Category: people

In the chaos of the 1959 Tibetan uprising and China’s harsh response, untold amounts of Tibet’s old literature were destroyed or scattered. “Over five decades, Mr. Smith made it his business to put Tibetan literature back together. He did it more or less single-handedly.”

“Just when actress Sibel Kekilli thought she had been accepted for who she is – a talented German actress – she is being asked once again to explain the norms and behavior of Turkish-German immigrant families.”

“The running gag that permeates the entire discussion” in the new dual-author book Public Enemies “is the conceit that [Bernard-Henri Lévy’, the most celebrated, most m&eeacute;diatique intellectual in France, and the prize-winning, best-selling novelist [Michel] Houellebecq, are hated, persecuted and despised by almost everyone.”

The renowned pianist, who was the victim of anti-Jewish invective after he criticized the new Hungarian government’s harsh media laws, says “I am absolutely persona non grata in Hungary now. I don’t believe I’ll ever perform in Hungary again, or even visit.”

“Given his devotion to empirical fact, it seems odd to think that Galileo’s most important ideas might have their roots not in the real world, but in a fictional one. If Galileo hadn’t given himself over to the “triumph of artifice and imagination” of the poetry he loved, he would never have achieved the insights that shaped the Scientific Revolution, and by extension the modern world.”

“Blessed with a distinctive voice and a warm, insightful singing style, Whiting had a career that stretched over seven decades. She recorded for the first time while she was still in her teens and was still performing as a cabaret artist in her 70s and 80s.”

“[Her] modern melodies updated the music in synagogue services worldwide … She took the sound of 1960s and 1970s American folk and pop, and made a connection with Jewish tradition that broke down the distance between the cantor and the people in the pews.”

“When you’re a celebrity, anything that emerges from your mouth that vaguely resembles a joke is cause for gut-busting laughter from everyone within earshot.” All that praise can lead to what Wilson calls “imposter syndrome”–the secret feeling that you don’t deserve all the attention.”

“Chinese demolition workers have torn down the Shanghai studio of the artist Ai Weiwei – a move he says is linked to his political activism.”

“John Malkovich has worked consistently since the mid-1970s, having directed and starred in over 70 movies and produced a clutch of others, including the indie successes, Juno and Ghost World. Demand for Malkovich from Hollywood studios continues unabated. But these days, Malkovich appears to be producing most of his cutting-edge work on stage, which is where he began his career in 1976.”