The three-year agreement “includes 2-percent annual increases in minimum weekly compensation, a higher level of seniority pay for long-term members, and annual increases to retirement, life insurance, and long-term disability benefits.” — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
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The Most Influential Person In British Theatre Is Now An Architect: The Stage 100 For 2019
“Steve Tompkins, the Stirling Prize-winning architect behind the recently completed redevelopments of Battersea Arts Centre and Bristol Old Vic, … has claimed the number one spot in The Stage 100, … for ‘literally and physically transforming British theatre’ through his buildings. (For the complete list and further coverage, click here.) — The Stage
The Water’s Rising, The Buildings Are Decaying, And The Inhabitants Are Leaving — Can Venice Still Be Saved?
Salvatore Settis, former Director of the Getty Research Institute and author of If Venice Dies, says maybe, if authorities start following policies they’ve shown no real interest in. (Meanwhile, the directors of an artificial intelligence project called the Venice Time Machine take the opportunity to plug their work.) — Apollo
Venice To Charge Day-Trippers Entry Fee
Of the city’s 30 million visitors each year, fewer than a third stay overnight (and pay hotel tax). Now the other 20 million, mostly cruise-ship passengers, will also contribute to covering Venice’s ever-soaring costs for serving and cleaning up after all that tourist traffic. — The Daily Beast
Al-Qaeda Was Finally Chased Out Of This Yemeni City, But Its Hip-Hop Dancers Are Still Forbidden To Dance
When the port city of Mukalla was finally liberated from Al-Qaeda, “[these] five Yemeni hip-hop dancers thought their problems had ended. … But last month Yemeni security forces briefly detained the five members of the WaxOn band, broke their equipment and only released the dancers after they had signed a document saying they would stop dancing hip-hop in public.” — Reuters
Major Cultural Figures In China’s Xinjiang Province Are Disappearing Into Uyghur Prison Camps
“Since April 2017, an estimated one million of Xinjiang’s 11 million Uyghur population” — including most of its Uyghur artists and writers — “have disappeared into what the government calls ‘re-education’ camps, without recourse or documentation, where they are reportedly tortured into denouncing Islam and their Uyghur identity, and accepting Communist Party rule and Han Chinese dominance.” — The Art Newspaper
Artist Ai Wei Wei On The Need To Strengthen Human Rights
“If we truly believe in values that we can all identify with and aspire to – a recognition of truth, an understanding of science, an appreciation of the self, a respect for life and a faith in society – then we need to eliminate obstacles to understanding, uphold the fundamental definition of humanity, affirm the shared value of human lives and other lives, and acknowledge the symbiotic interdependency of human beings and the environment.” – The Guardian
19-Year-Old Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason On His Life-Changing Year
He rocketed to fame after performing at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding. “If his star was already in the ascendant before 2018, becoming the first black instrumentalist to win the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year in 2016, it has entered another stratosphere. “- The Guardian
Is Netflix’s Streaming Dominance Coming To An End?
“Netflix is facing increased competition from some of its previous content suppliers,” said Richard Broughton, an analyst at Ampere Analysis. “Despite its major focus on original content the company is still hugely reliant on licensed content for subscribers and that carries risks.” – The Guardian
Does “Catcher In The Rye” Still Resonate All These Years Later?
“The Catcher in the Rye” was not originally marketed as a book for teens, but they responded to it as their anthem: More than 65 million copies have been sold. I suspect, though, that the novel wouldn’t be such a phenomenon if it debuted today. – Washington Post