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Know What Else Coronavirus Has Infected? Our Everyday Language

Karen Russell: “Today, we are witnessing the shotgun weddings of words into some strange unions, neologisms sped into existence by this virus (‘quarantunes,’ ‘quarantini’), epidemiological vocabulary hitched together by Twitter hashtags. It seems like there is a parallel language contagion occurring. ‘Self-isolation,’ ‘social distancing,’ ‘abundance of caution’ — pairs of words I’d never seen together in a sentence back in January have become ubiquitous.” – The New Yorker

COVID As Social Disease

COVID is a social disease, a pathological experiment on the nature of our social relations. It is experienced in our social life in four major ways, and our responses bear upon the nature of our society. There are the everyday forms of our social life; the divisions within society that shape our experiences and concerns; the attitudes toward social boundaries — who belongs and who does not; and the social forms available for reacting to threats. – Los Angeles Review of Books

Ben Brantley And Jesse Green Size Up The Off-Broadway Season (Since It’s Now Over)

Ben : “In many of these productions, time seemed to be torn off its hinges, and the solid floor of what we think of as ‘normal life’ to have cracked open. Who knew how apt a preface such works would provide for the rudderless world we now inhabit?”
Jesse: “‘Rudderless’ is exactly how a lot of these terrific plays (and a handful of musicals) wanted us to feel politically, existentially and even spiritually — I mean with actual ghosts.” – The New York Times

Photographer Victor Skrebneski, 90

He first attracted notice for shooting supermodels in famous ad campaigns for the likes of Estée Lauder; his fame grew with a photo series of famous actors, each in an enormous black turtleneck first worn by Orson Welles. His cool factor skyrocketed with the series of elegantly provocative semi- and nude portraits he did as posters for the Chicago International Film Festival. – Chicago Sun-Times

Why The Hollywood Reporter’s Editorial Director Abruptly Walked Out

“Matthew Belloni resigned as editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter due to intense conflicts with Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu, the co-CEOs of the trade’s owners, Valence Media, over their attempts to meddle with the publication’s editorial independence” — in particular, pressure to generate positive coverage and avoid negative coverage of people and projects in which Valence is involved. – Variety

Karina Canellakis Named London Philharmonic’s Principal Guest Conductor

Before embarking on a conducting career in 2013, the 38-year-old American performed as a violinist in solo and chamber works as well as in the Berlin Philharmonic’s Academy Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony. “I had always loved it and was fascinated by scores,” she said about conducting. “It never occurred to me that this was not something for a girl to do.” – The Guardian

Even More Jobs And Money Lost: Whitney Museum Lays Off 76 Employees

“Projecting a shortfall in revenue of at least $7 million by the end of this fiscal year, New York City’s Whitney Museum has laid off 76 staff members. In an email sent Thursday afternoon, museum director Adam Weinberg told staff that all of the affected employees have been at the Whitney for two years or less and would receive five to six weeks’ pay dating from the museum’s closure.” – Hyperallergic