“As of August 2017, more than 70 percent of viewing time was being driven by automatic recommendations. And the content that gets promoted is even more aggressively selected for engagement gravity, meaning the sensational and divisive gets pushed to the top of the feed. One unintended consequence of YouTube’s endless pursuit to sell more ads, Zeynep Tufekci has argued, is that the platform has become “one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the twenty-first century,” pushing unsuspecting viewers deeper and deeper into politically unhinged, conspiratorial rabbit holes just to keep their attention for a few more minutes.” – The Baffler
Blog
A Visit To One Of America’s Dying Rural Radio Stations
“Small-town radio is fizzling nationwide, as stations struggle to attract advertisement dollars. And as station owners are forced to sell, media conglomerates snap up rural frequencies for rock-bottom prices, for the sole purpose of relocating them to urban areas. … With limited frequencies available, larger broadcasters purchase as many as possible – especially those higher on the dial – in a race not dissimilar to a real estate grab.’ A reporter looks in on one of the victims of this phenomenon, KHIL in Willcox, Arizona. – The Guardian
We Equate Physical Beauty With Morality. Of Course This Often Steers Us Wrong
Meet someone you thought was ugly but then decided they were beautiful? Or someone you thought was gorgeous but then were mystified why you ever thought so? Our sense of physical beauty is a complicated dance with our notions of character and morality. – Aeon
Steppenwolf Theatre Brings Back The *Real* First Queer Candidate For President (Sorry, Mayor Pete!)
Back in 1992, the drag queen Joan Jett Blakk ran a campaign (“Putting in the camp, taking out the pain”) for president on the Queer Nation Party line. Now Tina Landau and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (who also stars) have created a play titled Ms. Blakk for President — “part campaign rally, part nightclub performance, part confessional — and all party!” – American Theatre
An Explosion Of Concerts And Music Venues In America
The concert business, according to Pollstar, set records in 2018 with more than 152 million tickets moved and $10.4 billion in sales nationally. The live industry’s growth was necessary to offset lost record sales. Those peaked in 1999 at $40 billion and were less than half that last year at $19.1 billion, with just under $9 billion coming through streaming. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A Tribute To Tin House, The Literary Journal For ‘Brilliant Weirdos’
“A quarterly that began publishing in the spring of 1999, [Tin House] quickly set itself apart, injecting the staid world of literary magazines with humor, adventurous design and an expansive editorial mission that mixed risky work by new and established writers. This month, Tin House will publish its 80th and final issue.” Nicole Rudick looks at what made the journal so special and talks with the people who made it happen. – The New York Times
Jesse Rosen To Step Down As Head Of League Of American Orchestras
“By September 2020, I will have been at the League for twenty-two years and CEO for twelve,” Rosen said in his remarks to delegates during the League’s 74th National Conference in Nashville. “I’ve had an enormously fulfilling experience, but it’s time to begin thinking about the next chapter. ” – Broadway World
Protests Against Drag Queen Story Hour Spread To Brooklyn (Brooklyn?)
Mind you, this wasn’t in Williamsburg or Park Slope; it happened at the library branch in the somewhat remote neighborhood of Gerritsen Beach. Even so, about 40 people protesting the reading by Angel Elektra were met by more than 50 counter-protesters. “One side played church hymns from a loudspeaker, the other played Lady Gaga and Ke$ha from phones.” – Brooklyn Eagle
Attacking The Financial Industry: These Artists Bought Debt With Art And Blew It Up (Literally)
They sold money they printed themselves as art works, and used the funds to buy up £1.2 million of debt on the secondary market, where lenders sell bad debts. – The New York Times
Take Me To Dance Church
“In 2010, Kate Wallich was a 22-year-old choreographer in Seattle, … [who] had started her own dance company, Studio Kate Wallich, but hated how insular the contemporary dance world felt (dancers were the only ones who came to class or performances). So she made a bold decision: she opened up her Sunday morning company class to, well, anyone — and soon Dance Church was born. … The ‘church’ part has nothing to do with religion — the name stuck because the class happens on Sunday mornings and because it felt like a weekly ritual.” – Dance Magazine