Robert Hackett, an emeritus professor in Simon Fraser University’s communications department, suggested broadcasters are “caught between a rock and a hard place” when it comes to addressing the problems with beloved content, where they risk facing accusations of cultural insensitivity on one hand or censorship on the other. – Toronto Star
Blog
A Rave Review For A Dreadful “Messiah”
The tempos were ragged. There was no dynamic nuance at all. Some of the best movements of the oratorio were simply omitted. The singing, to be blunt, was perfectly horrendous. But I had a wonderful time. Of course, I was the only performer in sight. – San Francisco Chronicle
Did Orwell’s Early Death Save His Reputation?
Had Orwell lived even a few more years he would have been drawn into public discussions of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four and their meaning. And had he equalled his friend Cyril Connolly’s longevity and lived into the 1970s, he would have become embroiled in controversies like the Cold War, nuclear disarmament, feminism, decolonisation, Vietnam, immigration and, who knows, Northern Ireland. – Dublin Review of Books
Delivery Apps Are Killing Restaurants
The apps’ fees have hobbled many restaurateurs that had viewed app-based delivery as a temporary solution until the coronavirus could be contained. – The New York Times
The Difficulty Of Determining Rights
Some desirable ideals – like a human right to subsistence – simply can’t be realised as a universal human right, Biggar argues, since it is impossible to determine who must deliver on the obligation to feed the entire world’s poor. – Literary Review
Research: Success And “Dark Personality” Traits
We know that approximately 1-2 per cent of individuals in the general population display extremely dark personality features – enough to meet the clinical threshold for a personality disorder – and about 10-20 per cent of individuals have moderately elevated levels. We know that even people with moderate levels of dark traits can wreak havoc: they are more likely to lie and cheat, show racist attitudes, and be violent towards others. – Psyche
The Mythification Of John Lennon
“Myths are for figures even greater than [legends]; gods. And John Lennon has indeed achieved a kind of deific immortality – thanks in part to the appropriation of his persona in works of fiction and drama. With portrayals of him that have cast him as everything from unemployed layabout to Labour Party leader, wise old fisherman to actual psychedelic godhead, Lennon’s life has been romanticised, rehashed and rewritten since his death, to the point where the myth is often more real than the man. … And the [process] began almost as soon as his life ended.” – BBC
Many London West End Theatres Re-Open
This week, 42 performances of 12 different shows will be staged. – The Stage
What August Wilson’s 10-Play Pittsburgh Cycle Did For American Culture
“He introduced a frank, original view of the nation onto the stage. … His characters collide with the expectations of white America, but they also collide with one another, in itself radically humanizing — to have ordinary Black characters with different views and dispositions, as opposed to sharing a monolithic experience — in an era when few such stories found their way to Broadway. But Wilson also bestowed Black audiences with a different gift: a reconsideration of time, measured in and by the lives of the African-Americans living it.” – T — The New York Times Style Magazine
An Arts Funding Crisis Requires Drastic Action
Reimagining is required if we expect to sustain a thriving arts sector that expands economic opportunity, heals communities, strengthens democracy, and inspires creative solutions to global challenges. – Artnet