The series became a juggernaut in the 1990s, but it’s not over by any means. As the years have gone on, “the books have continued to multiply, to such an extent that the titles are now, by necessity, quite specific” including, for instance, Chicken Soup for the Chiropractic Soul. – LitHub
Blog
How Should We Deal With Actors Who Appeared In Racist Movies?
Lillian Gish appeared in more than 100 movies, but one stands out as a dangerous, racist movie that inspired the spread of the Ku Klux Klan – The Birth of a Nation. And she never seemed to get what the problem was. So “the trustees of a student union in Ohio have voted unanimously to remove the name of Gish and her sister Dorothy from a university cinema” – with an explanatory display explaining the reasons for the change. – The Guardian (UK)
What To Read When You Want To Rethink Motherhood
Happy, or something, Mother’s Day, from The Rumpus. “Mother’s Day is a Hallmark holiday, and often the celebrations it inspires reinforce our static and outdated ideas of what it means to be a mother and to have a mother rather than pushing against those antiquated stereotypes.” – The Rumpus
Las Vegas Has Become A Literary Hub
Yes, Las Vegas: “The Strip is still, and ever shall be, as Joan Didion described it, ‘bizarre and beautiful in its venality and in its devotion to immediate gratification.’ But a recent infusion of money, people and The Believer, a literary magazine, have kindled an already present bookish community into a steadier flame.” – The New York Times
Yes, We Should Dismantle Facebook – But That Might Not Be Enough
Yes, Chris Hughes’ argument that Facebook needs to be broken up is strong. But it may simply be too late. “In effect, all media lives downstream of a large attention river where Facebook has dammed the flow, only to sell your water back to you—water that you used to receive naturally.” – Wired
Are Sitcoms Doomed At The Networks?
Whew, Friday’s cancellation news was intense, so bad that Vulture called it a “bloodbath.” What’s left? Fresh Off the Boat got renewed – but star Constance Wu flat-out stated that was nothing to be happy about. So everything’s great right now in sitcom land. – Vulture
As Penguin Random House Buys A Big Spanish Publisher, Its True Rivals Are The Big Three
Penguin Random House acquired Salamandra on May 3, and some see it as the start of a large rivalry with multimedia firm and publisher Grupo Planeta – but the real rivals to both publishing companies are Amazon, Apple, and Google. – El Pais (Spain)
How To Listen To Music That You’re Pretty Sure Is By A Predator
Ann Powers re-listens to all of Michael Jackson’s work in the wake of Leaving Neverland. “If culture builds itself through revelations, explorations, secrets and lies, any response that doesn’t claim the contradictions gets it wrong.” – NPR
The Cost Of Being A Ballerina
As 43-year-old ballerina Crystal Brothers prepares to retire from Ballet Memphis, here’s what she has been doing each day to keep her body going in the brutal sport, er, art, of dance: She sleeps in therapy boots all night to reduce leg cramping, and then … “I ice my feet, I take at least three baths a day, I have heating pads attached to my body with elastic bands and thera-bands, and I’m, you know, shoving a heating pad down my pants for my lower back.” – WKNO (Tennessee)
At The Venice Biennale, Lithuania Wins The Top Prize
Three Lithuanian artists won the prize for an opera performance piece “on an artificial beach, in which swimsuited performers break from sunbathing to sing warnings of ecological disaster.” – The New York Times