What the lens of the Piazza di Spagna webcam reveals, in its own intimate way, is that so-called bucket-list destinations are, and always have been, real places where real people live. With most of the world locked down, these public live streams offer a new perspective; with the tourists gone, places appear all the realer. – The Walrus
Tag: 06.17.20
Was The Fall Of The Roman Empire Due To Plagues?
By its nature, Roman civilisation seemed to unlock the pestilential potential of the landscape. The expansion of agriculture brought civilisation deeper into habitats friendly with the mosquito. Deforestation facilitated the pooling of water and turned the forbidding forest into fields where mosquitos more easily multiplied… The Romans were environmental engineers extraordinaire. – New Statesman
Need To Diversify Your Reading?
Look to Black Bookstagram for recommendations on everything from history to science fiction to romance. – BuzzFeed
It Took Richard Pryor To Change How Comedy Sees The Police
Comedy culture before Pryor, that is, white comedy culture, depicted copys “as clownish bullies, and their violence, divorced from any racial context, played as a kind of shtick. When they swung their clubs, you never really felt the blow.” Then Pryor came along. – The New York Times
American Theatre Magazine Shuts Its Print Edition Through The Rest Of The Year
For the first time in its 36-year history, we at American Theatre have made the difficult decision to forgo printing and mailing hard-copy issues of the magazine for the next six months, or the remainder of 2020. – American Theatre
Composer Frederick C. Tillis, Who Excelled In Jazz And Classical Alike, Dead At 90
A precocious talent who began playing in Texas jazz clubs at age 12 and continued to perform for most of his life, he spent many years teaching theory and composition at UMass-Amherst and wrote more than 100 scores as well as 15 volumes of poetry and the influential textbook Jazz Theory and Improvisation. – The New York Times
Jenny Bilfield: Making The Transition To Meaningful Online
“There is every obstacle to creating art, and yet art is being created and art is being shared. It’s being done by both professionals and amateurs, by people in their homes in ways that you never would’ve expected it would thrive. Art is a portal into how we’re experiencing this.” – Washingtonian
Pay Cuts And Furloughs At Dallas Symphony
“Effective July 6, administrative salaries will be cut between 2.5% and 12.5%. Calling the moves ‘a very difficult decision,’ president and CEO Kim Noltemy will take a 25% pay cut. Sixteen staff positions will be furloughed.” DSO musicians will not be affected. – The Dallas Morning News
Boston Public Radio Station WBUR Lays Off 29 Staffers
Less than a week after management negotiated the first contract with newly-unionized employees, WBUR leaders announced a reorganization, which they said was made necessary by the COVID-related recession, that includes the reduction of staff numbers by more than 10% and cancellation of the nationally syndicated program Only a Game. (Similar job losses were announced this week at WBEZ in Chicago and at Minnesota Public Radio.) – Boston.com
Drive-in Performing Arts Gigs Are Catching On In The UK
“We have an extraordinary opportunity to still mount a show in a way that we fully expected to, not only without compromise, but actually potentially even with enhancements. We’re able to do things from a compliance point of view that feel like they are quite Big Brother.” – The Guardian