The broadcaster is developing a “public service algorithm” that’s “built to surprise you,” said the BBC’s director of radio and education James Purnell.His hope is that audiences will stumble onto something new, instead of content that simply reinforces their views. Algorithms “do not have to create echo chambers,” he added, “they can open them up”. – BBC
Category: AUDIENCE
Is There A ‘Chicken Soup For The Soul’ Book For Literally Every Person On The Planet?
The series became a juggernaut in the 1990s, but it’s not over by any means. As the years have gone on, “the books have continued to multiply, to such an extent that the titles are now, by necessity, quite specific” including, for instance, Chicken Soup for the Chiropractic Soul. – LitHub
Americans Are Finally Reading More Translated Translation — Aren’t They?
Yes, there are some literary stars here whose books come to U.S. readers in translation — Karl Ove Knausgaard, Stieg Larsson, Elena Ferrante — but the number of books published in English that were originally written in another language has held steady at around 3% of the total for many years. Chad Post, founder of the publishing house Open Letter, which specializes in translated lit, writes about the interlocking issues behind “the 3 percent problem.” – Vulture
Video Game Players Have An Endless Thirst For Updates, And The Pressure Is Driving Developers To The Breaking Point
For years it’s been known that the makers of top video games would make employees work 90-hour weeks or more, with no extra pay, at the crunch time before a title’s release. But now crunch time never ends. – PC Gamer
Philadelphia Begins Pilot Cultural Pass Program For Employees Of Two Major Local Institutions
“The Philadelphia Cultural Pass will provide free tickets to any of the roughly 40,000 Penn Medicine and 6,800 Drexel [University] employees working full-time or more than half-time. … At the moment the supporting institutions are Penn Medicine and Drexel, which will provide operating funds to the Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Kimmel Center. The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is also a partner.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
05.08.19
Have Video Games Become The Definer Of Common Culture?
Film can no longer claim to perform a function for our whole culture when there is no whole. When Golden Age Hollywood promised to tell the story of our culture, it was usually the story of a cultural mainstream. Now it is even clearer that Hollywood’s promise is meaningful only to one, admittedly still large, audience in the plenitude. New audiences, also in the millions, seek their cultural centers elsewhere—in video games and social media. – Wired
Audio-Only Porn Becomes A Business (How Did This Not Happen Before Now?)
“These recordings — half-erotica, half-radio play — have long flourished on Reddit communities like GoneWildAudio or PillowTalkAudio. Now, entrepreneurs bet it can go mainstream — and make money. … Anyone looking for the classic tropes — for example, a pizza delivery boy’s romp with a bored housewife, or any sex that starts with ‘I’m sure we can figure out some form of payment’ — should look elsewhere.” – The Daily Beast
The Most Prolific Producer Of New Plays In The Entire UK Is A Lunchtime Series In Glasgow
Since 2004, Òran Mór in Scotland’s largest city has been presenting A Play, a Pie and a Pint, which is exactly what it says: a meat pie and a pint of ale for lunch, along with an hour-long play, all for just £12.50. A new script is produced each week for 35 weeks a year (plus holiday pantos), and the series is about to present its 500th play. Audiences just (ahem) eat it up. – The Guardian
You Have One More Year To Pull In A Bigger Audience, Scottish City Government Tells Arts Centre
The municipal council of Perth and Kinross, alarmed by poor attendance and financial performance at the Perth Theatre and Perth Concert Hall, warned the nonprofit which operates the twin venues that it has a year to work a turnaround. – The Stage
Watching Together: TV Is As Much A Community Experience As It Ever Was
Twitter has, for two complementary reasons, been a sustaining force for event television. The fans want to avoid spoilers. They also want to enhance the collective experience by chattering on the platform as events unfold. In the current century, the world is not only watching together, it is also talking to itself as it does so. – Irish Times