There’s an important distinction to make here about how most of us define gossip – as a way of trash-talking someone not present – and how scientists do. In social science, gossip usually is defined as communication about a person who isn’t present in a way that involves evaluation of that person, good or bad. This kind of informal communication is crucial for sharing information. Gossip is necessary for social cooperation; it’s largely this kind of talk that cements social bonds and clarifies social norms. – BBC
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Literary Hoaxes: Why They Work, And Why They Make Readers Angry (And Some Onlookers Gleeful)
Louis Menand: “If we pick up a novel about life in the barrio, or a book by a Tibetan monk, or an avant-garde literary magazine, we know what we expect to find. We are complicit in the attempt to get us to believe because we already want to believe. Writing … has to rely on readers bringing a lot of preconceptions to the encounter, which is why it is so easily exploited. Does this mean it’s all a game? Yes, in a sense.” — The New Yorker
Have We Made Technology Too Easy To Use?
There is nothing wrong with making things easier, in most cases, and the history of technology is filled with examples of amazing advances brought about by reducing complexity. Not even the most hardened Luddite, I suspect, wants to go back to the days of horse-drawn carriages and hand-crank radios. But it’s worth asking: Could some of our biggest technological challenges be solved by making things slightly less simple? – The New York Times
The Day Lorraine Hansberry Schooled Robert F. Kennedy
“You have a great many very accomplished people in this room, Mr. Attorney General, but the only man you should be listening to is that man [Jerome Smith] over there. That is the voice of twenty-two million people. … I am very worried about the state of the civilization which produced that photograph of the white cop standing on that Negro woman’s neck in Birmingham.” And then she led those very accomplished people in walking right out of the room. — Salon
Late Night Talk Shows Are Booking Novelists
In a television landscape where literature has become largely overlooked, late-night hosts like Mr. Meyers and Trevor Noah have made it their mission to put a spotlight on writers — giving them an enormous amount of influence in the publishing world. – The New York Times
Meet The Guy Who Makes Sure The Guthrie Theater’s Shows Are Accessible To Folks With All Sorts Of Disabilities
Says one of many admiring advocates and clients, “If a school is supposed to make programs accessible to students with disabilities — say, blindness — they might put things on tape and say it’s accessible. They don’t say to the person: What would be your preference? Hunter [Gullickson] does that. And he’ll get the program on tape, but also in Braille.” — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Alas, Netflix Is Unlikely To Save Art Films
Netflix may seem like a savior to these filmmakers right now, but the promise is illusory. Streaming services are also under tremendous economic pressure of their own, such that they’re unlikely to commit for the long term to arty, mid-budget films like Roma and Buster Scruggs. They may temporarily slow the increasing homogenization of filmmaking in America, but they cannot reverse it. – The New Republic
A New York Times Critic Explains How (And Why) They Do What They Do
A.O. Scott: “We assume that readers are looking not only for advice, but also for ideas, arguments, provocations and the occasional joke. … Some of the time some of our readers might think we’re wrong, but being wrong — starting an argument about what matters to us — is one of the ways we can be most useful.” — The New York Times
Not Only Will The Nobel Prize In Literature Survive This Scandal — It Needs This Scandal
“My research finds that a prize’s long-term success actually depends on these kinds of low and embarrassing episodes, which attract public investment into the very market for symbolic capital that makes prizes necessary and keeps them afloat.” James English explains how this phenomenon plays out. — Public Books
Ellen DeGeneres Is So Tired Of Being *Nice* That She’s Considering Quitting Her TV Show
“She has to be the only 60-year-old woman in America who is expected to dance with total strangers wherever she goes. … In person, she is more blunt, introspective and interesting than she is on the show, willing to express mild irritation that might seem off-key in front of a national audience. She’s also much more likely to explore dark corners of her psyche, regrets, second thoughts, anxieties that linger.” — The New York Times