February 23, 2020

"sometimes God takes a radical position against oppression"

Writer, musician and speaker, Andre Henry [twitter] was hired to be the managing editor of Christian lifestyle publication Relevant Magazine, which went well right up until he wanted to publish something every day for Black History Month in 2019.
A Case for the Ongoing Black Exodus from White Evangelicalism - "The refusal of so much of the white evangelical world — including megachurches, non-profits, conferences, and media platforms — to speak prophetically and act courageously in the face of a global resurgence of white nationalism has been a great betrayal to many Black Christians that were committed to multiculturalism and “racial reconciliation.”" [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:22 PM PST - 30 comments

Mdou Moctar, from mysterious Saharan musician to touring the world

Mdou Moctar was drawn to music for a long time, first known for his majestic singing of the Koran, then for his unique guitar style, inspired by Tinariwen (jamming with Red Hot Chili Peppers members in 2012), an internationally famous Tuareg band who also played "desert blues" (previously). Regionally renowned, his music was traded around the Sahara via cell phones, before getting broader distribution (previously). In 2015, he played Prince's role as "the kid" in a Kickstarter-funded version of “Rain the Color of Blue With a Little Red in It” (previously; short Guardian article; soundtrack on Bandcamp). Late last year, his latest album, Ilana: The Creator (Bandcamp) was touted as perhaps the most fiery psych-rock of the 21st century (NPR), earning him the title of The Hendrix of the Sahara in his Esquire interview.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:34 PM PST - 8 comments

A Museum of Nothing

No Show Museum is a museum dedicated to artworks which depict nothing in all its forms, as Notion, Statement, Lacuna, Reduction, Invisibility, Emptiness, Annihilation and Refusal. It features artworks by various well-known artists, such as Ai Weiwei, Yoko Ono, Marina Abramović, Karin Sander, lots and lots of Yves Klein, and many, many others. For more info on the artists and their works, click the little “i” sign next to their names. The “information” tab on the website will answer most of your questions, and two short videos will show you what exhibitions looks like.
posted by Kattullus at 3:14 PM PST - 21 comments

Documentaries as Advertising

From Food Evolution to At the Fork to Farmland to The Painful Truth, corporate interests are turning to indie documentaries for influence (100Reporters): Though most moviegoers might imagine that a director’s only client is his or her audience, the reality of documentary filmmaking is more complicated, as industry groups, advertising agencies and companies today hire filmmakers to tell their stories, which are released and streamed to the public as independent documentaries. In much the way that Facebook users have been targeted unwittingly for political propaganda and misinformation campaigns, viewers of documentary films have become captive, unsuspecting audiences for industry messaging that is shaping how we think about controversial topics, whether it is how we should grow food, manage the opioid addiction crisis, or address climate change.
posted by not_the_water at 11:09 AM PST - 13 comments

Buy, By, Bye

Homophones, Weakly. (via Words & Stuff)
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:54 AM PST - 37 comments

The most anarchist of anarchist book outfits

For Contingent Magazie, Karin Falcone Krieger tells the story of Dover Books, which democratized knowledge, revived paper dolls, and helped create the trade paperback. [more inside]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:57 AM PST - 34 comments

Pervasive contingency as Italian slasher flick

Charles Petersen writes for the New York Review of Books about the adjunctification crisis in higher education, how it fits into larger labor movements, and how "college for all" policies could change things.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:45 AM PST - 4 comments

A maze of deliciousness

The romance, the practicality, the energy efficiency: the fruit wall. Or, how one grows peaches in Northern France and the Low Countries during the little ice age. Come for the low tech, stay for the romance of wandering a warm orchard.
posted by dame at 3:44 AM PST - 17 comments

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