“The more I talk to other women of color hailing from nations across the globe, the more I understand how the subconscious presentation of diversity framed exclusively as a “middle-class white cisgender woman’s problem” has the ripple effect of silencing women of varied ethnic backgrounds and gender identities.”
Blog
A Linguistic Analysis Of Looney Tunes
In a Lexicon Valley episode titled “Wabbit Twacks,” Columbia University linguist John McWhorter applies the analytical tools of his discipline to Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, and their fellows. (podcast)
Facebook Removes Icelandic Artist’s Work Because… Naked Breasts
As part of the Reykjavik arts festival in June, Indridadóttir showed photographs of topless young women standing in front of painted portraits of older men. The photographs were taken in locations such as the Icelandic parliament, a sports club and a school, where rooms are decorated with portraits of men that had been playing an important part in the history of those institutions
Ballerina Jocelyn Vollmar, America’s First Snow Queen, Dead At 92
She took that role in the first U.S. version of Nutcracker, in 1944 at San Francisco Ballet. She was a founding member of that company, and she led her fellow dancers in raising the cash to save it from bankruptcy in 1974; she later spent 20 years teaching at the company school.
What Classical Musicians Actually Earn (And What It Costs To Be One)
According to Statistics Canada, using 2011 data (the last year for which detailed figures are available,) musicians and singers made an average of $10,402 a year from employment, and $16,061 from gross wages and salaries. StatsCan defines employment as including both salaried jobs and income from professional practice, and it should be noted the figures include everyone in the country who declared income as a musician or vocalist.
Deepfakes: A.I. And Editing Software Have Made Convincing Counterfeit Video Unnervingly Possible
“Pandora’s box is now open — and what’s inside is a lot more than fake sex tapes. New technology is often adopted for prurient purposes, but the prospect of fake war crimes, fake political scandals, and maybe even a fake apocalypse now feels like an inevitability. Let’s take a deep, terrifying dive.”
Does Art Need Terrorism Insurance?
As opposed to residential fine art policies, terrorism coverage is not automatically part of commercial property insurance. That means museums and commercial art galleries need to purchase protection for this potentiality separately.
The Internet’s Dancing Dads Are Just What We Need Right Now, Says Pulitzer-Winning Dance Critic
Sarah Kaufman: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that one of the dorkiest things a dad can do is dance, especially in public. … Therein lies the coolness of the real-life dancing dad. He’s the opposite of embarrassing! … Through his dance, he forges a spontaneous, healing bond with his youngster whose power can be felt by millions of onlookers.”
Now Even The Biggest Pop Stars Go To Songwriting Camp, Or At Least Sing Songs Written There
“Songwriting camps have convened since the early ’90s, when Police manager and I.R.S. Records chief Miles Copeland invited heavy hitters such as Cher and Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook to his French château.” They’ve become something of an industry since then, and they, “or at least the collaborative songwriting process, have fundamentally changed the way pop music sounds.”
Oscars’ New Best Popular Movie Category Is A Spectacularly Bad Idea
The decision to announce the new category without a name or a list of qualifying characteristics made a bad decision seem even worse, almost to the point of deliberate self-sabotage. Will candidates for Best Popular Picture be determined by budget? By box-office returns? If the latter, is it possible for a movie like Get Out or A Quiet Place to cross over from one to the other? And if not, will it be analogous to the split between lead and supporting performances, where the line is subject to campaigning and manipulation that sometimes verges on outright fraud?