“The contravening consonant was perhaps the most unusual victim of a crackdown targeting words, phrases and even solitary letters censors feared might be used to attack Beijing’s controversial decision to abolish constitutional term limits for China’s president. … Experts say [the move] paves the way for Xi [Jinping] to become a dictator for life.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Thanks To Global Warming, A New Issue In The Illegal Ivory Trade: Mammoth Tusks
Now that the permafrost in arctic and subarctic Russia has started to thaw, huge numbers of tusks from the ancient animals are turning up in the region of Yakutia. “100 tonnes is procured annually, about one-third of it illegally, and 90% of the haul is exported to China” for the ivory-carving industry.
West End Attendance Breaks 15 Million Mark For First Time
“Figures released today by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) showed 2017 was a record year for the capital’s theatre business with box office revenues topping the £700 million mark.” The reasons: Hamilton and Harry Potter.
This Author Rewrote Her YA Novel To Be Less Racially Insensitive. Did It Work? (*Could* It Work?)
Both Keira Drank and her publisher thought that her novel The Continent would be well-received, and, at first, it was. Then came the tweetstorms accusing Drake of writing a white-savior story and stereotyping. She took the criticisms to heart and reworked her text. Lila Shapiro reports on what happened next.
Lewis Gilbert, Who Directed ‘Alfie’ And Three James Bond Films, Dead At 97
Among the 40 films he helmed were several World War II epics; Alfie, which earned five Oscar nominations and made a star of Michael Caine; the Bond titles You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker; and Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.27.18
One Wo/Man Band
I am frequently asked whether an arts organization can successfully engage communities with just one person assigned the responsibility for “engaging.” One answer, given with considerable trepidation is, “It depends.” … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2018-02-27
The Adjacent Possible
So much of leadership, management, and change narrative is about “gap analysis.” The thinking goes that we achieve a desired future by describing a bold vision, defining our current location, mapping the gap between here and there, … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2018-02-27
Far Out! Psychedelia at Metropolitan Museum’s “Golden Kingdoms” (with video)
In a tweet today, Joanne Pillsbury, the Metropolitan Museum’s curator of the Arts of the Ancient Americas, called attention to one of two miniature objects that caught my eye (perhaps for the wrong reasons) at … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-02-27
Prisoner Gets Book Deal, And State Decides It Wants To Bill Him For Room And Board
“In the summer of 2016, Curtis Dawkins, a felon who is serving a life sentence in Michigan for murdering a man during a botched robbery, got some unexpected good news. Scribner, one of the top literary publishing houses in the United States, wanted to publish his debut collection of short stories, and offered him $150,000. … But his surprising literary debut also caught the attention of Michigan’s attorney general, who now wants Mr. Dawkins, 49, to use his financial windfall to pay for his incarceration.”
Steppenwolf Theatre Co. Is Selling Some Real Estate To Pay For A Fourth Theater
The Chicago company is selling a building it own just south of its main campus, where it already has three theaters of various sizes.
Tamara Rojo Says Her Boyfriend Dancing In The Company She Runs Isn’t Nepotism (He’s Too Good For That)
The former Royal Ballet star and current artistic director of English National Ballet has been catching some flack for her romance with principal dancer Isaac Hernández (who’s 16 years younger). SDhe insists there is “not even a possibility” of conflict of interest: “He has won all the awards you can possibly win, so there was nowhere I could promote him.”
Roxane Gay: I Can Write The ‘Batgirl’ Movie; DC Comics: Okay, Let’s Do It
“After Joss Whedon stepped down as the film’s writer and director on Thursday, Gay tweeted saying, ‘Hey [DC Comics] I can write your Batgirl movie, no prob.’ The tweet quickly garnered attention, leading Michele Wells, a Warner Bros. vice president who also works on DC films, to respond to Gay’s message. ‘If you’re serious … contact me,’ Wells wrote, providing her email address.”