CultureDesk

CultureDesk, 9 months ago to Entertainment

SAG-AFTRA is seeking approval for a second strike, this time against the major video-game companies. In a statement, the organization's president, Fran Drescher, accused the companies of “greed and disrespect.” “Once again artificial intelligence is putting our members in jeopardy of reducing their opportunity to work,” she said.

https://flip.it/TXsAQY

#Entertainment #SAGAFTRA #VideoGames #GamesIndustry

CultureDesk, 10 months ago to history

NASA "Hidden Figure" and Black mathematician Evelyn Boyd Granville died in June at age 99. Space.com has this tribute to the remarkable life and career of Granville, who was the second Black woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D in mathematics and contributed significantly to early human spaceflight missions.

https://flip.it/bLswHv

#History #Science #BlackMastodon #InMemoriam

CultureDesk, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to Texas

Darryl George, a Black student in Texas, has been told he will be removed from his high school and sent to a disciplinary alternative education program after a month of suspension because he has dreadlocks. His family have filed a formal complaint and a federal civil rights lawsuit, saying Texas's governor and attorney general failed to enforce the CROWN Act, which outlaws discrimination based on hairstyles. CBS has more information.

https://flip.it/RWDzWg

#Texas #CROWNAct #BlackMastodon

CultureDesk, 6 months ago to movies

SAG-AFTRA's agreement with the AMPTP doesn't just deal with AI and compensation. A Hair & Makeup subsection states that principal performers should have appropriate hair and makeup products as well as qualified personnel. This appears to address the experiences Black actors have on set with hairstylists and artists who are unused to working with textured hair or darker skin tones. Allure has more.

https://flip.it/DoyoTA

#Movies #SAGAFTRA #HollywoodStrikes #BlackMastodon #Beauty

CultureDesk, 8 months ago to books

George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and Jonathan Franzen are among 17 authors suing OpenAI, saying that the company fed their books into its large language models, allegedly violating their copyrights and engaging in "systematic theft on a mass scale." CBS has more.

https://flip.it/7bER0W

#Books #Bookstodon #Copyright #Tech

CultureDesk, 4 months ago to history

Black Americans who are attempting to trace their roots can get help from the Smithsonian. The institute's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) offers free genealogy sessions, both in person and online, teaching people how to interpret census records, find useful sources of information, and more. Here's more from @Smithsonianmag's Tracy Scott Forson, who got answers about her own family history from an NMAAHC session.

https://flip.it/V4-Qs0

#History #Culture #BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon

CultureDesk, 4 months ago to MargotRobbie

Ryan Gosling has released a statement detailing his disappointment at the lack of Oscar nominations for his ""Barbie" director and co-star. “There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film,” Gosling wrote. Here's more from Uproxx.

https://flip.it/CB.AfG

#Barbie #GretaGerwig #MargotRobbie #Oscars

CultureDesk, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to food

If you have leftover cheese from the holiday season and want to free up some refrigerator space, you may be able to find it a new home in your freezer. Here's Epicurious's guide to what you can freeze, what you can't and how to do it without sacrificing flavor. Tangentially related, but really we're just being nosy: Which country do you think makes the best cheese? Tell us in the comments what's on your dream cheeseboard.

https://flip.it/q.PeZO

#Food #Lifestyle #Culture #Cheese

CultureDesk, 3 months ago to history

In 1939, the Dongs, a Chinese American family, could not find a house to rent in Coronado, Calif., because of racially restrictive housing laws. Emma and Gus Thompson, a Black couple, allowed the family to rent and later buy their home. Now, the Dongs have sold that house, and are donating $5 million to Black college students. They are also working to have San Diego State University's Black Resource Center named after Emma and Gus, who was born into slavery in Kentucky. Here's more from NBC News.

https://flip.it/AOzvqc

#History #Culture #BlackHistory #AAPIHistory #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon @histodons #California

CultureDesk, 8 months ago to music

There were dozens of Black classical composers in 19th-century New Orleans, but they had few opportunities to present their compositions around the world, and that means their works have been largely forgotten — until recently. Atlas Obscura reports how OperaCréole, founded in 2011 by Black mezzo-sopranos Givonna Joseph and her daughter Aria Mason, is giving life to lost works as "an act of restorative justice."

https://flip.it/gs9R89

#BlackMastodon #Music #Culture #Opera #NewOrleans

CultureDesk, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to comicbooks

Bill Willingham, creator of beloved comic series "Fables," has released the franchise into the public domain, citing a breakdown in his relationship with DC Comics. Here's the full statement that he posted on his Substack, in which he said of DC: " I gave them years to do the right thing. I tried to reason with them, but you can’t reason with the unreasonable."

