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☆ The Lascivious, Decades-Long History Behind That Calvin Klein Ad
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Soraya Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Calvin Klein has always trafficked in high and low — in classic all-American athleticism, shot through with an untethered primal lust. Some other Calvin Klein ads fail to have the same friction, the right wrongness. There are faintly fascistic undertones in the form Calvin Klein valorizes. (How surprising is it that Calvin Klein has worked with the estate of the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who used his models to engage the viewer sexually?) ?” — as though a touch of discomfort isn’t precisely what creates a hit Calvin Klein ad.

Persons: “ I’m, I’m, ”, Calvin Klein, Brooke Shields, Mark Wahlberg —, Marky Mark, peekaboo, —, Justin Bieber, Jacob Elordi’s, Kate Moss’s, Calvin Klein valorizes, Leni Riefenstahl’s “, sleaze, Dominic Fike, Travis Fimmel, Robert Mapplethorpe, Wahlberg, Bieber, White, Jamie Dornan’s, Jeremy Allen, Ayo Edibiri, incredulously — Organizations: Stone, Golden Globe Locations: The, Chicago

☆ John Kerry, the US climate envoy, to leave the Biden administration
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, is stepping down from the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans. Kerry, a longtime senator and secretary of state, was tapped shortly after Joe Biden's November 2020 election to take on the new role created specifically to fight climate change on behalf of the administration on the global stage. "John Kerry's tireless work to deliver global progress on the climate crisis has been heroic," former Vice President Al Gore, who has focused primarily on climate in his post-public office life, said in a statement Saturday. While his gravitas has made him a central climate figure around the world, Kerry also has strong critics who argue America's climate policies don't amount to leadership in fighting global warming. The Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate law in U.S. history, is pumping billions of dollars into renewable energies.

Persons: — John Kerry, Biden, Joe Biden's, Axios, Kerry, Obama, Han Zheng, John Kerry's, Al Gore Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Senate Foreign Relations, Massachusetts, Senate, Democratic Locations: Kerry, Paris, Beijing, Pacific, United States, COP27, Egypt, U.S

Jesse Green’s Best Theater | Unforgettable ExperiencesJESSE GREENYear of the DramedyIf 2023 was a tragedy in the world, on New York stages it was a dramedy year, highlighted not only by serious plays with great jokes, but also by flat-out comedies with dark underpinnings. Its residents included an unemployed man in his 50s, his barely-holding-on mother, a pregnant woman, two refugees — and us. Seated adjacent to the facility’s dingy common room, we became, in the playwright’s own staging, fellow residents. But if the others eyed us like we might steal a precious sandwich, we could blithely leave when the play was over. The New York Theater Workshop audience, too, learned a great deal, as the questions bedeviling so many relationships — the complexity of consent and the meaning of control — played out before us in this perfectly timed hot-button play.

Persons: Jesse Green’s, Alexander Zeldin, ”, Henrik Ibsen, Jessica Chastain, Nora, Jamie Lloyd’s, Amy Herzog, Chastain, Liliana Padilla, —, gorgeously, Rachel Chavkin, Steph Paul Organizations: Armory, Zeldin, bros, New York Locations: New York, York City, Norway, New York City

NEW YORK (AP) — Colman Domingo has a commanding physical presence, an expressive face and soulful eyes. His performance in George C. Wolfe's “Rustin" — Domingo's first time atop the call sheet — has made the 53-year-old journeyman actor a favorite for a best actor Oscar nomination. Though celebrated — Colman shared in an Obie award for ensemble — once the play closed, Domingo found himself bartending again. “I would be talking with Mark Rickler the production designer, ‘Oh, Colman could do that.’ Part of my brain would go, ‘Oh, Colman could do that,’' recalls Wolfe. “And she clutches her heart and says, ‘Oh, Colman.’ And then we started hiking again.”___Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

