Today’s meritocrats still claim to get ahead through talent and effort, using means open to anyone. In practice, however, meritocracy now excludes everyone outside of a narrow elite. – The Atlantic
Tag: 08.09.19
Takis, Sculptor Known For ‘Kinetic Art’, Dead At 93
“A self-described ‘instinctive scholar,’ Takis” — né Panayiotis Vassilakis — “worked primarily in plaster and wrought iron before becoming fascinated by magnetism, electricity and sound — and how those unseen forces animate the physical world and how they might also breathe life into his artistic creations.” – The Washington Post
Literary Festivals Are Finally Making Their Mark In Africa
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, … ‘book fairs’ have been publishing industry affairs where players meet to do deals … away from the reading public. Until recently. In the last decade and a half, there has been a rise of a new kind of literary festival where writers and readers interact over their text and how it affects their lives.” – Quartz
”Apocalypse Now’ Is Not An Anti-War Film’, Says Its Director
Francis Ford Coppola: “No one wants to make a pro-war film, everyone wants to make an anti-war film. But an anti-war film, I always thought, should be … something filled with love and peace and tranquility and happiness. It shouldn’t have sequences of violence that inspire a lust for violence. Apocalypse Now has stirring scenes of helicopters attacking innocent people. That’s not anti-war.” – The Guardian
Netflix Buys A Historic Theatre In LA
Netflix prides itself on a digital-first strategy, but insiders say the multimillion-dollar deal for the streamer to buy the brick-and-mortar Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood is nearly complete, just in time to potentially showcase its films during awards season. – The Hollywood Reporter
A Reader Revitalizes Classic Books And Invents A New Publishing Company
“I got kind of tired seeing classics just for scholarly use or school use,” says the inveterate reader who became frustrated, she says, with clunky, boring or dated designs of books, which were not intended to appeal to new readers. “It’s not many publishers that have set up a classics backlist like this. It’s usually the big multinationals … they can print huge quantities of these books and warehouse them across the world. I’m just starting small.” – Toronto Star
Study: Political Values Influence Food Choices
“New research suggests that the divergent moral values underlying our polarized politics can influence our judgments even in a presumably non-partisan arena such as diet. The study finds that both liberals and conservatives perceive a food product as less healthy if the advertising pitch fails to align with their values.” – Pacific Standard
Is There A Market For Classical Music Streaming?
Anyone who’s tried to stream classical on Spotify or iTunes knows that it’s not easy. Now two new streaming services, created specifically for classical hope they’ve solved the problems. – Musical America
The Voices That Read Books To You
In New York City and Los Angeles, the country’s two capitals for audiobook work, narrators annually earn around $40,000 on average, according to Voices.com. A large publisher might pay as much as $350 per hour, but smaller publishers might pay $50 or less per hour, with the rate tied to how long they say it should take to read a certain number of pages. To make a decent return on your labor, you have to be good. – Washington Post
ASCAP And BMI Propose New Music Licensing Rules
“To help facilitate that orderly transition, and to protect both music creators and licensees alike, ASCAP and BMI are recommending four key provisions that would encompass newly formed decrees.” – Variety