“During an era in which scholars developed increasingly specialized interests, Dr. Rabb adopted a sweeping academic approach, ranging from economic history to politics to painting, emphasizing the broad scope and lasting influence of ideas that flowered during the Renaissance. … [He] taught that the values of Western culture are an inescapable, invaluable fountainhead of modern life.” — The Washington Post
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Paris’s ‘Miniscule Theatres’ Rebel Against Ticket Tax That Supports Only Bigger Venues
There are about 30 of these tiny theatres in the city, and they seat 25 to 50 people and can run as small as 170 square feet. And they, along with every other private sector venue, have to pay a 3.5% sales tax on every ticket. But that money goes into a fund to assist members of a 58-theatre association that refuses to admit the smallest companies. — The Stage
Opening Of GES-2, Moscow’s Big New Contemporary Art Museum, Postponed To 2020
“[Oligarch Leonid] Mikhelson is spending around $300m to transform a former power plant near the Kremlin into a 20,000 sq. m museum designed by Renzo Piano. … GES-2 will be part of a Museum Mile in Moscow that links it to Dasha Zhukova’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, the State Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.” — The Art Newspaper
The Bizarre Deceptions Of A Writer Who Seemed To Have It All
Nobody has accused Dan Mallory of breaking the law, or of lying under oath, but his behavior has struck many as calculated and extreme. The former colleague said that Mallory was “clever and careful” in his “ruthless” deceptions: “If there was something that he wanted and there was a way he could position himself to get it, he would. If there was a story to tell that would help him, he would tell it.” This doesn’t look like poetic license, ordinary cockiness, or Nabokovian game-playing; nor is it behavior associated with bipolar II disorder. – The New Yorker
The Wonder That Was Aretha
“Aretha stands at the pulpit, her eyes closed, her chin raised. She hums her way into and around the first note. Then breathes deeply, exhales the music. She sings the first word’s first syllable once on its own, turns a simple “Ah” into a ladder: “Ahhhh-ahh-ahhhh.” She repeats, joins it to the next syllable, holds that sound—“Ah-maayyyyy”—as long as she can, angling upward as she goes. The choir, even before she hits “-zing,” raises their hands in praise.” – New York Review of Books
The Posters For Science Talks That Look Like They’re Advertising Cool Bands
Bob Goldstein’s posters are visually varied, ranging from psychedelic print negatives, to sharp infographic visualizations, to turn-of-the-century scientific etchings, to understated watercolors. They really are like gig posters for scientists, because the design is born from fandom of the research itself. – Fast Company
How Richard White Became A Professional Tuba Player
Only 1.8 percent of U.S. symphony members are African-American. When he was at Peabody, White met with the then-Dean to mull ways to make the institution more diverse and accepting, “because it was weird walking around and not seeing anyone who looks like me. I learned that when you communicate to people what is going on, they will pay attention. They didn’t care that I was only black person in school. I was Richard the tuba player, which is ultimately crazy, because that’s what you want. I’m not sure I want to be Richard the black tuba player. I wanted to be Richard the tuba player.” – The Daily Beast
Unfair Comparisons: Social Media Leads Us To Compare Ourselves To Everyone. It’s Exhausting! (And Not Good For Us)
“We are outnumbered and out-posted by other people and it can make us feel unequivocally terrible if we let it. It’s never been easier to be insecure about ourselves and our achievements thanks to the ever-present torrent of ‘updates’ posted by mostly well-meaning people seeking opportunities for connection and validation.” – The Conversation
Why Ursula K. Le Guin Made Up Her Own World(s)
In her 2017 essay collection, No Time to Spare, she argues that fantasy has a subversive streak, because it doesn’t take the current reality for granted. “Fantasy not only asks ‘What if things didn’t go on just as they do?’ but demonstrates what they might be like if they went otherwise,” she writes. – Humanities
Radio Free Alcatraz, The Pirate Broadcasts That Spooked The FBI
For nine months in 1969-70, Native American activist John Trudell made weekly broadcasts from the shuttered prison in San Francisco Bay, programs that aired on Pacifica Radio stations in California, New York, and Texas. They brought the injustices faced by indigenous Americans to the ears of more than 100,000 listeners — and earned Trudell an FBI file that ran to more than 1,000 pages. — Narratively