Blog

Maybe The People Who Signed The Harper’s Letter Have Forgotten About The Real Danger To Free Speech

Tom Scocca: “The promoters of the letter cast themselves as persecuted heroes, putting their names on the line to defend an embattled conception of liberty. The people putting themselves in front of police lines have a more expansive vision of what freedom means, and what risks they’re prepared to take for it.” – Slate

It’s Too Late For Good-Faith Debate Online Anyway

“Blaming people on the internet — as most of us are, helplessly — for not engaging in ‘good-faith debate’ doesn’t just misdiagnose the problem; it’s stunningly naïve. Have you met the internet? … Political discourse has been warped less because of ‘cancel culture’ or ‘illiberalism’ than by the way social media platforms have been poisoned, like wells, that poison us in turn.” And, argues Lili Loofbourow, it’s not the left that’s ultimately at fault. – Slate

The Problem With The “Right” Kind Of Theatre Fans

“What is wrong with the theatre fandom is the belief that objectively, some musicals are better than others, and that if you like a certain show, you aren’t the right kind of theatre fan. Gatekeeping is the practice of musical theatre fans who feel that they have the authority to determine who belongs and who doesn’t belong based on whether or not someone is a “true fan.” – OnstageBl31

Why COVID Demands Our Best Design Thinking

You may not think of architects as the problem-solvers we need now. But now that interacting with people in any enclosed space is fraught, they are who you need. Though we have been living in a world ruled by public-health experts, few doctors and scientists can interpret their mandates in three dimensions, or understand the dynamic movement of people (and the hazardous droplets they spew) through a busy airport or sports stadium. – Medium

Those Viral Videos Of People Melting Down Because They Have To Wear Masks? They’re Performances — Bad Ones

Dan Kois: “What are these displays? Whatever they are, they are not authentic expressions of rage. … Rather than citizens pushed too far by onerous mask policies — finally sent over the edge — the people in the videos are recognizably acting, delivering tiny one-person shows. Perhaps they’ve rehearsed these lines in their head for weeks, cooped up at home, seething about the news. … And here, in the grocery store, finally granted an audience — the lights bright and the cameras running — they seize their moment to act. And they’re bad actors.” – Slate

Was Washington Ballet’s Virtual Fundraising Gala A Bad Idea After All?

Organizers of the June 18 event, for which the company’s dancers gathered to tape performances which were streamed for attendees, say they followed all CDC and local health guidelines. Nevertheless, artistic director Julie Kent and one of the performers contracted COVID. “These human costs are devastating,” writes Sarah Kaufman, “and there is another victim here: trust. … Did the ballet make the right choices to fundraise in this way, and how much can we trust it on health matters in the future?” – The Washington Post