“Among a large group of Americans who were tracked for up to two decades, the death rate was far higher among those who viewed themselves as less active than their peers. Intriguingly, this held true even “after adjusting for actual levels of physical activity.” This suggests that, while spending too much time on the sofa is clearly bad for your health, there are dangers in simply thinking of yourself as couch potato.”
Blog
If Your Job Is To Sell Books, What Do You Do When A Customer Wants A Book You Think Is Bad For Them?
“Despite the immeasurable good work independent bookstores and their staff do—from promoting children’s literacy to hosting readings and book clubs to being a vital part of local economies, and more—I’d hazard that the primary goal is always going to be customer satisfaction. So what can you do when a customer wants a book that you not only find objectionable but also believe actually dangerous in the lessons it portends amidst such a politically precarious time?”
Is It Possible There’s A Scientific Test For Consciousness?
“Week by week we hear claims from neuroscientists that would appear to confirm the prevailing “internalist” view of consciousness. If the brain creates a representation in our heads of the world around us through the firing of neurons, the argument goes, then we can identify neural activity that corresponds to particular aspects of consciousness. How, then, can the internalist theory be tested and demonstrated scientifically?”
Complaints Of Sexual Harassment Against Longtime Minnesota Theatre Executive Director
“The complaints — some anonymous — surfaced only after an internal dispute about whether the theater’s latest production should have an intermission boiled over, angering many of the community volunteers the theater relies on to function. As anger over the theater board’s oversight gained steam, MPR News interviewed these six people and one more who said they personally had been subjected to unwelcome sexual advances.”
When New Yorkers Rioted Over How To Perform ‘Hamlet’
“When Major-General Charles Sandford recalled the scene at the Astor Place Theatre on May 10, 1849, it was with a sentiment one would not normally associate with a night at the theater. ‘During a period of thirty-five years of military service,’ wrote the general, ‘I have never seen a mob so violent as the one on that evening. I never before had occasion to give the order to fire.'”
The Smithsonian Has Discovered The Magic Of Kickstarter, Raising $1 Million And Finding New Audiences
“We’re not only trying to fund the projects, we are reaching audiences that we might not reach through other channels,” said Scott Tennent, the Smithsonian’s director of advancement communications, noting that three-fourths of the Kickstarter backers are new to the Smithsonian. “We can raise awareness that the Smithsonian relies on public support. That’s something people don’t always realize.”
Why I Wanted My Asian-American Daughter To See Asian-American Actors Playing Shakespeare
Nicole Chung writes about her meaningful mother-and-child trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Winter’s Tale.
The B-52s: The Most Subversive Band In American Rock History?
“The subversive genius of the B-52s isn’t quite acknowledged as much as it could be – even though the band invented new wave-wacky and was mindful about keeping ahead of the stylistic curve. … You can chalk up a lack of respect to the group’s kitschy veneer (and, more specifically, its penchant for making kitsch cool) unfairly superseding the music itself. That’s perhaps most galling: After all, the B-52s’ early LPs are gloriously weird without sounding forced or self-conscious.”
Is The Age Of Trump Killing Comedy? No – It’s Helping Comedy Return To What It Used To Be
“You may have heard, in the past year, that irony and satire are dead, that in the age of Trump they have become indistinguishable from their opposites. … Everyone recognizes that something essential to comedy is failing: the power to defeat lies. … [But] comedy’s association with honesty is far more recent than we might think. You and I just happen to have grown up during an unusual period in the history of comedy, one in which it became strangely bound up with truth and virtue. Trump, thank God, has cut the knot.”
Stolen Francis Bacon Paintings Recovered In Spain
Three of the five works taken from the Madrid home of one of the artist’s friends were found by Spanish police following a tipoff from a team asked to authenticate one of the paintings. Several suspects were arrested last year.