“The Detroit Institute of Arts is gathering most of the media attention paid to the state’s cultural sector these days … Michigan’s other art museums appear to have capably weathered the recession.”
Tag: 08.21.13
The City Mouse Actually Is Smarter (Well, Its Brain Is Bigger) Than The Country Mouse
Groups of animals that move to cities and towns eventually end up with brains up to 6 percent bigger than those of their country relations.
How Stephen King Defines America
“At some level, Stephen King novels issued a necessary corrective to my wanton teenage materialism and overweening belief in American goodness. They did their own kind of national myth-making.”
Why Are People Mad At Publishers In The Digital Age?
“Maybe you don’t care if Jeff Bezos knows what page you’re on as long as you can save a little money, but it’s something of a shock for an independent publisher to find the room stacked against him at a book festival.”
Cairo Museum Looted During Protests
“The latest political unrest in Egypt has resulted in the theft and destruction of more than 1,000 artifacts in a museum south of Cairo, according to multiple published reports. The looting is believed to have taken place over several days starting last week.”
Massive New Baghdad Library To Anchor New Cultural District
“A vast public library planned for Baghdad will be the centerpiece of a new culture hub under an ambitious new masterplan driven by the Iraqi Ministry of Youth and Sport.”
Plea: Let’s Have A More Comprehensive Debate About The Humanities
“As the liquidation of philosophy, theater, and foreign-language departments makes clear, the humanities face immediate existential peril. But the sciences must confront moral and philosophical risks.”
Getting To Know The Real Marian McPartland
“On the radio, Marian is self-deprecating, gracious and genteel, but in person she could be imperious, demanding, highly critical – sometimes even derisive and mean – and certainly not shy about sharing what was on her mind. Her conversational style was combative.”
Here’s A Switch: England Risks Losing Acting Talent To Scotland
“England risks a ‘talent drain’ of artists taking advantage of a more welcoming Scottish funding and political climate, Laurie Sansom, the artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland, has warned.”
Are Solzhenitsyn’s Books Banned At Gitmo?
“The British prisoners’ rights group Reprieve has issued a statement accusing authorities at Guantánamo Bay of blocking the delivery [to a long-term detainee] of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Soviet-era classic The Gulag Archipelago.”