| Feb 14 | A Right-Wing Mayor Opens Museums In France Despite National Restric... Not that left-wing art-lovers can’t sympathize (and a socialist mayor in another town is planning to defy the national orders as well), but … well, honestly? This is another seemingly bizarre restriction. A member of the Louvre’s... |
| Feb 14 | Malls And Nail Salons Are Open, But Not Museums? Dear Gavin Newsom, this makes no sense at all. Signed, a lot of LACMA and other art-lovers in California. Weirdly: “LACMA can open its Resnick Pavilion gift shop but not the galleries within the same Resnick Pavilion — even though the two sh... |
| Feb 12 | Why Some Are Inclined To Be Seduced By Conspiracy Theories In the face of complicated events, bewildering new technologies, and sometimes contradictory information, the explanatory power of some occult yet totalizing narrative easily overmasters more prosaic explanations of the world. To those in thrall t... |
| Feb 12 | Dramatic Stone Henge Discovery In Wales Suggests Irish History Its diameter of 110m is identical to the ditch that encloses Stonehenge, and it is aligned on the midsummer solstice sunrise, just like the Wiltshire monument. A series of buried stone holes that follow the circle’s outline has been unearthed, wit... |
| Feb 12 | A Norwegian Book Festival Becomes 12 Global Festivals “One of the things I wasn’t thinking about, but which is very obvious to me now, is the great value of having each festival stage exactly what they would like to present. This has brought in a richness I couldn’t have dreamt of.” ̵... |
| Feb 12 | Getting Behind The Real Tom Stoppard Sir Tom occasionally shades into Saint Tom, thanks to a notably ample collection of friends who remark on his generosity and kindness. He remembers birthdays, he lends money when others are in need, his wit always beguiles. He is an unstoppable co... |
| Feb 12 | Pennsylvania Governor Proposes Zeroing Out Funds For Public TV The state has issued $750,000 to seven stations annually since 2019. The funding, which is divided evenly among the stations, supports technology needs and operating expenses. It also covers program-related fees, production and distribution costs,... |
| Feb 12 | Needed: A Philosophical Means Of Regarding Technology We live in a technopoly, a society in which powerful technologies come to dominate the people they are supposed to serve, and reshape us in their image. These technologies, therefore, might be called prescriptive or manipulatory. For example, soci... |
| Feb 12 | Empty Movie Theaters Are Being Rented Out To Video Gamers The cinema chain Malco has been doing this in six Southern states since November, and the South Korean chain CGV started it in January. With prices for a small group of players running around $100 for two hours, it’s not close to making up f... |
| Feb 12 | Do We Have The Will To Stop Invention Of A Doomsday Device? What we haven’t pulled out yet is a black ball: a technology that invariably destroys the civilisation that invents it. That’s not because we’ve been particularly careful or wise when it comes to innovation. We’ve just been lucky. But what if ther... |