Hollywood screenwriters have gone on strike. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) seeks higher pay, upfront fees from streaming services, better working conditions and reassurance that studios won’t use artificial intelligence programs to generate scripts. The last WGA strike, 15 years ago, led to permanent changes in the entertainment landscape, such as the rise of...
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Academy Survey Shows Generation Z Adults Are Unfamiliar with Sunburn and Tanning Risks
A recent American Academy of Dermatology survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults revealed that many Generation Z adults, ages 18-25, are unaware of the risks associated with overexposure to the sun and believe tanning myths. In recognition of Skin Cancer Awareness Month this May, the AAD encourages everyone to practice safe sun to protect...
The Voting Rights Act’s Impact on Black Representation in Local Government
When the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965, it didn’t just enfranchise Black voters in the American South. It also led to greater representation of Black lawmakers in local government, according to a new paper published in the April 2023 issue of the Journal of Political Economy. In “Race, Representation, and Local Governments...
‘When the Pictures on the Walls of Paris Bar Begin to Speak.’
German playwright Heiner Müller once dubbed Paris Bar the ‘hell of Berlin bars.’ Müller lived in the Communist East, but had documents that allowed him to pass between East and West when the Berlin Wall still divided the city. In the 1980s, he was a regular at Kantstrasse 152. Then as now, Paris Bar felt...
Sudan’s Plunge into Chaos Has Geopolitical Implications near and Far – Including for U.S. Strategic Goals
The sight of diplomats fleeing Sudan amid chaotic scenes reflects the gravity of the situation, but also the extent of international interest in the strife-torn nation. Days into fighting that has left at least 400 people dead, governments from across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas evacuated nationals – teachers, students and workers,...
Raw Materials, or Sacred Beings? Lithium Extraction Puts Two Worldviews into Tension
Located in the heart of South America, Bolivia contains the largest lithium deposits in the world – an enviable position, in many countries’ eyes, as the market for electric vehicles takes off. Though EVs emit fewer greenhouse gases than fuel-powered vehicles, their batteries require more minerals – especially lithium, which is also used to make...
What Socrates’ ‘Know Nothing’ Wisdom Can Teach a Polarized America
A common complaint in America today is that politics and even society as a whole are broken. Critics point out endless lists of what should be fixed: the complexity of the tax code, or immigration reform, or the inefficiency of government. But each dilemma usually comes down to polarized deadlock between two competing visions and...
In ‘Air,’ Michael Jordan’s Silence Speaks Volumes About the Marketing of Black Athletes
The film “Air,” which tells the story of Nike’s signing of Michael Jordan, isn’t actually about Michael Jordan at all. It’s about the beauty of design and the seduction of marketing. It’s about power suits, purple Porsches and Rolexes. It’s about white men languishing through midlife crises who salivate over the branding potential of a...
Generative AI is Forcing People to Rethink What It Means to Be Authentic
It turns out that pop stars Drake and The Weeknd didn’t suddenly drop a new track that went viral on TikTok and YouTube in April 2023. The photograph that won an international photography competition that same month wasn’t a real photograph. And the image of Pope Francis sporting a Balenciaga jacket that appeared in March...
Art World Legend Jeffrey Deitch on Vanessa Beecroft and Kim Kardashian
For the fifth installment of Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou’s series of interviews on iconic exhibitions in commercial galleries, the curator-duo talk to gallerist Jeffrey Deitch about the Vanessa Beecroft performance that launched his New York gallery in 1996. Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou: You launched your gallery on Grand Street in New York in 1996 with a celebrated performance...









