“Barracoon tells the story of the last known person to survive the transatlantic slave trade, a man named Cudjo Lewis. Many know that Hurston was an acclaimed fiction writer, but here it is her work as an anthropologist that shines. Hurston was able to sit down in the Black community of Plateau, Alabama, which was founded by Cudjo Lewis and other ex-slaves from the ship that brought them to America, and talk with the then 95-year-old Lewis about his life in 1931.”
Blog
Martin Ransohoff, 90, Producer Of Classic ’60s Sitcoms And Feature Films
Among the evergreen television series his company, Filmways Television, produced were Mister Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and The Addams Family; the titles he produced for the big screen included Save the Tiger, Catch-22, The Cincinnati Kid (he fired Sam Peckinpah as director and replaced him with Norman Jewison), and The Americanization of Emily.
Germany’s Art Museums See Worrisome Drop In Attendance
“The total number of visits to [German] museums and exhibition halls was 112 million, about 2.5 million fewer than in 2015. The number of visits to art museums declined by 7.4%, while natural science museums reported an increase of 4.1%.”
The Pop-Up Theatre From The Calais Refugee Camp Is Popping Up Again In Paris
“When the tent in Calais that housed the Good Chance Theatre came down in the spring of last year, as the refugee camp known as ‘the Jungle’ was cleared, the two 25-year-old British playwrights who set it up pledged that the story would not finish there.” And they’re as good as their word.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.18.17
What have you LEARNED from 2017?
No doubt you have worked hard. You have challenged your creativity, stretched every penny, and exhausted every option. Good job! So, in these last two weeks of this year, how about taking a moment to … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-12-18
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Boeuf
We have so many ways nowadays to discover how boeuf en daube is pronounced without having to tap a French shoulder, human or beef. Raise your hands, readers, if you know what novel lists this dish as an ingredient. … read more
AJBlog: Out There Published 2017-12-18
Touched by a Virtual Hand
Charles Atlas, Rashaun Mitchell, and Silas Riener collaborate on a video/live performance. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-12-18
Kevin Mahagony RIP
The singer Kevin Mahagony has died at the age of 59. As The Kansas City Star’s Timothy Finn reported today, Mahagony had only recently returned to his hometown. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-12-18
The Disneyland Of Detroit Has Become A Symbol Of Hope
“The destination has become iconic thanks to the man whose initials, D.S., appear on the tail of the helicopter—Dmytro Szylak, a retired Ukrainian-American auto-plant worker. To keep busy after leaving the working life, Szylak built this curious installation over the roofs of two adjacent houses he owned. Along the way, he became a beloved artist who captured the hope and heartbreak of one small city’s melting-pot culture. Locals named his creation Hamtramck Disneyland, a title he came to embrace.”
How We Try To Understand Mind Control And Subverting Democracy
“The emerging picture of efforts to manipulate the outcomes of the US election and the Brexit referendum leads to an awkward paradox. For the first time in a long time, voters who recognized the rigged nature of the system voted in large enough numbers to overthrow “the swamp” of “politics as usual”; at the same time, the system itself was perhaps more rigged than ever, thanks to the new-fangled methods. While it is vital to expose how these worked, it is even more important also to develop a politics that validates voters’ legitimate repudiation of a corrupt establishment, rather than dismisses them as ignorant and gullible.”
Neuroscience And Buddhism: On Improving The Mind
“Few people would honestly argue that there is nothing worth improving about the way they live and the way they experience the world. Some people regard their own particular weaknesses and conflicting emotions as a valuable and distinct part of their ‘personality,’ as something that contributes to the fullness of their lives. They believe that this is what makes them unique and argue that they should accept themselves as they are. But isn’t this an easy way to giving up on the idea of improving the quality of their lives, which would cost only some reasoning and effort?”
Our Brains Are Wired To Take Shortcuts. In Today’s World That’s Increasingly A Liability
“Our mental shortcuts work fine at the level of individuals and small-scale societies, but in an increasingly interconnected and globalised world, they are a danger to society. Effortless thinking is at the root of many of the modern world’s most serious problems: xenophobia, terrorism, hatred, inequality, defence of injustice, religious fanaticism and our shocking susceptibility to fake news and conspiracy theories. All are facilitated by people disengaging their critical faculties and going with their gut – and being encouraged to do so by populist politicians channelling anger at the liberal establishment.”
Study: Rural UK Residents Will Embrace Diverse Work (But It’s A Tough Proposition)
White and retired audiences in rural areas will happily go and see diverse work – and wish there was more of it – but more support is needed to create and tour it, new research has concluded. Academics at the University of Lincoln found performances in non-traditional spaces that dramatise narratives from diverse communities, rather than presenting “culturally foreign” performances, attract larger rural audiences.