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Australian Booksellers Take Ronan Farrow Book Off Shelves After Pressure From National Enquirer Parent Company

Dylan Howard, who remains a top executive at the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., has hired several high-powered law firms on three continents, including the Sydney-based McLachlan Thorpe Partners, to suppress Farrow’s book, which chronicles the extraordinary lengths the Australian tabloid muckraker had gone to help his friend, criminally charged alleged serial rapist Harvey Weinstein. – The Daily Beast

What The Wild Success Of Silicon Valley Says About The American Success Story

The question of fixing Silicon Valley is inseparable from the question of fixing the system of postwar American capitalism, of which it is perhaps the purest expression. Some believe that the problems we see are bugs that might be fixed with a patch. Others think the code is so bad at its core that a radical rewrite is the only answer. – The Nation

The Opera That Reimagined The Last Habsburg Emperor And Empress For The Shattered Europe Of 1919

“The year 1919 was pivotal in European culture, with bold portents for the postwar future — it was the year that Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus and Marcel Duchamp painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa. [Richard Strauss’s] Die Frau ohne Schatten, in contrast, was almost reassuringly conservative in its late Romantic musical language, in its fairy tale libretto about a fundamentally good-hearted emperor and empress, and in its celebration of fertility and childbirth as the foundation of marriage and society.” – The New York Times

Jane Austen Lovers Are Furious At The New Ending To Her Unfinished Novel

“Andrew Davies’ TV adaptation of Sanditon, which aired on Sunday, ended with Charlotte and Sidney bidding each other a tearful farewell – in love, but not together. … The ending has enraged and upset viewers, but most of all, I think, surprised them. This is Austen, and we know what we’re entitled to: there’s even a book about it, for goodness’ sake – The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After.” – The Guardian

Placido Domingo’s Career Continues Apace In Europe

In contrast to the United States, so far no theater in Europe, where the #MeToo movement has had little impact, has canceled any of the singer’s planned performances on calendars running through the fall of 2020. In continuing the performances, European venues have cited an absence of allegations in their venues, the lack of a judicial case against him and the singer’s well-known affability and undeniable popularity. – Yahoo! (AP)

A Dance Critic Assesses Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ Moves

Gia Kourlas: “You can’t completely banish your true self when you dance; Arthur Fleck is still somewhere inside of Mr. Phoenix, even after Arthur transforms himself into the Joker. What makes Mr. Phoenix’s performance so confusingly poignant — and not just a tale of good vs. evil — is the way in which he has essentially placed two characters within one dancing body.” – The New York Times