Opera Is *Not* Too Posh And Exclusive, And If You Think It Is, It’s Your Own Damn Fault, Says Opera Boss

“I continue to argue incessantly with people who claim opera is for the rich, unattainable, impenetrable, elitist and from a parallel universe,” writes Michael Volpe, general director of London’s Opera Holland Park. “I swear and shout and stamp my feet – well, I used to, but I stopped doing that because it doesn’t work.”

The Memory Lane In Your Brain Has A Three-Way Fork

“There are things you remember, and there are things you remember well. Even if you can recall a past event, your memories will vary considerably in how much detail they contain, and how correct those details are. In an elegant experiment, a team of neuroscientists … [at] Cambridge have shown that these aspects of our memories – our success at recalling them, their precision, and their vividness – depend on three different parts of the brain.”

Now *This* Is A Public Service: Cairo Bookstore Provides Room Where Customers Can Go To Scream

“Visitors to a bookshop in Cairo are being invited into a dark, soundproof room to scream at the top of their lungs in an effort to relieve their frustrations and escape from the stresses of daily life. The new ‘scream room’ is tucked away in the “The World’s Door” [Bab Aldounia] bookshop and is also equipped with a full drum kit allowing customers to let go of their worries.” (includes video)

Prado Mounts Its First Show Ever Dedicated To A Female Artist (It Only Took 197 Years)

The Art of Clara Peeters, which travels from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, is a display of 15 still-lifes by one of the few women to work as a professional painter in 17th-century Europe. The Flemish artist is among just 41 women to be represented in the Spanish museum’s permanent collection (compared with more than 5,000 men).”

From Joe Friday To Dirty Harry: How Pop Culture’s Cops Turned Away From, And On, Their Communities

“As Andy Taylor [of Mayberry] became even more anachronistic, a fantasy of policing as it never really was, he was replaced by successive generations of cops who gradually came to occupy a separate, hermetically sealed sphere. Pop culture may not have predicted our current [Black Lives Matter] moment, but it captured the disconnectedness and animosity that define our discussions about how policing should work.”

What Happens When You Mix Classical Music And Electronica? It’s A Bit Confusing

“There was a disconnect to Mercury Soul that couldn’t be solved, no matter how clean the cross-fade between DJ and orchestra. The audience was entreated to dance to standard-issue house music and pedestrian pop fare (“Billie Jean,” Prince’s “Controversy”), but only for 15 minutes at a time. Meanwhile, Roumain shredded on his violin — impressive and novel, certainly, but not particularly conducive to dancing. There were also conflicting codes of conduct — the audience didn’t know exactly when to applaud, clap along to the beat or talk among themselves.”

Museum Of Contemporary Art San Diego Turns 75 And Announces Huge Expansion

“The expansion, which will double the size of the museum to a total of 102,000 square feet — including galleries, administrative areas and other public spaces — will finally allow MCASD to show its collection in a permanent way. (Currently the museum has only 10,000 square feet of gallery space, which allows for the display of only one exhibition at a time.)”