Persons: — Colman Domingo, Bravo’s “ Zola, Bayard Rustin, “ Rustin, ”, Steven Spielberg’s “, Domingo, isn’t, ” Domingo, “, There’s, George C, Wolfe's “ Rustin, —, Oscar, It’s, I’ve, “ Rustin ”, Michelle Obama, Domingo’s, he’s, wasn’t, I’m, Blitz Bazawule, “ Colman, Bogart, Daniel, Colman, Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr, Rachelle Horowitz, ‘, ’ ” Domingo, — Colman, bartending, Donna Summer, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah, Tony, Victor Strand, Barry Jenkins, Beale, “ Zola ”, ‘ Zola, ’, Janicza Bravo, ’ Wolfe, “ Ma, Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Cutler, Mark Rickler, ‘ Oh, Oh, Wolfe, Winfrey, Ava DuVernay’s, “ Selma ”, Jake Coyle Organizations: Productions, Temple University, Netflix, Public Theater, Broadway, Scottsboro Boys, Bravo, Hollywood Locations: “, Steven Spielberg’s “ Lincoln, Philadelphia, wasn’t, Washington, Manhattan, Central, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Domingo, Hawaii

☆ House Speaker Mike Johnson Is Not a Serious Person - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( David Firestone | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

But then he imposed a condition on the Israel money: Mr. Biden must agree to cut the same amount out of the money the Internal Revenue Service uses to chase down high-income tax cheats. Earlier this year, Republicans forced Mr. Biden to cut $20 billion from the I.R.S. cut isn’t really going to happen, as House Republicans know, because Mr. Johnson’s bill will die in the Senate, where many leading Republicans already oppose it. cut, he gets to show the same extremists who deposed his predecessor that he can play rough with the White House. If Mr. Johnson has substantive objections to helping Ukraine and Israel that justify the legislative impediments he is constructing, he should state what they are.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson’s, he’s, Biden, Mr, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham of, ” Mr, Graham, “, Mitt Romney, Joe Wilson of, He’s, Ritchie Torres, Axios, Johnson, Thomas Friedman Organizations: Republican House, Internal Revenue Service, Israel, Republican, Republicans, Treasury, Congressional Budget, National Bureau of Economic Research, Senate, Ukraine, Hamas, White, Democrats, Democrat, West Bank, Palestinian Authority Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, U.S, Nottingham, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Moscow, Utah, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, New York, Gaza, West

☆ Opinion: Uncomfortable reality for Biden
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. He didn’t live to see the allies’ victory in World War II that year or the conference in San Francisco that month that established the United Nations. But his diplomatic efforts to meet with Arab leaders came undone after a devastating explosion at a hospital in Gaza. Biden himself initially supported the US 2003 war in Iraq only to end up as the president who ordered the US pullout of Afghanistan. “This is the politics that Donald Trump’s rhetoric has wrought among his supporters in the Republican Party,” wrote Avlon.

Persons: Franklin D, Roosevelt, Joe Biden, FDR, “, ” Biden, Steve Breen, GoComics.com Biden, Seth Moulton, ”, David Petraeus, ‘, Petraeus, Moulton, Shmuel Rosner, “ Israel, Biden, David Mark, Donald Trump, Gaza Hani Almadhoun, ” Yasmine Mohammed, Will Heath, Pete Davidson, Dean Obeidallah, Davidson, ” Obeidallah, ” Wadea, Khaled, Wadea’s, Mukesh Kapila, Frida Ghitis, Nicole Hemmer, Michael, Peter Bergen, Israel, ” Bergen, “ Khaled Hroub, ’, ” Hroub, what’s, ” Jim Jordan flunks, Nick Anderson, Jim Jordan, Julian Zelizer, “ Jordan, MAGA, Trump, shutdowns, Jordan, —, ” Zelizer, ” John Avlon, Jake Tapper, Donald Trump’s, Utah Sen, Mitt Romney, Cupp, Bill Bramhall, Trump Sidney Powell, Powell “, Jennifer Rodgers, ” Clay Jones, Kenneth Chesebro, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jack Smith, Trump’s, Jill Filipovic, “ It’s, …, Don’t, Scott Stantis, David Goldblatt, Amy Bass, Mary Lou Retton, Amy Klein, Glock, homebuyers Holly Thomas, Frasier ’, Richie Hofmann, Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Niro, DiCaprio, Scorsese, David Grann’s, White, Noah Berlatsky, “ Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UN, Arab, Marine Corps, Democratic, Twitter, Facebook, Republican, Capitol, United Nations Relief, Works Agency, “, NBC, New York City, World Trade, Chicago, Hamas, Tribune, Trump, Tea Party, Republican Party, GOP, Utah, Republicans, Agency, White Locations: Warm Springs , Georgia, San Francisco, United, United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, China, Ukraine, Israel, America, Gaza, What’s, Massachusetts, Iraq, “ Israel, Afghanistan, Iraqi, Najaf, Iran, Lebanon, ”, New, Geneva, Palestinian, Fulton County , Georgia, Hollywood, Oklahoma

