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Thinking About Trauma And Triggering Issues In Acting Classes

“[Many theater professors] shake their heads about the aspiring actors who have refused to work on material they find harmful or otherwise objectionable. My colleagues sadly wonder how these students could possibly succeed. How, the argument goes, can we train students to become actors if they wish to insulate themselves from upsetting material? How can we inculcate the emotional resilience necessary for a professional actor if students are so afraid of any negative experiences?” Scott Harman explains why those aren’t the right questions. — HowlRound

Iran’s Leading Filmmaker Turns His Lens Onto The Wider World

Asghar Farhadi has won two Best Foreign Language Feature Oscars in five years: in 2017 for The Salesman and in 2012 for A Separation, which became the most profitable Iranian film in history. He ventured to Spain to make his latest film, Everybody Knows, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, but he continues to live and work in Iran, even as his compatriot filmmakers have been silenced by the authorities or have fled into exile. — The New York Times Magazine

Why We Should Read About Ideas We Don’t Like

First, an idea, while unpleasant, may well be correct or true, in which case we gain insight by being exposed to it. And even if it is only partially true, it can help us reach a more complete understanding of the whole truth. Second, even if the idea is simply wrong, we benefit from hearing it and having to think through why it is wrong. This connects to the third point, which is that even true or useful ideas need to be contested and re-evaluated if they are to remain fresh and avoid calcifying into rigid dogmas.  – Quillette

Still Life In San Francisco Officially Authenticated As Van Gogh

Still Life with Fruit and Chestnuts, in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco since 1960, has been de- and re-authenticated more than once; it had been labeled as possibly by Van Gogh and had not been consistently on display. Now the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has determined that the painting is genuine Vincent, dating from 1886. — The Art Newspaper

The World In 2019: Better Or Worse?

So are things getting better or worse? Both, evidently—different things for different people in different places. And which way of answering the question is best: compiling statistics, or conjuring science-fictional utopian/dystopian scenarios, or in-depth reporting on living, suffering individuals? All three.  – The Baffler

Charles Dutoit Hired For Substitute Gig At National Orchestra Of France, And Controversy Ensues

The Swiss conductor lost his various positions during the winter of 2017-18, after several women came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment and assault. Now the Orchestre national de France has engaged him for this weekend’s concert performance of Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust after scheduled conductor Emmanuel Krivine withdrew on short notice. It’s Dutoit’s highest-profile performance (outside of Russia) since the scandal broke, and there has been pushback on the decision to hire him. — AP