“[The squatters’] eviction earlier this month marks the end of the 22-year history of Tacheles, a world-famous artists’ center in Berlin’s Mitte district. Tacheles long ago lost its edgy cachet within Berlin’s creative scene. … Should official policy aim at keeping Berlin poor enough to encourage the further influx of sexy hipsters? The majority of Berliners say no.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Is Sociobiology Really A Big Set Of ‘Just So Stories’?
“Today’s biologists tend to be cautious about labelling any trait an evolutionary adaptation – that is, one that spread through a population because it provided a reproductive advantage. … When it comes to studying ourselves, though, such admonitions are hard to heed. So strong is the temptation to explain our minds by evolutionary ‘Just So Stories,’ Stephen Jay Gould argued in 1978, that a lack of hard evidence for them is frequently overlooked.”
The Richard Burton Diaries: Dick Dishes The Dirt And Flings The Mud
“Those who told us that Lucille Ball was ‘very wearing’ were not exaggerating. She is a monster of staggering charmlessness and monumental lack of humour. I loathed her the first day. I loathed her the second day and the third. I loathe her today but I now also pity her.”
The Richard Burton Diaries: The Elizabeth Obsession
“At 12 noon I did something beyond outrage. I bought Elizabeth the jet plane we flew in yesterday. It costs, brand new, $960,000. She was not displeased.”
The Richard Burton Diaries: He Knew He Was Difficult
“I have been like a mad and highly articulate bull with all kinds of people I normally have great respect for. This is par for the course when I am drinking heavily, but I’m surprised that I still do it when sober. If it is still the same in a month I shall go back to old father booze and find out how long it will take him to kill me.”
Palestinian Theatre Director Resumes Hunger Strike
“The Palestinian militant turned theatre director Zakaria Zubeidi has resumed a total hunger strike in protest at his continued detention without charge by Palestinian security forces, and his supporters say he could die within days.”
Paid Queueing Could Be Problem For Jez Butterworth’s Next Play
The River “is a much anticipated return to London’s Royal Court theatre next month for Butterworth after his triumph with Jerusalem, but some fans have been infuriated by the theatre’s decision to sell tickets only on the day of the performance.” What will scalpers do? Get paid to queue up, of course.
Enormous Roman Mosaic Found Under Turkish Farmer’s Field
“The mosaic, which once decorated the floor of a bath complex, … is an astonishing 1,600 square feet (149 square meters) – the size of a modest family home.” The work is said to be in “pristine” condition.
Papyrus Fragment Suggests Jesus Of Nazareth Had A Wife
“A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: ‘Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …’.”
Dominique Hervieu Starts Transforming The Lyon Dance Biennial
The veteran choreographer, directing her first festival, “decided to increase spending on new works and on education programs, and compensate by reducing the number of shows (35 compared with 40 in 2010). She has also extended the biennial beyond Lyon to neighboring towns, which, she said, cuts costs and reaches new audiences.”