☆ Opinion: Amid Israel-Gaza war, Biden speech caps a good week for him, a bad week for the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Gary Cotton | Opinion David Mark | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Whatever effect they have on the diplomatic front, Biden’s Israel trip and Thursday night prime time television address can only help his reelection efforts at this point, especially if he faces Trump. Some Republicans even offered grudging praise for Biden’s Israel trip. Of course, many prominent conservatives still found grounds for panning the Democratic president. According to Gallup, Democratic support for Israel has been sliding for years. Voters for now are giving Biden reasonably good reviews for his handling of both Israel and Ukraine.

Persons: David Mark, “, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Biden, Donald Trump, Capitol Hill, he’d, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden’s, Tim Burchett, ” Biden, ”, Brit Hume, Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Laura Ingraham, ’ ” Ingraham, Nor, Israel, Trump, Clinton, Obama, George W, Bush Organizations: Washington, CNN, Democratic, Republican, Capitol, Russia, Trump, Wednesday, Air Force, Republicans, ” Fox News, Florida Gov, Fox News, Israel, Gallup, CBS, Quinnipiac University, Israel Democratic Locations: Hurricane, Northeast, Tel Aviv, Ukraine, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Delaware, Biden’s, Gaza, Egypt, Washington, DC, El Al, Biden’s Israel, Tennessee, South Carolina

☆ After 47 Years, the Emerson Quartet Has One More Weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Zachary Woolfe | More About Zachary Woolfe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“The sound, the gravitas, the way they treat each other is so beautiful,” the soprano Barbara Hannigan, an Emerson collaborator, said in an interview. I’ve never seen any tension between them. Listening to the Guarneri Quartet, younger but already august, the Emerson took on a polished, burnished, sheerly beautiful tone. (For certain listeners, on certain nights, that beauty could tip into blandness.) “But there was the greatness of the repertoire for string quartet.

Persons: Barbara Hannigan, Emerson, “, I’ve, Guarneri, ” Drucker, Dutton, David Finckel, Finckel, Paul Watkins Organizations: Juilliard Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Locations: blandness

☆ Helen Garner Keeps ‘Paradise Lost’ and a Bible Close at Hand
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Urn Burial,” by Sir Thomas Browne, “Paradise Lost,” by John Milton, the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. What’s the last great book you read? “Party Going,” by Henry Green (1939). In fact Henry Green might be my favorite writer of all time. Can a great book be badly written?

Persons: Sir Thomas Browne, John Milton, King James Bible, James Baldwin, Henry Green Organizations: “ Locations: London

☆ Burt Young, ‘Rocky’ Actor Who Played Complex Tough Guys, Dies at 83
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Alex Williams | More About Alex Williams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Burt Young, a burly Queens-bred actor who leveraged a weary gravitas and bare-knuckled demeanor to build a prolific career as a Hollywood tough guy in films like “Chinatown,” “Once Upon a Time in America” and, most notably, “Rocky,” for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, died on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles. With his bulldog build and his doleful countenance, Mr. Young amassed more than 160 film and television credits. He often played a mob boss, a street-smart detective or a bedraggled working man. But even when he played a villain, he was no mere heavy. Despite his background as a Marine and a professional boxer, Mr. Young brought layers of complexity to his work.

