Author: Matthew Westphal

Alejandro González Iñárritu Makes A Virtual-Reality Film About Refugees Meeting The U.S. Border Patrol

“Carne y Arena belongs to the same category of gallery-quality, conceptual installations as the Rain Room or the Museum of Ice Cream — but it’s a world apart from either. It’s an anti-spectacle: The piece can’t be shared on Instagram, even though it is more immersive, and more substantive, than anything else in its class.” Kriston Capps reports.

What White-Girl Coming-Of-Age Movies Don’t Do For A Black Girl

Zoé Samudzi: “In general, though, these films about white female adolescence and teenhood revolve around particular experiences of and meditations on dissatisfaction and boredom, using nostalgia as their primary pull. And yet for me, their projections of high school misery and endless summers only served as a reminder that Black girls are never afforded the kind of ordinariness that would make them relatable to white audiences.”

Studs Terkel, On The Page And On The Air

“The books deliberately avoid interviews with celebrities. Terkel wanted to talk with ‘ordinary people’ — to show that there are no ordinary people. … The radio programs, by contrast, despite his occasional trips, dealt mainly with people of extraordinary abilities or achievements, and especially with show business eminences, whether in music, theater, literature, or other arts. Chicago has its own famous acting, singing, and writing accomplishments, but it is also a crossroads where famous people came to perform — and Studs dearly loved a performance. His politics made him celebrate noncelebrities, but his heart always tugged him toward the footlights.”

Chase Johnsey, Formerly Of Trocks, Is Now Dancing With Female Corps De Ballet

“For the first time in modern ballet history, a male dancer is performing as part of the female ensemble at an international ballet company, signaling an important moment in an art form that often celebrates a particular ideal of femininity. … ‘I want to be seen as a ballerina,’ said Mr. Johnsey, who identifies as gender fluid but uses male pronouns. ‘My hair is up, I wear makeup, female attire. I am able to do female roles and look the part, so that is artistically what I do.'” In January, he left Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo after 14 years, claiming that the famous drag company had been harassing him for being too feminine.

Photojournalist David Douglas Duncan Dead At 102

“[He] was widely considered one of the finest photojournalists of the 20th century. In Life magazine photo essays, television specials and about two dozen books, he captured the seemingly incongruous subjects of war and art, traveling from the front lines of battle to the treasure troves of the Kremlin in Moscow and the French studio of Pablo Picasso.”

U.S. Public Radio And TV Are Raising More Money Overall, But Smaller Stations Are Falling Behind

“On the positive side, the overall trend is growth. Radio revenues are up 18 percent to $1.03 billion, according to Moustapha Abdul, CPB’s director of station analysis. TV revenues grew 10 percent to $1.27 billion. But a closer look reveals that revenues actually dipped 4 percent among 194 radio grantees with annual budgets of less than $1 million and 5 percent among 75 TV grantees with budgets under $5 million.”

Two Ex-Trustees Of Berkshire Museum Slam Board’s Decision To Sell Art For Money

“Trustees allowed debate over the Berkshire Museum’s financial challenges to snowball into an excessive art sale, … as officials backed a costly shift to interactive exhibits based on thin evidence. Carol Riordan and Nancy Edman Feldman say that while the museum’s money problems were real, the Pittsfield institution could have ensured its future with far less than the $55 million it is allowed to raise through sales [of art from its collection] under terms of an agreement with [Mass.] Attorney General Maura Healey.”

Three Boston Review Poetry Editors Resign Because Magazine Won’t Fire Junot Díaz

“Three poetry editors at The Boston Review announced their intent to resign on Tuesday, citing disagreements with the magazine’s executive editors over their decision to retain Junot Díaz as fiction editor … Díaz, who received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, has been accused by multiple women of verbal abuse and sexual harassment.”