The veteran journalist, who is also the author of the novels on which the TV series Killing Eve is based, tweeted that, after 14 years, “it’s time to step aside and pursue new projects.” — The Stage
Blog
What We Learned Having AI Analyze A Book
Using AI tools to analyze this piece of literature shed new light on key elements of emotion and memory in the book – but they did not replace the skills of an expert or scholar at interpreting texts or pictures. As a result of our experiment, we think that AI and other computational methods present an interesting opportunity with the potential for more quantifiable, reproducible and maybe objective research in the humanities. – The Conversation
Twin Cities Theatre Company Fires Director After #MeToo Complaints
Theater Mu, a St. Paul-based company focused on Asian-American work, cut ties with artistic director Randy Reyes after a board investigation “discovered conduct that did not reflect the culture we strive to achieve at Mu.” — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Getting Inside Our Obsession With Sleep (Or Lack Of It)
According to the neuroscientist Matthew Walker—in his 2017 book, “Why We Sleep”—insomnia, strictly defined, is a clinical disorder most commonly associated with an overactive sympathetic nervous system, and it is triggered, typically, by worry and anxiety. Insomniacs can write twee lists of their blessings until the cows come home, but their cortisol levels will still tend to look as if they’re gearing up to storm the Bastille. – The New Yorker
Caught In Plagiarism, Minneapolis Star Tribune Film Critic Colin Covert Resigns
A statement from the editors, who were first alerted by a reader, says that “the reviews by Covert in question span many years, but one was published as recently as November 1.” He had been on staff at the paper for more than three decades. — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Artists Weigh In: What We Have Lost In The Contemporary World
Because the ideologies of the past century have been largely discredited as false utopias, we are bereft of the notion of a better future. Whether the idea of a utopia ever returns will depend on our spirit, our faith in what is to come. Yet who are we to make demands of the spirit, which will wander as it will? – The New York Times
Can Art Help The Families Of Opioid Crisis Victims? This Museum Is Finding Out
“The Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire has created an unprecedented program that uses art as a healing tool for those affected by the epidemic in a state that’s ranked third in the nation for drug overdoses.” — Hyperallergic
Tiny Books Are Another Symptom Of The Great Twee-ification Of American Culture
Katy Waldman (using the Dutch name under which tiny books have become popular in Europe): “A dwarsligger‘s teeniness is inseparable from its tweeness. But dwarsliggers embody twee in another respect: as displays of individualism, idiosyncrasy, quirkiness.” (Nevertheless, she kind of likes them.) — The New Yorker
Listener Suffers Cardiac Arrest Mid-Concert; Four Doctors In Audience Save Her
One Sunday last month, the Boston-area chamber ensemble Mistral was about to begin the third work on its program when 89-year-old Ingrid Christiansen slumped over in her front-row seat. Zoë Madonna reports on what happened next. (She didn’t want to go to the hospital, she wanted to hear the concert.) — The Boston Globe
Why Do So Many New Apartment Buildings Look Just Like Each Other?
Boxy shapes, flat windows, bland façades. How did American apartment architecture get conquered by the style one wag calls “Spongebuild Squareparts”? Reporter Patrick Sisson writes that “it boils down to code, costs, and craft.” — Curbed