Persons: Burt Young, “, Anne Morea Steingieser, Young, . Young, Lee Strasberg, Sam Peckinpah, James Caan, Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw Organizations: “ Convoy Locations: Queens, Hollywood, America, Los Angeles

☆ Netflix and others have pulled back on hard-hitting documentaries as streamers seek more true crime and 'nothing too political'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"Beyond Utopia" attracted interest at Sundance from streamers like Amazon's Prime Video and Netflix. Interest peaked four years ago at the Sundance Film Festival, fueled by Amazon and Netflix, which paid a record $10 million for the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doc "Knock Down the House." In the crime realm, WME advised, Netflix was seeking films based on big, well-known cases and scams like "Dahmer" and "Tinder Swindler." Filmmakers point to streamers' self-censorship and 'cold feet' over sensitive topicsSome filmmakers said there are still champions at the streamers for documentaries that push the envelope. "Beyond Utopia" is among a number of recent films that have been snubbed by the big streamers, despite winning awards and buzz.

Persons: Madeleine Gavin, It'll, It's, Gavin, Hulu, Peter Broderick, Hulu didn't, Sundance fests, Broderick, WME, Dahmer, Ted Hope, Hope, Vanessa Hope, Taiwan's, he'd've, Oscar, Bryan Fogel, Jamal Khashoggi, Thom Powers, it's, Keith Ochwat, Ochwat Organizations: Sundance, Netflix, PBS, Sundance Film, Amazon, Alexandria, Paradigm Consulting, Amazon Prime, Apple, Hulu, Hollywood, Gravitas Ventures, & $ Locations: Joy, Congo, arthouses, Hulu, China, Park City, Syria, Russian, Ukraine, Venice

☆ Feinstein's death poses two big questions for US Senate Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Filling the 90-year-old lawmaker's seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee touches one of the most critical levers of partisan power in Washington and will require cooperation from Republicans. "There is simply nobody who possessed the poise, gravitas and fierceness of Dianne Feinstein," Newsom said. JUDICIARY VACANCYFeinstein's death leaves a 10-10 deadlock on the Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of reviewing presidential nominations to federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. With the Republican-controlled House blocking most attempts at bipartisan legislation, the Democratic Senate has focused this year on approving Democratic President Joe Biden's judicial nominees. Senate Republicans said on Friday they do not intend to contest a move to replace Feinstein on the committee after her death.

Persons: Dianne Feinstein, Gavin Newsom, Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, Schumer, NEWSOM Newsom, Newsom, Representative Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Joe Biden's, Biden, That's, Donald Trump's, Republican Mitch McConnell, Barack Obama's, Antonin Scalia, Richard Cowan, Patricia Zengerle, Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: U.S . Senate, Capitol, California Democratic, Republicans, Democrats, Democratic Party, Democrat, Republican, Democratic, Liberal U.S, Representative, U.S, Committee, Supreme, Democratic Senate, Thomson Locations: Washington, WASHINGTON, U.S, California

☆ Dianne Feinstein, California’s longest-serving senator, dies at 90
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

watch nowU.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has died at age 90, her office confirmed Friday. Senator Feinstein was a force of nature who made an incredible impact on our country and her home state," her chief of staff James Sauls said in a statement. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in the Senate subway on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., May 11, 2022. "There is simply nobody who possessed the poise, gravitas, and fierceness of Dianne Feinstein." American politician Dianne Feinstein, her arms outstretched in celebration, in her office after she was elected mayor of San Francisco, at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, California, circa 1978.

