“Joplin didn’t use black dancers that I’m aware of, and she didn’t use black woman, or black women’s bodies, as a code for sex, as Cyrus does. But there are still uncomfortable parallels.”
Category: issues
An Oral History Of The 1963 March On Washington
On the 50th anniversary of that turning point in American history, Smithsonian offers testimony from those who were there – from John Lewis and Eleanor Holmes Norton to civil rights workers Rachelle Horowitz and Barry Rosenberg to singer Harry Belafonte and the widow of march leader Rev. Ralph Abernathy.
What Urban Planners Can Learn From A Couple Million Hindu Pilgrims
This year’s Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India was more than just a religious festival. It was the world’s biggest-ever pop-up city, with a population ranging (depending on the day) from 3 million or so to more than 20 million. And it was far cleaner, better organized, and more functional than India’s permanent cities.
Funding Estonian Culture By Taxing Finns’ Vices
Estonia is a major destination for Finns looking to gamble or hunting for bargains on booze and tobacco. Taxes on those activities provide the revenue for the Estonian Cultural Capital Fund. “Some 29 percent of the fund’s grant money was allocated to sports last year, with composers taking the biggest cultural funding and literature around 6 percent.”
Defending The English Major (It’s Not Easy)
Adam Gopnik: “As the bromides roll by and the platitudes chase each other round the page, those in favor of ever more and better English majors feel a bit the way we Jets fans feel, every fall, when our offense trots out on the field: I’m cheering as loud as I can, but let’s be honest – this is not working well.”
Barry’s Annual 50 Arts Leaders Of Note
“This list is limited to those leaders who work in the nonprofit arts field as administrators. And that means that not only are artists intentionally omitted, but the classes of curators, directors, publicists, managers, and others are also not the province of this list – though I certainly recognize these people and others have considerable influence.”
Gay Violinist Pulls Out Of Festival In Russia
“[Keith] Pascoe was set to lead RTÉ’s Vanbrugh Quartet to the Russian-Irish festival in Moscow this December, but will not now be attending. … ‘Being gay myself I felt this the best way to highlight the pernicious laws that are in force now: a license for homophobic bullying in schools and a green light to gaybashers all over Russia,’ he said.”
Thrashing For Allah: Meet The World’s First Islamic Heavy Metal Band
Tengkorak (Indonesian for “skull”) plays grindcore metal, growling lyrics about politics and religion and encouraging their fans to follow Muslim ideals.
Edinburgh Fringe Admissions Up Five Percent
“The Fringe Society said more than 1,943,000 tickets were issued, with some shows still to have their final performance. It follows a slight drop in ticket sales last year caused by a clash with the Olympics being held in London.”
No, See, Anna Gunn’s Character Isn’t Too Strong – She’s Not Strong *Enough*
And that makes her worthy of attacks. Or, at least, of criticism.