Some fear that the raft of cancellations at this moment of war and tragedy is limiting opportunities to foster dialogue and greater understanding. Read more
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Category: Miscellaneous
On the Ending of a Literary Journal
John Freeman Says Goodbye to Freeman’s. Read more
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The 100 Greatest Film Books of All Time
The Hollywood Reporter’s list of must-read tomes — determined by a jury of more than 300 Hollywood heavyweights including Steven Spielberg, David Zaslav, Liza Minnelli and Ava DuVernay — proves there’s one topic the supposedly reading-averse industry can’t get enough of: itself. Read more
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TV’s Top Shows are on Hold. These 10 Books are Replacement Therapy.
With no deal (so far) to end the strikes that have shut down Hollywood, many of your favorite shows, not to mention must-see events like the Emmys, are on hold. Which means you may be looking elsewhere for diversion. Read more
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How WPA State Guides Fused the Essential and the Eccentric
New Jersey is a typical entry in the FWP’s American Guides series, published during the late 1930s and early ’40s. The series comprises shaggy biographies of all the then 48 states; pick one at random and you’ll find a smorgasbord of history, legends, jokes, industrial data, social analysis, epitaphs, old letters, old newspaper clippings, old diaries, ghost stories, dubious tales, and half-forgotten anecdotes. You’ll find handsome line illustrations alongside photographs of houses and monuments and people at work. You’ll find scattered, subtle reports on how people were sustaining themselves through the Depression and how New Deal policies were reshaping the country. You’ll find a little practical advice for travelers and a lot of information whose purpose is more obscure. You’ll find a guidebook that seems, itself, to have wandered off and gotten lost. Read more
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Red States Quit Nation’s Oldest Library Group Amid Culture War Over Books
The American Library Association is facing a partisan firefight unlike anything in its almost 150-year history. The once-uncontroversial organization, which says it is the world’s largest and oldest library association and which provides funding, training and tools to most of the country’s 123,000 libraries, has become entangled in the education culture wars — the raging debates over what and how to teach about race, sex and gender… Read more
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AI-Created Art Isn’t Copyrightable, Federal Judge Rules
A federal judge on Friday upheld a finding from the U.S. Copyright Office that a piece of art created by AI is not open to protection. Read more
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The Ritual of Rearranging Your Books
Take the books off the shelves. Dust them, thumb through them, find yourself surprised about what you do and don’t remember. Line them up however you like—by size, by color, by author, by vibes—and then, when everything you’ve read is sorted, tackle the real challenge. The unread books… Read more
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Want to Feel Close to Your Favorite Writer? Spend the Night in Their Home
Across the country, a few former homes of writers are opening their doors to private guests — some even letting fans stay the night. Here’s where you can check in, and maybe by the morning, feel a little closer to literary genius. Read more
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Henrietta Lacks’ Family Settles Lawsuit with Biotech Company That Used Her Cells Without Consent
More than 70 years after doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells without her knowledge, a lawyer for her descendants said they have reached a settlement with a biotechnology company that they accused of reaping billions of dollars from a racist medical system. Tissue taken from the Black woman’s tumor before she died of cervical cancer became the first human cells to continuously grow and reproduce in lab dishes. HeLa cells went on to become a cornerstone of modern medicine, enabling countless scientific and medical innovations, including the development of the polio vaccine, genetic mapping and even COVID-19 vaccines. Read more
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