David Shariatmadari does a good job taking his readers through the issues. – The Guardian
Blog
James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ And The Politicians Who Love It (And Keep Telling Us So)
“In the current political environment, name-checking the writing of James Joyce may not seem like the canniest move. It’s a dog whistle, meant to appeal to refined impulses, to élite rather than populist sympathies. How shall we put it? Joyce is a snob whistle.” – The New Yorker
Medieval Monks Were A Distracted Lot. Here’s How They Focused
It occurred to historian Jamie Kreiner that the monks she studied spent a lot of their time trying to figure out how to stay focused. And maybe their advice might be useful to the present-day world full of digital distraction. – Aeon
Generosity? Noblesse Oblige? Or Reputation-Laundering? The Century-Old Bargain Behind Big-Ticket Philanthropy
The debate has arisen a lot over the past few years: BP, the Koch brothers, the Sacklers, that board member at the Whitney, Notre-Dame. Bob Garfield talks about the issue with Anand Giridharadas, author of Winners Take All: the Elite Charade of Changing the World. (audio) – NPR’s On the Media
How The Roxane Gay-Christina Hoff Sommers #Feminist Debate Tour In Australia Turned Into An Ugly Mess
If it had happened in a radio or television studio, it might have gone well. But having an audience turns out to have been a bad idea. (And some ill-advised moves by either Gay or her management didn’t help.) – New York Magazine
Rebuild Notre Dame, Of Course. But We Need More Sensitivity To What Can’t (Or Shouldn’t) Be
This story takes up the cases of several high-profile fires that have damaged cultural icons and asks: 1. why do we not seem to be more careful in taking care of them, and 2. when contemplating what was destroyed, we sometimes restore in ways that end up as garish cartoons of what they were. – ArtWatch
What Will Art, And The Art World, Look Like In 2039?
“Devon Van Houten Maldonado asks artists and curators to imagine the changes and trends that will influence the art world in the next two decades.” – BBC
Is ‘Jeopardy!’ Winning Machine James Holzhauer Breaking The Game? If So, Does That Matter?
Emily Yahr: “After all, we’re in an era where television is more fractured than ever. Big TV events are increasingly rare, and it’s refreshing to have one topic to discuss around the virtual water cooler of the Internet — especially something that you could easily catch up on in one episode.” – The Washington Post
Frank Almond Tells The Story Of His Stolen Stradivarius
In 2014, in a parking lot following a solo recital, the Milwaukee Symphony’s concertmaster got zaped with a Taser and had his violin ripped from his hands. (The culprit, it turned out, was an individual named Universal Knowledge Allah.) In an appearance at The Moth, Almond recounts the entire tale, from the mugging to the police response(s) to the recovery. (audio) – The Moth
Modern Library To Release New Low-Cost Series Of Classics By Women Authors
“The Modern Library will launch a new trade paperback series, Modern Library Torchbearers, this May. The series, the publisher said, will ‘honor a more inclusive vision of classic books’ by ‘recognizing women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance.’ The books, all previously published, will be repackaged, and each will be introduced by a contemporary woman writer.” – Publishers Weekly