“YouTube said it will provide funding in about 20 global markets to support news organizations in ‘building sustainable video operations.’ The grants will let new orgs build out video capabilities, train staff on video best practices, and enhance production facilities. YouTube says it also will expand its team focused on supporting news publishers … and also detailed new features intended to flag misinformation and highlight authoritative news sources.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
California Museum Named After Dalí Gets Sued For Infringing On Artist’s Name And Image
“The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí in Figueres, Spain has sued the museum Dalí17 in Monterey, California over its use of the artist’s name and imagery. The museum’s logo, which features a sketch of Dali’s face complete with upturned moustache, and its ‘unauthorised’ use of the artist’s work on its website, social media accounts and merchandise ‘unfairly and unlawfully wrest from the Foundation control over its DALÍ marks and its reputation,’ … according to the complaint. “
Oldest Known Excerpt Of Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ Unearthed In Greece
“A team of … researchers found it on an engraved clay plaque in Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games in the Peloponnese peninsula … Preliminary estimates date the finding to the Roman era, probably before the 3rd century AD.”
The Story Of The Nag Hammadi Codices – Is It Total Bunk?
News of the discovery of these Gnostic manuscripts in 1940s Egypt – manuscripts that ultimately upended everything scholars had thought they knew about early Christianity – came with an all-too-colorful story: precious ancient books lying unnoticed in the desert for generations, exotic peasants engaged in blood feuds stumbling upon the volumes, a last-minute rescue from fire. Nicola Denzey Lewis points out just how improbable (and Orientalizing) it all is, looks at what we know for sure about how the codices were found, and works out a more likely, and more unsavory, story.
Alan Johnson, 81, Choreographer For Broadway And Mel Brooks Movies
“A wiry, calming presence backstage, Mr. Johnson choreographed solo shows and revues for performers including Ann-Margret, Bernadette Peters, Tommy Tune and Shirley MacLaine, who once christened him the ‘heir apparent’ to acclaimed choreographers Michael F. Bennet and Bob Fosse. Yet Mr. Johnson remained best known for his work with Brooks” – the dancing in “Springtime for Hitler” in The Producers, the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” tap dance in Young Frankenstein, Madeline Kahn’s burlesque number in Blazing Saddles, the Busby Berkeley-style monks and nuns in History of the World: Part I.
Divorcing Oligarch Couple Vows To Keep Supporting Moscow’s Main Contemporary Art Museum Together
“Almost a year after announcing their separation, the billionaire Roman Abramovich and his third wife, Dasha Zhukova, … remain deeply committed to [the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art,] the private institution they co-founded, says its director, Anton Belov.”
It’s 50 Years Since Theatre Censorship Was Abolished In Britain – But How Much Freer Are Theatre Artists, Really?
“For over two centuries, since 1737, the Lord Chamberlain had the authority to veto new plays that they deemed indecent or that posed a threat to public order. … In the UK, we may no longer have ‘big C’ Censorship, but there’s also that with a small c, which can take the form of regulation such as film certification, or artists and organisations self-censoring due worries about public protest, sponsorship and its potential loss, media storms.”
Can Climate Change In The Arctic Make For Good Theatre? This Playwright Is Finding Out
“Playwright Chantal Bilodeau first visited the Arctic in 2007. She had not thought much about climate change in the past, but seeing Alaska’s melting glaciers firsthand and hearing stories of forced migration propelled the crisis to the top of her mind. She decided to write a play about the high north, its people, and the challenges they’re facing.” Bilodeau is now expanding the project into an eight-play cycle.
Now *This* Is A Game Show For Millennials: Winners Get Their Student Debt Paid Off
“Premiering Tuesday on TruTV, Paid Off With Michael Torpey is pretty traditional for the genre: There are three rounds of play in which contestants buzz in to answer trivia questions and earn points. What sets it apart from other entries in the genre is what happens in the final round. If the top contestant answers eight trivia questions correctly, she wins a cash prize equal to the balance she owes on her student loans, because the contestant pool for Paid Off is the more than 40 million Americans who hold student loan debt.”
How Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ Foreshadowed 21st-Century Culture
“When you watch Vertigo in the age of the internet, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, it resonates as loudly as a church bell.” Not to mention catfishing and #MeToo.