Billionaire philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen said she was chosen from a group of 500 who had been nominated for the prize, narrowed down to a list of five finalists. In an interview, Berggruen, who was not involved in the selection, said Ginsburg was not the “traditional philosopher” the institute has chosen in the past. – Washington Post
Blog
The Scholar Who’s Spent 20 Years Searching For Shakespeare’s Personal Library
Says Stuart Kells, “Shakespeare certainly did have books, and he certainly read them. Why, then, have we found none of his manuscripts, and why are there no books with an authentic Shakespeare signature, bookplate, book label or inscription? … But I have confirmed [his library’s] existence, clarified its scale and scope, and documented what happened to it.” – The Guardian
The Nine-Year-Old Theatre Fan Who Has Something To Say About How To Behave At A Show
Sadie is the unlikely new Emily Post of the theatre community. In June, just before leaving for sleepaway camp, she put Magic Marker to paper and laid out what she calls her Broadway Rules, and the manifesto made the rounds. Her ten do’s and don’ts include some items that seem obvious (“Stay in seat until intermission,” “Listen to the Ushers”) as well as a few that rarely make it into etiquette primers (“NEVER sing along,” “No ‘gas passing.’ ”) – The New Yorker
Is There Really Such A Thing As Video Game Addiction? Yes.
As of this year, the World Health Organization thinks so, and the American Psychiatric Association has included “internet gaming disorder” in the DSM. More than a few people are skeptical, including some researchers (one says “this whole thing is an epistemic dumpster fire”). “[Yet] a substantial body of evidence now demonstrates that although video-game addiction is by no means an epidemic, it is a real phenomenon afflicting a small percentage of gamers.” – The New York Times Magazine
Why Australian Movies Are Less Popular Now Than 30 Years Ago
The Australian film box office numbers show a simple fact: Aussie films are less popular in Australia today than they were 30 to 40 years ago. – Spectator
How Disney Became A Live-Theater Powerhouse
It started with Beauty and the Beast on Broadway in 1994, followed up three years later by The Lion King. Yet Disney Theatrical Group didn’t become a corporate behemoth churning out pale copies of movie franchises. (Whatever you may think of The Lion King, you can’t call it pale.) Peter Marks talks with Disney Theatrical Group chief Thomas Schumacher about the secrets of that success. – The Washington Post
Facebook And Misconceptions About Free Speech
“The problem is that Facebook doesn’t offer free speech; it offers free amplification. No one would much care about anything you posted to Facebook, no matter how false or hateful, if people had to navigate to your particular page to read your rantings, as in the very early days of the site.” – TechCrunch
‘El Maestro’ Of Latin Jazz, Ray Santos, Dead At 90
“Santos started out playing Latin big band music at resorts in upstate New York’s Catskills, and performed with Machito’s orchestra at New York’s city’s Palladium in the 1950s. Over his long career he collaborated with Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, Paquito D’Rivera and many others.” – Billboard
World’s Only Museum Of LGBTQ Art Removes ‘Gay And Lesbian’ From Its Name
As it begins a $7 million capital campaign to fund a new Learning Center for Arts and Intersectionality that will host workshops and after-school programs, upgrades its archives and library (which are seeing increased use by researchers), and launches an endowment, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, located in lower Manhattan, has renamed itself the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. – ARTnews
Has The Drag Ballroom Scene Outgrown The Criterion That Once Defined It?
The performance-competitions that were made famous by the documentary Paris Is Burning, introduced the world to voguing, and arguably inspired RuPaul’s Drag Race have generally judged their participants and winners on “realness” — the ability to pass as the real thing for whatever the category. Ballroom veteran Sydney Baloue makes a case that, while it was needed as the ballroom scene was born and grew, the concept of “realness” may no longer be necessary and might actually be damaging. – The New York Times