox Of Choice” Might Be A Myth
“Sometimes, they concluded, too many options repel us. The researchers called it ‘the paradox of choice.’ You might call it ‘feeling overwhelmed by options.’ But some economists are calling it something else: ‘complete hogwash’.”
The Word Dispute That’s Holding Up Museum’s Return Of Apache Objects
“Four years ago, the American Museum of Natural History agreed to return to the Apaches 77 objects from its collection … But none of the items have gone back because of an unusual, if persistent, disagreement with representatives of the Apaches over whether the museum will officially designate the items as sacred relics that should never have been taken.”
It’s 2013 And There’s A Rich Country That Still Has Actual Witch Hunts
“The sorceress was naked. The sight of her bare flesh startled the prudish officers of Saudi Arabia’s infamous religious police, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), which had barged into her room in what was supposed to be a routine raid of a magical hideout.”