Max Richter, giving Auden pride of place in his Recomposed Four Seasons headshot. (The album is very good.) 🎶📚
“The Technocrat’s Dilemma” is as concise a framing of our current “misinformation” crisis as we’re likely to get: “The technocratic response to misinformation and conspiracy theory only exacerbates the problem and further validates the most extreme reactions.” 🔗
I basically agree with Gruber’s take on Netflix: Netflix would be better-served by focusing more on quality, less on quantity.
But that raises a question Gruber’s not too interested in exploring (and I’m not really, either, if I’m honest!): what is “quality”? 🔗📺
I relished Roy Foster’s Conversation with Tyler on Irish history, economics, and culture. I read Foster’s Modern Ireland years ago, and I’m eager now to read his books on Yeats and Heaney. 📚 🔗 🎧
“We’re moving towards disaster, guided by a false image of the world; and no one realizes.”
~ Michel Houellebecq, from an excellent profile by Justin E.H. Smith 🔗📚
Glad to see a third-party candidate enter the MN governor’s race. I don’t expect I’ll agree with the whole platform. But I agree with the principle: our current parties are broken beyond repair. 🔗🗳
Put the Oscars out of their misery 🔗 🎞
Most of the ceremonies feature flickers of genuine emotion amid hours of sanctimonious, self-serving or scolding speeches. ~“Opinion: Put the Oscars Out of Their Misery” Yes. Oddly, this op-ed doesn’t touch on the main reason to get rid of awards shows: we don’t have any agreed-upon aesthetic standards for deciding what’s deserving of awards—so what’s the point? My rule would be that you’re only allowed to hold an awards ceremony if Ricky Gervais hosts it.
The world needs more Cavafy 📚
On the absurd counter-productivity of cancelling Russian culture. 🔗
The last thing we need is to assume that once we are confident in our position, there is no more thinking to be done.
In order for people to use social media responsibly—i.e., not get addicted—we essentially have to use these platforms in ways that they were not designed to be used.