Students responded not only to one incident, in which the lecturer for the class was removed, but many other experiences at the college: “Some of the quotes and scenarios on the board read: ‘White male faculty member to a black female student: ‘Act more sassy,’’ ‘Holding a meeting about microaggressions where a student of color was told to stop being mean to white people,’ ‘Male director explaining to a female student what happens emotionally to a woman when she is assaulted’ and ‘Female-identifying students told to lower the pitch of their natural voices in production to ‘sound stronger.’'” – The Ithacan
Blog
Who’s Up And Who’s Down In Oscar Predictions?
Men are wimping out of seeing Little Women‘s award showings, which is tanking its chances; despite the awfulness of Cats, Ian McKellen’s chances are up; and more. – Vulture
The Guardian’s Top Classical Albums Of 2019
This is the calm before the storm of 2020 – a year sure to see a deluge of Beethoven for his 250th birthday. Opera was neglected shamefully, while Clara Schumann, Offenbach, and Berlioz gained some powerful new recordings. – The Guardian (UK)
Phase 2, An Innovator Of Aerosol Art, Has Died At 64
“In the South Bronx at the dawn of the 1970s, all the creative components that would coalesce into what became widely known as hip-hop were beginning to take shape. At the center of them all was Phase 2, an intuitive, disruptive talent who first made his mark as a writer of graffiti — although he hated the term.” – The New York Times
New Movies, Old Formats
The popularity of older formats is growing, including black and white and things like Canción sin nombre‘s 4:3 format. – Los Angeles Times
Jeanette Winterson Is Worried About AI
The author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and 10 other novels, along with much nonfiction and several children’s books as well, Winterson says, “People always say ‘let’s get the technology out there and lots of people will benefit in time.’ Well, no, because by that point, the technology will change and the rich will control it completely. The world is moving too fast for the trickle-down effect.” – The Guardian (UK)
The Bestselling Adult Novel Of 2019 Started Small In 2018, And Has A Very Long Tail
It’s a tough selling environment for fiction; the numbers are bleak and falling fast. But Where Late the Crawdads Sang has been going, and going, and going, and going … “Crawdads has sold more print copies than any other adult title this year — fiction or nonfiction — according to NPD BookScan, blowing away the combined print sales of new novels by John Grisham, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King. Putnam has returned to the printers nearly 40 times to feed a seemingly bottomless demand for the book. Foreign rights have sold in 41 countries.” What the heck? – The New York Times
Do Music Genres Even Exist Anymore?
Music critics may resist the idea, but “what if the genre killers are right? What if it doesn’t matter whether they’re right, but it’s happening anyway? Start to finish, 2019 gave us plenty of evidence.” – Slate
The Sceptered Isle And Its Many (Many) Historically Important Buildings
Historic England has released a new list of 500 additions to the built environments it accords “enhanced” or new status. Why does anyone care? “They grow not only ever more surprising – our sense of what constitutes our built heritage is expanding incrementally – but more joy-sparking, too. What loveliness, and what fascination. Look at the buildings that have made the grade and not only does the sweep of history wash over you in an invigorating wave.” – The Guardian (UK)
Backstage At Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’
Twenty-two years after the groundbreaking production had its U.S. debut in Los Angeles, it returned – “as gloriously relevant as ever.” And here is a photo gallery of what happens backstage, offstage, and around stage as audiences watch the stage itself. – Los Angeles Times