Author: Matthew Westphal

There’s Still A 50-50 Chance Notre-Dame Cathedral Could Collapse, Says Rector

The issue is that the exterior of the 12th-century structure was under renovation when the fire broke out on April 15, and 50,000 tubes of scaffolding that were in place at the time are still there. With the now-destroyed roof no longer helping hold the walls in place, removing the scaffolding will be a difficult, dangerous process. – AP

Medieval Painting Found In Old Lady’s Kitchen Blocked From Leaving France

“Christ Mocked, by the 13th-century Florentine painter Cimabue, had hung for decades above a cooking hotplate in the kitchen of a 1960s house near Compiègne, north of Paris, before it was spotted by an auctioneer who had come to value furniture for a house move. But after the unsigned work was bought at auction in October by US-based private collectors, the French state this week classified the painting as a ‘national treasure’ and refused it an export certificate. The move gives the French state 30 months to attempt to find [€24 million in] funding to acquire the picture itself.” – The Guardian

To Solve A Long-Cold Murder Case, This Police Dept. Made A True-Crime Podcast

“Neither the identity of a murdered man found wrapped in an electric blanket by a busy [Dutch] motorway in August 1991 nor that of his killer have emerged in the decades since the discovery of the body despite a nationwide probe. But a 70-minute series of podcasts made by the police detailing past efforts at the time to crack the case … has opened up [15 new leads] for detectives to explore.” – The Guardian

Not Celery

“Did you see my cardoons?” Mike pointed to a pile of leafless, longer celery. I have eaten cardoons, I remember, at an optimistic Sicilian-only restaurant in Manhattan, long- and quickly gone, and in one other place, forgotten. Never saw them in a market before, and the produce guy, who pretends to know me, was proud. I looked, touched, and didn’t buy, a cooking coward. Then I drove back. – Jeff Weinstein

“Pique Dame” at the Met — and at the Bolshoi

The formidable Norwegian soprano Lisa Davidsen, making her Metropolitan Opera debut in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, is right now New York’s most talked about opera singer. I caught the final performance in the run, on December 21 – and discovered myself mainly thinking about the Bolshoi Opera’s historic four-week New York season of 1975. – Joseph Horowitz

How Are MFA Programs Teaching Young Playwrights To Earn A Living? Writing For TV

“At the top schools, administrators are fielding recruiting calls from television producers and managers, adding TV classes, and competing with high-paying shows for writers they can hire as adjuncts. While these programs say they don’t want their students to leave theater altogether, TV offers them a way to make a real living, the kind of financial stability that has ramifications not just for individual artists, but for the programs themselves.” – The New York Times

Hollywood’s Seven Most Influential Flops Of The 2010s

“In 2010, Hollywood was drunk on the success of Avatar and decided 3D tech was the wave of the future. … Large ensemble Garry Marshall rom-coms like Valentine’s Day were still winners, as were Harrison Ford non-franchise thrillers and Nicholas Sparks movies with indistinguishable posters. None of these things are true anymore. Conventional wisdom around movies can turn on a dime, especially in such a volatile, transitional entertainment era. And nothing changes Hollywood’s tune quite like a big fat flop.” – Fast Company

What’s Behind Historians’ Arguments Over The New York Times 1619 Project

“Underlying each of the disagreements in the letter is not just a matter of historical fact but a conflict about whether Americans, from the Founders to the present day, are committed to the ideals they claim to revere. … Americans need to believe that, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, the arc of history bends toward justice. And they are rarely kind to those who question whether it does.” Adam Serwer looks into the reasons historians felt strongly enough to write the letter and the reasons that a number of historians asked to sign it declined, as well as which criticisms the project’s leader accepts. – The Atlantic