Persons: Sen, Dianne Feinstein, Feinstein, James Sauls, Gavin Newsom, Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, Kent Nishimura, Newsom, Jennifer, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi, Joe Biden, Dianne, Jill, Biden, George Moscone, Harvey Milk, Dan White, Francisco's, John O'Hara, Weeks, Barbara Boxer, Bill Clinton, George W, Bush, Nick Allen Organizations: California, Democrat, Senate, Gov, Washington , D.C, Los Angeles Times, Getty, San, Supervisors, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, U.S . Senate, Democratic, San Francisco City Hall Locations: California, Washington ,, San Francisco, San Francisco's, American, San Francisco , California

☆ Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California dies at age 90
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

California Senator Dianne Feinstein died Thursday night. She was the first woman mayor of San Francisco and the first woman to represent California in the US Senate. "Senator Feinstein never backed away from a fight for what was just and right," the statement said. Senator Feinstein was a force of nature who made an incredible impact on our country and her home state," it continued. Feinstein became the first woman mayor of San Francisco in 1978, after former city supervisor Dan White assassinated then Mayor George Moscone.

Persons: Dianne Feinstein, Feinstein, —, Nancy Pelosi, Dan White, George Moscone, White, Harvey Milk, Gavin Newsom, CALmatters, " Feinstein, Sen, Rashida Tlaib Organizations: Service, Senate, California Gov, Intelligence, intel, Democrats, Republicans Locations: California, San Francisco, Washington ,, San

☆ Max Gomez, Longtime TV Medical Reporter, Dies at 72
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Richard Sandomir | More About Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Max Gomez, an award-winning medical and science journalist who delivered informed reports for more than 40 years on TV stations in New York and Philadelphia, most recently during the Covid-19 pandemic, died on Sept. 2 at his home in Manhattan. His partner, Amy Levin, said the cause was head and neck cancer, with which he had been diagnosed four years ago. One of his reports on Alzheimer’s disease focused on his father, a physician, who was swindled as his memory abandoned him. Dr. Gomez had been chief medical correspondent at WCBS, Channel 2, in New York City since 2007 and made his last appearance there in March 2022. He also worked at WNBC, Channel 4, and WNEW, Channel 5 (now WNYW), as well as KYW, Channel 3, in Philadelphia.

Persons: Max Gomez, Amy Levin, Dr, Max, ”, Gomez Organizations: WCBS, WNBC, WNEW, KYW Locations: New York, Philadelphia, Manhattan, New York City

☆ I'm the former VP of HR at Microsoft. I've met a few outstanding leaders in my 40-year career — and they almost all had these 4 traits.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Chris Williams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's worth noting the difference in phrasing I'm using here: bad managers vs. great leaders. They may have the title, but all the best work gets done when everyone works together — themselves included. The best leaders make everything all about the objective — not about titles and rank, not about you or me, but about the shared goal. Great leaders work hard to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Here, too, great leaders recognize the power of their positions.

Persons: Chris Williams, Williams, I've, —, who's, isn't, Patience, they've, Candor, they're Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Navy, Team, asker Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Have You Met My Collaborator? He’s So Classic, He’s Dead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Jesse Green | More About Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

On Broadway, Off Broadway, in special events and out of town, living authors are collaborating with dead ones. Some otherwise viable shows, like “Annie Get Your Gun,” need surgery because their racial or gender assumptions are now unacceptable. Others, like “Show Boat,” are merely falling out of copyright, with heirs eager to find a way to remonetize their property. And some — well one — are “Here We Are,” the musical Stephen Sondheim was working on when he died in November 2021. Directed by Joe Mantello and with a book by the comic playwright David Ives, it will reflect a very unusual collaboration indeed.

Persons: Amber Ruffin, Oz, Richard LaGravenese, Daniel Koa Beaty, John O’Hara’s, “ Pal Joey ”, Rodgers, Hart, John Weidman’s revisal, Annie, Stephen Sondheim, Michael Paulson, Sondheim, Luis Buñuel, ”, Joe Mantello, David Ives

☆ Opinion | Winners and Losers of the First Republican Debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +22 min

Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for the first Republican presidential primary candidate debate, held in Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Gail Collins: She seemed generally reasonable and wow, when the debate turned to education and she actually brought up reading. If there’s any life left in the old G.O.P., Haley gave it hope. Perhaps more important, in taking on the glib and callow Ramaswamy on Ukraine, she showed anger and dominance, essential qualities in a Republican debate. Any debate that doesn’t feature Chris Christie at the front of the highlight reel is a bad night for Christie.

