The easy answer is that by the April 25 ceremony date, movie theaters will have been effectively hobbled for more than a year, and people will need a reminder why movies matter. Or, perhaps more accurately, after the public has grown accustomed to watching movies at home. – Los Angeles Times
Blog
The Public Television Pledge Drive Trap
For many stations, the pledge drive has become a brand-identity paradox. To attract the most money to support their mission of quality television, many stations diverge from their usual lineup and resort to pledge programming of more doubtful merit — infomercials, specials that promote pseudoscientific advice, music documentaries that exist just to push you to choose a six-CD set as your “thank you” gift. – The New York Times
How Public Television Can Build Better Citizens
“As a more-than-full-time TV watcher I have a tremendous fondness and respect for the Public Broadcasting Service — and for the public-TV ecosystem that surrounds it — that aren’t based on grumpy butlers or colorful puppets. They’re based on something PBS and its member stations do more thoroughly than anyone else in TV: educate us to be better citizens.” – The New York Times
Cynical Sci-Fi Imagines Cynical Stories. It Could Be So Much More
Cory Doctorow: “This is the thought experiment of a thousand sci-fi stories: When the chips are down, will your neighbors be your enemies or your saviors? When the ship sinks, should you take the lifeboat and row and row and row, because if you stop to fill the empty seats, someone’s gonna put a gun to your head, throw you in the sea, and give your seat to their pals?” – Slate
Why The Arts World Went Nuts Over UK Job Retraining Ad
On Monday, the arts world rallied in support of a young ballet dancer, pictured in a government-backed advert. The campaign to encourage young people into the world of tech pictures a dancer, named as Fatima, with the words “rethink, reskill, reboot”. – Classic FM
Fukuyama: Why Liberalism Is Under Attack
“The contemporary attack on liberalism goes much deeper than the ambitions of a handful of populist politicians. They would not be as successful as they have been were they not riding a wave of discontent with some of the underlying characteristics of liberal societies. To understand this, we need to look at the historical origins of liberalism, its evolution over the decades, and its limitations as a governing doctrine.” – American Purpose
The Best Of D.H. Lawrence Is In The Essays We’ve Forgotten About
“What doomed Lawrence, in the long run, was not an accusation of phallocentrism but his elevation to the canon. … It is because Lawrence’s own purpose was so big that his novels make such nerve-racking reads. His writing is most at ease when … it happens glancingly. Only when he is caught off guard does he catch the essence of divine otherness.” – The New Yorker
Study: Worst-Case Scenario Will Eliminate 95 Percent Of West End Jobs
The West End could also lose up to 97% of the total gross value added generated by its arts and culture sector under a worst-case scenario, in which more waves of Covid-19 might result in further lockdowns, widespread working from home, recommendations not to travel and digitisation of entertainment becoming the norm. – The Stage
The Man Who’s Saving India’s Rural Folk Music And The People Who Perform It
“Live and festival-centric performances, which is all these musicians have known through generations, barely bring in money, and an online presence has become mandatory for creative mileage. Many music traditions are dying out, with practitioners taking up menial labor to make ends meet.” Enter Abhinav Agrawal. – Ozy
How “Creativity” Was Turned Into An Economic Argument
“Definitions of creativity were offered; tests were devised; testing practices were institutionalised in the processes of educating, recruiting, selecting, promoting and rewarding. Creativity increasingly became the specific psychological capacity that creativity tests tested. There was never overwhelming consensus about whether particular definitions were the right ones or about whether particular tests reliably identified the desired capacity, but sentiment settled around a substantive link between creativity and the notion of divergent thinking.” – Aeon