Kara Swisher: “What’s obvious is that the rules are not clear in a world in which the idea of the public square has been turned on its head. It is a truly challenging problem for democracy in the United States and for its increasingly voluble citizens who are now experiencing limits to what they can say. – The New York Times
Blog
George Soros’s Foundation Starts Up New Arts Fellowships
“Soros Arts Fellowship [is] an initiative to support innovative mid-career artists using art and public space to advance ‘pluralistic, democratic, and just societies.’ The eight fellows received an $80,000 stipend to realize an ‘ambitious socially engaged art project’ over the following 18 months.” – Inside Philanthropy
Emotional Labor Is Uniquely Human, Right? But What If It’s Outsourced?
The real risk is that companies might now try to outsource emotional labour rather than do it in-house – just like they did with ‘brain work’. The rise of management consulting a century ago was one upshot of the advent of ‘brain work’. What might the equivalent development be for emotional labour – and will it be an unalloyed good? – Aeon
At The World’s Only Ventriloquism Museum
The Vent Haven Museum, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, houses nearly 1,000 dummies, some 150 years old. Most of them, especially those that are or used to be famous, are off-limits to present-day ventriloquists, amateur or professional. – Smithsonian Magazine
The Book-Review-Is-Dying Essay Is A Familiar Trope. Anything New To Report?
Is relentlessly sunny book “coverage” replacing honest book criticism, or merely supplementing it? Are listicles, Bookstagram, and literary Twitter nothing but treacly promotion puddles on the surfaces of which books can float unscrutinized and unchallenged; or are they in fact vibrant and necessary new arenas of discourse wherein previously silenced critical voices can finally be heard? Has the age of the algorithm truly killed the intellectually rigorous book review? – Bookmarks
One Of The Princes Of New York’s Avant-Garde Dance Scene Also Choreographs Ice Dancing
Jonah Bokaer says that working with Team USA ice dancers Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter has been one of the most rewarding projects of his life. – Dance Magazine
Are Companies Like Facebook and Twitter Platforms Or Publishers? It Really Matters
If they’re platforms, they don’t have legal responsibility for the content carried on their sites. If publishers, then they’re legally liable. Fair enough. But the companies are muddying the distinctions, claiming to be both and neither. And that’s creating problems. – Vox
Air Guitar Has Now Become A Genuine Competitive Sport
“Beyond the humorous, ironic façade of these performances is a sincere craft that has exploded in popularity over the past couple of decades.” Ethnomusicologist Byrd McDaniel explains how it came to be. – The Conversation
They’ve Uncovered A Hidden Cupid In One Of Vermeer’s Most Beloved Paintings
“During restoration work [on Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window], conservators discovered, to their surprise, that the naked figure — which dominates the upper right section of the picture — was overpainted long after the artist’s death.” – The Art Newspaper
The African Influence In Flamenco (Oh Yes, It’s Real)
In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a black population in Spain, mostly brought over from the Latin American colonies, and they did take part in the development of flamenco. “[But] as the 19th century progressed, the black population in Spain diminished, and in turn so did any documentation of the influence they had.” – The Dance Journal (Philadelphia)