The brain processes male and female voices differently, says a new study. “The research explains why most of us hear female voices more clearly, as well as that we form mental images of people based only on the sound of their voices. The findings, published in the current journal NeuroImage, also might give insight into why many men tire of hearing women speak: the “complexity” of female voices requires a lot of brain activity.”
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Groups Protest Satellite Radio In Canada
A group of Quebec arts and culture groups has filed a complaint over the decision by the CRTC to allow satellite radio into Canada. “The group says that the decision violates Canadian broadcasting policy. According to a press release, it believes “the CRTC has made a grave error in judgment that threatens the foundations of the broadcasting system in Canada – the very system that the CRTC should be protecting.”
Publisher issues “Corrections” As Part Of Biography
The heirs of Carl Jung dispute many points in a biography of the psychologist. “Now, in a compromise that is extremely rare in publishing, the German subsidiary of Random House has agreed to insert two pages of the Jung family’s version of descriptions and facts into a translation being published this fall by one of its imprints, Knaus Verlag. The family originally approached Little, Brown & Company, the publisher of the original English-language version in 2003, to seek changes in new editions and translations. But so far only the German publisher has agreed to the family’s request.”
What’s Wrong With Public Broadcasting
“The result of public broadcasting’s failure to reinvent itself has been a steady drop in ratings that PBS President Pat Mitchell said in an address to the annual PBS meeting in 2002 threatened to reduce public broadcasting to “irrelevance” in the television universe. Loss of ratings has led in turn to increased time allotted to corporate sponsorship segments and laxer standards concerning their content, making PBS stations less distinguishable from commercial television. It has also forced local stations to rely more heavily on endless “pledge” drives with their pablum programming of mediocre motivational speakers and Lawrence Welk re-runs.”
Art Of The Interview
The secret to giving (and getting) a good interview? “As much as the interviewer must ask questions or provide discussion points that inspire or intrigue his or her subject, it is the subject’s job to be open and generous enough for an original and unpredictable conversation. It’s pretty obvious what an interviewer can do to screw up an interview—fail to read the book (or be unable to fake it), ask questions directly from the press materials, rely on a prepared list of topics and refuse to let a conversation take its natural course. But are there things that an interviewee can do to make sure that an interview goes smoothly, or dreadfully?”
National Black Theatre Festival Opens
The National Black Theatre Festival opens this week in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “The festival consists of more than 100 performances on 12 Winston-Salem stages between tonight and Saturday. Organizers expect the festival to draw more than 60,000 visitors to the area and pump nearly $15 million into the local economy.”
Think Small – Little Theatres Draw The Crowds
Movie mega-plexes long ago squeezed out the neighborhood movie theatres in most places. But as the movies see a drop in ticket sales, small movie theatres with character are finding a place for themselves…
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Dumps Live Music For Recordings
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, struggling to cut costs, has decided to ditch live music and use recordings, to save $500,000 this fall. “This isn’t something we like to do. You want to have a ballet company in Pittsburgh? This is what needs to be done. Just because you’re an arts organization doesn’t mean you can’t make a business decision. You have to live within your means.”
California Investigates Getty
The State of California has opened an investigation into the running of the Getty Trust. “The attorney general has requested eight years of records relating to trust Chief Executive Barry Munitz’s compensation and expenses, as well as expenditures made for his wife, grants, gifts to trustees and a 2002 real estate transaction. State regulators also have asked for documents connected to criminal charges pending in Italy against Marion True, the Getty’s curator for antiquities, for allegedly conspiring to purchase looted artifacts.”
Kennedy Center Puts Off Plaza Plan
After the US Congress failed to fund it, the Kennedy Center is postponing indefinitely plans for a huge $400 million plaza in front of the center. “The plaza would have laid a broad covering over the Potomac Freeway and included paths for pedestrians and bikers leading back to the Mall. A signature element was a cascading fountain stretching four blocks toward 23rd Street NW. The project was expected to take 10 years to complete.” The project isn’t dead, say Kennedy Center officials, but “under normal highway funding procedures, the money could not be appropriated before 2009.”