As humanities majors slump to the lowest level in decades, calls are coming from surprising places for a revival. Some prominent economists are making the case for why it still makes a lot of sense to major (or at least take classes) in humanities alongside more technical fields. – Washington Post
Blog
Glass Blowing Generates Significant Amounts Of Greenhouse Gasses. What To Do?
While the glass art industry blows oxygen and life into intricate glass chandeliers, vases, bowls and complex sculptures, it also consumes hefty amounts of natural gas and propane while filling the air literally with tons of carbon dioxide. Other issues, like heavy metal pollution and low levels of recycling, add to the industry’s sustainability concerns. – Crosscut
Reversal: WNYC Decides Not To Cancel “New Sounds”
“It has become clear to me that John and Caryn Havlik’s work is distinct, inimitable, and intrinsically New York—and that this beloved team must stay with us. A show like New Sounds can only be produced by public radio, and specifically at NYPR,” station CEO Goli Sheikholeslami wrote in her email. – Gothamist
Freelance Journalists In California Freak Out That New Uber Law Would Apply To Them
If a freelance journalist writes for a magazine, newspaper or other entity whose central mission is to disseminate the news, the law says, that journalist is capped at writing 35 “submissions” per year per “putative employer.” At a time when paid freelance stories can be written for a low end of $25 and high end of $1 per word, some meet that cap in a month just to make end’s meet. – The Hollywood Reporter
Klaus Friedeberger, Abstract Painter Who Found Inspiration In The Australian Outback, Has Died At 97
Friedeberger was inspired by his time as a European refugee in Australia during WWII. “Whereas many abstract painters of the 60s were working on a large scale with fields of unmodulated colour that emphasised the flatness of the surface of the painting, Friedeberger eventually eschewed colour altogether. Working unfashionably on an easel, he made small, modest monochromatic paintings of abstracted forms that advanced, receded or hovered in space within the confines of a square canvas, never quite abandoning the illusion of pictorial space.” – The Guardian (UK)
What Are Theatre Reviews For?
Or, more specifically, whom are they for? “Doing it just for an audience ties criticism to weird stuff about selling a show, which I’m sort of uncomfortable with. But if critics are reviewing just for the maker, then is it really inaccessible to an audience who are maybe not so involved in theatre?” – HowlRound
Who Are The Bots Watching Us (And Our Stories)?
Bots worm their way into everything, including the once much more intimate Instagram Stories. Why? To get more engagement back. (There’s a Russian “secret app” for this social media marketing tool. Truly.) “This mass viewing strategy exploits our tendency to take an interest in people who appear to take an interest in us, a phenomenon social psychologists call reciprocal liking.” – Slate
Can Computers Really Learn How To Understand What They Read?
Maybe. They’re doing a lot better at reading comprehension exams, for instance. On a new “benchmark designed to measure machines’ real understanding of natural language — or to expose their lack thereof — the machines had jumped from a D-plus to a B-minus in just six months. ‘That was definitely the ‘oh, crap’ moment,’ Bowman recalled.” – Quanta
The Coded Emotional Appeal Of ‘The Matrix’
Seriously, why would anyone go to the movie in theatres 11 times? Sometimes you need distance to figure something like that out. “In The Matrix, I realized, I had found a message about my own life, the life of a closeted gay Mormon boy. It was something I had strained all those times to hear, and now it shot across the screen in letters lit by retrospect: You too will be free.” – The Atlantic
Thousands Of People Stand In Line To See The Revamped MoMA
The revamped MoMA invited people to visit for free on Sunday, before the official opening. Nearly 10,000 people took the museum up on its offer, and they needed to create new mental maps. “As they entered the new expanded lobby, many gravitated toward the electronic information sign — with columns labeled ‘West,’ ‘North’ and ‘South’ — to decide which way to go. Staff members wearing neck lanyards and carrying maps approached visitors with friendly ‘Welcome to MoMA’ greetings and offered to help direct them. But even employees seemed a little unsure of themselves. ‘Is there an elevator that way?’ one visitor asked. ‘I think so,’ answered a staff member, opening one of her maps, ‘Let me check.'” – The New York Times