Persons: Jamelle, Nikki Haley, Haley, Gail Collins, Matthew Continetti, G.O.P, Michelle Cottle, —, Trump —, Ramaswamy, suburbanites, Ross Douthat, David French, Reagan, Michelle Goldberg, callow Ramaswamy, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Katherine Mangu, Christie, “ Trump, “ Donald Trump, Daniel McCarthy, Vivek, Bret Stephens, Mike Pence’s, Mike Pence, Pence, Mike, Vivek ”, Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump, ”, he’ll, Jesus, Ramaswamy —, ChatGPT —, you’ve, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, He’s, Joe Biden, Martha MacCallum, Ron DeSantis, Hunter Biden, DeSantis, Donald Trump, MAGA, pander, smartly, Sharp, Biden, refighting, Ron, Hutchinson, clearheaded, Still, Scott, Tim Scott, Meh, ” Daniel McCarthy, Pleasant, Donald Trump’s, wasn’t, I’d, Ramaswamy’s, callow, I’m, insufferable, Preening, Doug Burgum, Achilles, Burgum, he’s, Asa Hutchinson, Trump’s, Asa Hutchinson didn’t, didn’t Organizations: Republican, Republican Party, Trump, Ramaswamy, Pence, Pious, Trump Republicans, MSNBC, Fox, Department of Justice, United Nations, Energy, Department of Education, Republicans Locations: Milwaukee, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ukraine, America, Mexico, Florida, Covid, China, MAGA, Arkansas

☆ A Los Angeles Home That Channels the Magic of ‘Fantasia’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Max Berlinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

By her own admission, the actor Anastasia Graff is a maximalist who loves “girlie things,” so it’s not altogether surprising that she wanted a periwinkle kitchen for her 1930s-era West Hollywood home. Still, such a bold choice could send some interior designers into a tailspin. Clad in white-painted wood siding with a wide porch, it had appealed to Graff because it reminded her of the traditional wooden homes on the East Coast, where she grew up. But it didn’t hurt that the place is part of local lore: It once belonged to the Russian-born composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky, who lived in Los Angeles from 1940 to 1969, while he conducted the L.A. Philharmonic both downtown and at the Hollywood Bowl. “You realize in Los Angeles, there’s a story behind every house,” says Graff.

Persons: Anastasia Graff, “, ”, Frances Merrill, Graff, ” Merrill, Igor Stravinsky, Merrill, gravitas, there’s, Marilyn Monroe’s Organizations: Hollywood Locations: East Coast, Russian, Los Angeles

☆ Why TV news executives are having a brutal year in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

In his place, CBS announced Monday that Wendy McMahon will be chief executive and president of CBS News, the network’s local stations, and CBS Media Ventures. The formidable task is reflective of the extraordinary challenges traditional media outlets are facing amid a period of rapid and existential change to their business models and advertising woes. Increasingly, there is no longer a single powerful media executive tasked with solving for the less-than-ideal set of circumstances. The industry veteran noted that there is less of a focus on making splashy — perhaps at times risky — moves to build for the future among the C-suite ranks. Instead, there is a mounting emphasis on slashing costs to best position the mammoth media companies for the inevitable decline of linear television.

Persons: CNN — It’s, Chris Licht, Noah Oppenheim, Kim Godwin, Bob Iger, Suzanne Scott, Neeraj Khemlani, I’m, Wendy McMahon, Ingrid Ciprian, Matthews, Helming, yesteryear, ”, “ Organizations: CNN, NBC News, ABC, Fox News, Voting, CBS News, CBS, CBS Media Ventures, GOP

☆ A New Role for Werner Herzog: the Voice of A.I. Poetry
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Joseph Bernstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If artificial intelligence had a voice, what would it sound like? Calm, like HAL 9000? For the editors of “I Am Code: An Artificial Intelligence Speaks,” a collection of poems generated by A.I., the answer was obvious: Werner Herzog. The 80-year-old German director, actor and author is a titan of independent cinema whose films often concern the hubris and folly of humankind. His speaking voice, known to audiences mostly through the stark, literary voice-over narration that accompanies many of his documentaries, carries an existential pathos and Teutonic gravitas that have made it a pop culture trademark.

