A real, old-fashioned literary spat is developing on the pages of two of America’s most respected magazines, and the focus of the debate is George Orwell, the cynical cuss who penned Animal Farm and 1984 and coined the term “Cold War.” In the blue corner, arguing for Orwell’s continuing relevance in the age of George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, is professional agitator Chris Hitchens, backed up by The New Republic’s literary editor, Leon Wieseltier. And in the red corner, arguing that Orwell wasn’t nearly as prescient and sagelike as he is often given credit for, is Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Louis Menand. Let’s get ready to grumblllllllle!
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Dumbing Down Canadian Radio?
The venerable Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is coming under heavy fire these days for a slew of programming changes at Radio One that critics say represent nothing more than a naked attempt to ‘dumb down’ the network’s content and grab more listeners from desirable demographics. The newly created Sounds Like Canada has been a profound disappointment, to the extent that its popular host has left the show, at least temporarily. The motivation for the changes at CBC may be a basic desire for the network to better reflect Canada’s diversity of cultures, but what does it benefit the company to gain a few new listeners, and lose all the old ones, not to mention a few broadcast standards in the process?
Exodus In Colorado
Soon, it seems, there will be nothing left of the Colorado Springs Symphony but the name, a board, and a whole lot of questions. In the last month, the symphony has filed for bankruptcy, seen its music director resign in protest of that action, and gotten a judge to void its contract with its musicians. Now, the CSS’s associate conductor has resigned as well, taking some nasty shots at the board on his way out the door.
Shoot First, Do Your Research Later. Or Never.
“Only last fall, the National Rifle Association was beside itself with joy as Michael Bellesiles, the professorial darling of the gun-control crowd, went down in flames after being caught faking his research. Now the proverbial shoe is on the other academic foot: John R. Lott Jr., a point man for the pro-gun set whose resume has noted positions on the faculties of the University of Chicago’s law school, Stanford University and Yale, stands accused of the same scholarly crime.”
Changing Sides
Susan Trausch has been a newspaper writer for three decades, and a playwright for, um, about 5 minutes now. “Someday when I grow up, I may be a playwright. Right now I’m an apprentice, a journalist in transition who has taken theater-as-a-second-language classes at adult education centers over the past eight years.” Along her journey from one side of the critical glass to the other, Trausch has gained a new respect for collaboration, broad thought, and most of all, ambiguity.
The Collector Behind The Curtain
So who is Joey Tanenbaum, the art collector who this week announced a massive donation of 211 works of 19th-century art to an Ontario gallery? And what motivates the collector to spend so much of his time and money acquiring such very specific pieces? Well, the short answer is that he’s a gregarious, talkative 71-year-old real estate magnate from Toronto, “a man who loves to tell stories, so it should be no surprise that he has a deep feeling for the narrative power of art, the very quality that relegated the French academic painters to the dust bin of history.”
A Call For Self-Review
The case of the New York Times Book Review running a review of a book by a reviewer who doesn’t appear to have read the book prompts Alex Good to propose a solution. Since the regular reader of book review sections can be reasonably sure that some of the reviews are written without reading the books, “have authors write their own reviews. Sir Walter Scott did it. Poe and Whitman did it. And Anthony Burgess did it, prompting Gore Vidal to remark approvingly ‘shouldn’t there be at least one book review in all of England written by someone who had actually read the book’?”
Reading Of Love…
What are the ten most romantic books of all time? The Guardian’s John Armstrong made a list…
Navigating Iran’s Perilous Film Industry
Iranian films have found an appreciative audience internationally. But at home, the difficulties of making these distinctive movies is enormous. “In Iran, the subversive subtexts of these provocative films are rattling religious conservatives in government. Iran is poised on the cusp between religious extremism and political reform. Conservatives believe the imbedded politics of new-wave films directly challenge their power by giving voice to the swelling discontent within the country. Enraged by the negative international attention the films bring to Iran’s drastic social and political policies, they are attempting to subvert the filmmakers.”
Orchestra Expenses too High? Here’s A Plan – Dump Your Musicians (Now What?)
The Colorado Springs Orchestra, which hasn’t performed since December because of a million-dollar debt (and a filing for bankruptcy in January) petitioned a court to void its musicians’ contracts, arguing that “the contract put an untenable financial burden on the organization.” A judge voided it Thursday, and so now what happens? Maybe not much – without a contract the orchestra has no musicians. Without musicians, it’d difficult to play concerts. The orchestra’s future is getting cloudier…