Over a seven-decade career, Evans exposed major political and business scandals (above all, Kim Philby’s hidden career as a Soviet spy and the abandonment of children deformed by thalidomide by the drug’s manufacturers), edited The Sunday Times and The Times of London (which he left after a battle with Rupert Murdoch), wrote several books, founded Condé Nast Traveler magazine, and served as president of Random House; he became a Reuters editor-at-large at age 83. In a 2002 British Journalism Review poll, he was voted “the greatest newspaper editor of all time.” – Reuters
Author: Matthew Westphal
Juliette Gréco, Legend Of Chanson Française, Dead At 93
“An acclaimed French chanteuse whose sensual stage mystique and doleful voice bewitched audiences for more than six decades and made her an international recording and concert star, … [Gréco] was one of the last links to Jean-Paul Sartre and other existentialist intellectuals who made her their raven-haired, black-clad muse in the post-World War II bohemia of Paris’s Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood.” – The Washington Post
Using Video Games To Explore India’s Politics And History
“Through fantastical environments where buildings and oversized monuments are made of rubber sandals and toothpaste tubes, Studio Oleomingus … crafts interactive stories that cast a playful light on India’s complicated past and present.” – The Guardian
‘The Translator Is A Writer, The Writer Is A Translator.’ Oh, Really?
“How many times have I run up against these assertions? — in a chat between translators protesting because they are not listed in a publisher’s index of authors; or in the work of literary theorists, even poets. … In recent months, I have been dividing my working day between writing in the morning and translating in the afternoon. Maybe comparing the two activities would be a good way to test this writer–translator equation.” For Tim Parks, at least, they’re not at all the same. – The New York Review of Books
$40-Million Collection-Care Goal: Brooklyn Museum’s 1st Round of Art Sales Under AAMD’s Relaxed Rules
The American Alliance of Museums’ Code of Ethics for collections, which states that sale proceeds can be used only for “acquisition or direct care of collections” [emphasis added]. Brooklyn’s disposals may serve as a role model for other financially pressed art museums, because it’s a pioneer on this new trail. – Lee Rosenbaum
What Does It Take To Make A Good Movie About American Slavery?
“Films about slavery have an uphill battle to climb with critics, historians and audience members. There is a responsibility lurking behind each reel: A dialogue should be sparked; perspectives should be shifted. It’s an incredibly tall order for any piece of art. … What makes a good slave movie? Or, perhaps, more importantly, what makes a bad one? For the experts — researchers, teachers, writers, actors — the answer lies somewhere between holding on to the past and pushing the narrative forward.” – The Washington Post
Is It Fair To Call ‘Tenet’ A Flop? Not Exactly …
“Overall, it can be agreed [that Christopher Nolan’s] palindromic thriller is gradually coming to be viewed as a theatrical launch failure — certainly not a flop in traditional terms, but no doubt a studio example of what not to do in pandemic circumstances with your biggest IP.” – Vulture
Marie Hale, Founder Of Ballet Florida, Dead At 87
A Mississippi native who began studying dance at age 2, she settled in West Palm Beach in her late 20s and began teaching. In 1973, she founded Ballet Arts Theater of Palm Beach, which grew to a four-productions-per-season schedule and a school with 300 students and a record of placing graduates in some of the world’s top troupes. In 1986, Hale reconstituted BAT as Ballet Florida, one of the few fully professional dance companies in the state. – Dance Magazine
With Major Award, Milan Kundera And Czech Republic Kiss And Make Up
The great author and his home country, about which he wrote his most widely-known books, have not always gotten along since he fled the Communist regime in 1975 and didn’t return after it fell. (The latest flare-up happened earlier this year.) But now the 91-year-old Kundera has been awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, one of the Republic’s highest honors for writers, and he has “joyfully” accepted. – The Guardian
Musical Theatre Competition Criticized For All-White Semifinals; Organizers Cancel It, Candidates Allege Gaslighting
The Rob Guest Endowment is Australia’s most prestigious musical theatre prize, offering $50,000 (Aus) offers in scholarship money for professional development. In August, a field of 30 semifinalists was announced, and an outcry arose — supported by the candidates themselves — because none of the 30 were BIPOC. Now the Endowment, claiming concern for the semifinalists’ mental health because some have been “targeted and intimidated,” has suspended the award until 2022; the competitors themselves say that they had been about to withdraw en masse. – Limelight (Australia)