Persons: Werner Herzog, Brent Katz, Josh Morgenthau, Simon Rich, Herzog Organizations: HAL, Artificial Intelligence

☆ Liz Kingsman Is Doing a One-Woman Show (Without Kit Harington)
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Elisabeth Vincentelli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pair sat down for some hummus and a doggy biscuit at a West Village restaurant near Kingsman’s rented home away from home. My mom is British, one of the “Ten Pound Poms”: They needed an immigration boost in Australia so they handed out 10-pounds tickets to British people. But there is a brilliant industry in London and once I started working, it was very hard to leave. When my character says “Women’s voices aren’t getting heard in theater,” a U.K. audience knows that’s me doing a joke about a woman who would say that very sincerely onstage. Somebody’s died: ‘Oh no.’ ” I just started laughing at a very serious-themed play.

Persons: England —, “, aren’t, that’s, “ Sweeney Todd, ”, gravitas, Somebody’s Organizations: ” Locations: Village, Kingsman’s, Britain, Australia, England, London, New York, American

☆ 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' lives on, 20 years later
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

That was like queer eye for the straight guy!”Carson Kressley, left, in "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy." “And of course as luck would have it, ‘Queer Eye’ was our very first attempt at a reality show,” he added. It’s not that they’re bigger, they just became louder,” said Rob Eric, “Queer Eye” executive producer and longtime associate and friend of Collins and Williams. They’ve also enjoyed seeing the legacy they’ve created evolve and grow to new heights with Netflix’s gender-neutral and more succinctly titled “Queer Eye” – which wrapped its seventh season earlier this year. “The new ‘Queer Eye’ wouldn’t happen without these guys,” Collins said.

Persons: Guy ”, Ellen ”, Ellen DeGeneres, David Collins, QEFTSG ”, –, Carson Kressley, Jai Rodriquez, Thom Filicia, Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, groomer, ” Rodriquez, Kressley, “, ‘, “ Gay ”, Michael Collins, ” Kressley, you’ve, Collins, Michael Williams –, ” Collins, ”, Michael, Shutterstock Collins, Williams, David, ” Williams, ’, Rodriguez, Filicia –, you’re, ” Rodriguez, ” Filicia, ‘ You’ve, we’re, Barbara Walters, “ I’m, Filicia, Anita Bryant, Rob Eric, We’ve, It’s, foodie Allen, Ted, ” What’s, They’ve, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Bravo, NBC Universal, Scout, Netflix, NBC Locations: Boston, Los Angeles

☆ Opinion | On Race and Academia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( John Mcwhorter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But I have always thought of that as racial preferences the way they should have been, merely additive around the margins. I was hired straight out of my doctoral program for a tenure-track job at an Ivy League university in its august linguistics department. Plus, I was brought on to represent a subfield within linguistics — sociolinguistics — that has never been my actual specialty. At the time I was not very politicized, and I assumed that my race had merely been a background bonus to help me get hired. I had been hired by white people who, quite innocently, thought they were doing the right thing by bringing a Black person onto the faculty.

Organizations: Ivy League university

☆ Richard Ravitch, Rescuer of the Subways and New York’s Finances, Dies at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Sam Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Richard Ravitch, a politically savvy, civic-minded developer and public citizen who helped rescue New York City from the brink of bankruptcy and its decaying subways from fiscal collapse, died on Sunday in Manhattan. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by his wife, Kathleen M. Doyle. Mr. Ravitch never won elective office. He later served as New York’s lieutenant governor, enlisted by David A. Paterson in 2009 to lend gravitas to his teetering administration. (Mr. Paterson had succeeded Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace after a prostitution scandal.)

Persons: Richard Ravitch, Kathleen M, Doyle, Mr, Ravitch, David A, Paterson, Eliot Spitzer Organizations: New, Urban Development Corporation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Locations: New York City, Manhattan, New

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