Why Write an Opera About a Netball Team? (And What Is Netball, Anyway?)

Angus Grant, on his new chamber opera, Contact!, ”There’s something about the restrictiveness of netball. The rules, how you’re allotted a position and a function and you can’t go out of your prescribed zone. The tense female dynamic. It seemed ripe for the picking.” (Netball is a Commonwealth version of women’s basketball.)

Critic: Smithsonian’s Defense Of Video Removal Makes Things Worse

His defense of his actions on Tuesday — “I think I made the right decision” — makes matters worse. What the secretary actually needs to say when he “touches on” the controversy can be simply stated: “I screwed up.” Speculation has been rife that the decision was a blundered defensive measure, taken in the immediate aftermath of midterm elections.