Author: Matthew Westphal

What’s The Best Way To Argue With An Extremist? Get Him To Argue With Himself

“When people anywhere on the political spectrum hold extreme policy opinions, merely asking them to explain how the policies work leads them to moderate their views. That, at least, is the finding of [an] interesting new study, which finds that extremism is fueled by a lack of understanding, or perhaps a failure to think through just how things work in the real world.”

Board Games And Comics Teach Polish Kids What Life Under Communism Was Like

“Shopping in communist Poland was a dreary gantlet of shortages, rationing lines and – if you managed to buy something – Soviet-Bloc dreck. So Karol Madaj has turned it all into a board game called Queue. The challenge: Buy everything on your shopping list. Players wait outside empty government stores, fend off line-jumpers and haggle with black marketeers.”

MoCA Show, A ‘Pacific Standard Time’ Centerpiece, May Be Cancelled

With Frank Gehry having withdrawn and other architects concerned about curator Christopher Mount’s approach, and with installation unlikely to be complete by the scheduled June 2 opening, MoCA Art is reportedly on the verge of abandoning the exhibition, “A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California”, altogether.

Celebrities Of ‘Swinging London’ Era Caught Up In Sex Crimes Probe

“The suspects include a flamboyant pop star, a sharp-tongued comedian, a disc jockey known as ‘the hairy cornflake’ and a quirky Australian-born entertainer who performed at the queen’s diamond jubilee concert. … In American terms, it is as if Captain Kangaroo, Dick Clark and Jerry Lewis were suddenly being accused of committing sexual crimes dating back 30 or 40 years.”

Colm Tóibín’s Testament Of Mary Closes, And He Could Hardly Be More Gracious

“I think it might have been possible for us to provoke people into buying tickets, but I was concerned about that. I wanted this play to be a theatrical experience rather than a culture war over religion. … But you know, about 30,000 people will have seen the play over a 6-week run by the time it closes, with a standing ovation every night. In European terms, that’s a huge success.”