Blackletter, or Fraktur (as it’s known in German), was used all over Europe during the Middle Ages and through the early years of the printing press. As the rest of the continent gave blackletter up, though, Protestant Germans held on to Fraktur (Roman type was Papist, you understand), and, by the early 20th century, the font had become a symbol of German-ness. You know where that led — and the association, even though it’s not really accurate, remains powerful to this day as the German alt-right rises. (includes text and audio) – 99% Invisible
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Which Presidential Candidate Would Be Best For The Arts?
“The question … is far more complicated that it first appears. (What does ‘best’ mean? What does ‘the arts’ mean?)” There isn’t all that much evidence to look at, but Chris Jones surveys what’s there. – Chicago Tribune
Amar Ramasar Is Not Leaving Broadway’s ‘West Side Story’. Neither Are The Protesters Who Want Him Fired
Ramasar, who was sacked from, and later rehired by, New York City Ballet following his role in the nude photo-sharing scandal at the company, is playing Bernardo in the new production by Ivo van Hove. Protesters at the theatre most nights, and their fellows on social media, want West Side Story‘s producers to fire Ramasar and for audience members to boo him; the producers say they’re not going to discipline him for an incident that happened somewhere else two years ago. Neither side seems inclined to budge. – The New York Times
Louvre Cancels Show Of Bulgarian Icons After Bulgarian Government And Church Object
Curators intended the June exhibition, titled “Art and Cultures in Bulgaria between the 16th and 18th Centuries,” to examine the influence that Islamic art had on Bulgarian Orthodox religious art during that period, when Bulgaria was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. This approach did not go over well in present-day Bulgaria. – ARTnews
Study: Does A Company’s Political Advocacy Affect Consumer Behavior? Yes. But…
That a company engaged in conservative or liberal political activity did not affect Republicans’ opinions of that company, but it did for Democrats. (As previously reported, Democrats didn’t care one way or another if a Jones Corp engaged in liberal activities.) That means the 33% drop in opinion when Jones Corps engaged in a conservative agenda was entirely driven by participants who identified as Democrats. – Harvard Business Review
Revealed: YouTube’s Most-Watched Gaming Channels Are Infested With Bots
In January, all seven of the most-watched YouTube Gaming channels weren’t run by happy gamers livestreaming the game du jour. They were instead recorded, autoplaying videos advertising videogame cheats and hacks, sometimes attached to sketchy, credential-vacuuming websites, according to one analytics firm. – Wired
Meet The Workers Who Inspect The Sistine Chapel’s Frescoes
The BBC was given rare access to the preparations and spoke to three experts involved. – BBC
Tory MPs Warn Boris Johnson Not To Attack The BBC
“This is not a fight the BBC is picking nor a contest my party promised if we got elected. If the BBC ends up in decline, it will be the government which will be accused by the very people we will rely on for support at the next election.” – BBC
Allentown Museum Painting Discovered To Be A Rembrandt After It Was Sent Out For Cleaning
The scientific analysis “showed brushwork, and a liveliness to that brushwork, that is quite consistent with other works by Rembrandt,” said Shan Kuang, a conservator at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts who restored “Portrait of a Young Woman.” – Toronto Star (AP)
Has Netflix Reached Its Max Audience?
“Our research shows that most pay TV households already have Netflix so even if cord-cutting accelerates, Netflix won’t get a whole slew of new customers. In [other] words, people are cutting the cord because they have Netflix. They don’t cut the cord and discover Netflix for the first time.” – Fast Company