LitHub’s editor writes, “Literary Hub will use its platform (as we have tried to thus far) as a space for bearing witness and calling to action, for testimony and prosecution, for lamentation and, when possible, celebration. A space for the many and wonderful literary voices that make up our real America.”
Category: AUDIENCE
When Movies Are ‘Too Big To Fail’ – And Then They Do
When movies push the boundaries of the craft – you know, like when color and sound came around – they can fail hard, and then change everything. “But for every Mustang there’s an Edsel, and after two very costly, public humiliations, I think we can safely say that high frame rate is not the future of cinema.”
Can’t Stop Paying Attention To Your Phone? There’s A Reason For That – It’s Called “Design”
You might just think it’s your failure of attention. But that itch to glance at our phone is a natural reaction to apps and websites engineered to get us scrolling as frequently as possible. The attention economy, which showers profits on companies that seize our focus, has kicked off what Tristan Harris calls a “race to the bottom of the brain stem.”
Study: Why We’re Becoming More Ideologically Segregated
“Increasingly, our cultural divide is also a geographical divide, as mobile Americans choose to live among people with similar ideological beliefs. But why? A research study published this summer provides a clear answer: It’s far more emotionally comfortable.”
How Reality TV Has Changed The Nature Of Our Delusions…
Delusions have been around since people have been around, “but that delusions often bear a complicated relationship to the cultural context in which they occur. During the Cold War, for instance, there was an uptick in people believing they were under surveillance by the C.I.A. or F.B.I.” The rise of the “Truman Show” delusion has coincided with the advent of reality television and other media in which people actually are recorded and broadcast all the time. “We’re raising our children with the notion that you, too, can be famous tomorrow.”
Literary Analysis Teaches Us To Take The Feelings Out In Favor Of The Brain. That’s A Mistake
“One of the terrible secrets about attending graduate school in literature is that it can ruin your ability to read for pleasure; pick up a book, and a nasty voice whispers that you should be reading something serious – or reading something seriously. So in the classroom, I learned to put away my body. Outside of the academy, however, specifically through fanfiction, I was learning to read with it.”
The Great Fiddling Tradition That Time Forgot (Until Recently)
Masses of dispossessed Scots Highlanders settled on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia in the early 19th century, and they brought their fiddles and bagpipes, their Gaelic songs and step dances with them and kept them alive. Now that telecommunications and transportation have reduced Cape Breton’s isolation, the rest of us are discovering the music – often through the island’s famous fiddlers like Ashley MacIsaac and Natalie MacMaster. (includes video and sound clips)
An Oakland Arts Space Bounces Back After A Shooting
“Naming Gallery in Oakland, California, is a multi-purpose arts space where people congregate on Saturday nights. … In August 2016, a fatal shooting occurred outside the gallery where hundreds of people were celebrating. ‘If we let this destroy us as people, we won’t be able to gather, we won’t be able to share art with each other,’ says Imari, a musician who is part of the Naming Gallery community. ‘To stay open is the only thing I can do right now.'” (video)
Historic Chinese Town Uses The Arts To Juice Up The Tourism It Lives And Dies By
Wuzhen, a picturesque canal town near China’s east coast, has developed a well-regarded theater festival and several visual art events to turn day-trippers into multi-day visitors. “‘Wuzhen has a kind of nourishing energy,’ said Meng Jinghui, the artistic director of this year’s theater festival. ‘In terms of content and budget, they have given us complete freedom. That’s very rare in China.'”
Can You Teach Astrophysics Through Dance? Professors And Performers In Manchester Are Giving It A Try
In an article headlined “Dancing with the stars” (ahem), Dance Manchester director Deb Ashby writes about Stellarium, a project led by three female astrophysicists and a female choreographer that actually is communicating concepts of basic astrophysics to primary school students via dance performance.