https://flip.it/MWQybw

#BillWillingham #Fables #ComicBooks #PublicDomain #Bookstodon

CultureDesk, 1 month ago to books

AI-generated books on Amazon now have the potential to kill people, as they've moved into the realm of mushroom foraging. Guides have popped up like, well, mushrooms, packed with information that makes no sense and could easily be dangerous, illustrated with structures that are "the mycological equivalent of a picture of a hot blond with six fingers and too many teeth," writes Vox's Constance Grady. Here's more.

https://flip.it/ekbDMe

#Books #Bookstodon @bookstodon #Science #Foraging #AI #ArtificialIntelligence

CultureDesk, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to movies

John Williams is among 19 new members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The 92-year-old composer has won five of the 53 Oscars he was nominated for, and also conducted the Boston Pops for more than a decade and has composed classical concertos. Here's a story from ABC on Williams and the other 18 inductees to the Academy of Arts this year, which included composer Terence Blanchard, novelist Alice McDermott and artist Matthew Barney. We want to know, which is your favorite of these (some answers are movies and others are franchises where more appropriate).

https://flip.it/q.hrNa

#Movies #Music #Soundtracks #MovieScores #JohnWilliams #StevenSpielberg #Oscars #AmericanAcademyofArtsandLetters

CultureDesk, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to Entertainment

40 years after Marvin Gaye’s death, never-before-heard music has been found in Belgium. How did the tape, which looks like a basic BASF cassette that was common in the 1980s, end up there? And will fans of the singer who's popularity remains strong get to hear what’s on it? BBC News heard a brief, tantalizing sample from the tape. “In a rather eerie moment, the Prince of Motown almost seemed to live again.” https://flip.it/cAcvye
#Culture #Entertainment #Music #MarvinGaye #MoTown

CultureDesk, 4 months ago to food

Roquefort and Camembert could be at risk of "extinction," according to France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), thanks to a lack of genetic diversity in the microbes essential to their production. What could save the dairy? Allowing sexual reproduction of the micro-organisms would make them more robust, but potentially create more diversity of flavor. Here's more from CNRS News.

https://flip.it/XJdgvb

#Cheese #Food #Science #FoodScience #Roquefort #Camembert

CultureDesk, 6 months ago to music

Denny Laine, the co-founder of the Moody Blues and Wings, has died at age 79. Here's a tribute to him from @RollingStone, including videos of him performing with Sir Paul McCartney and singing "Live and Let Die."

https://flip.it/x2ShjO

#MoodyBlues #Wings #Music #InMemoriam #DennyLaine

CultureDesk, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to DoctorWho

As "Doctor Who" turns 60, it's time to pose that perennial question: Who is the best Doctor of them all? The BBC asked five fans to make their arguments. But which of this quintet do you think is the greatest? Tell us in the comments if your pick isn't on the list (we're fans of Christopher Eccleston).

https://flip.it/gPP_PW

#DoctorWho #Television #SciFi #TheDoctor #BBC

CultureDesk, 3 months ago to superbowl

For the fourth time in five years, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl. It’s a welcome thought for the team’s legion of fans. But for Indigenous activists, the Chiefs’ use of Native American imagery and references “tells Native kids that the rest of society, the only thing they ever care to know about you and your culture are these mocking minstrel shows.” AP has more: https://flip.it/IMAx3P
#SuperBowl #USA #Indigenous #TribalRights #KansasCityChiefs

CultureDesk, 6 months ago to television

A new documentary on Netflix, "The Dads," sends six men — five dads of trans kids, and Dennis Shepard, father of the late Matthew Shepard — on a fishing trip in rural Oklahoma. There, they have conversations about fatherhood and fighting to make the world safe for their kids. LGBTQ Nation's John Russell talked to director Luchina Fisher about the project.

https://flip.it/gSI7RH

#Television #Entertainment #LGBTQ #TransRightsAreHumanRIghts

CultureDesk, 3 months ago to UnitedKingdom

Police were called to a Willy Wonka event in Glasgow after angry parents demanded refunds of their £35 (US$44.37) fee. Organizers House of Illuminati had promised a "journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn" but discovered a sparse warehouse with a bouncy castle. The Independent has more.

https://flip.it/0pmt8p

#UnitedKingdom #Lifestyle #Glasgow #WillyWonka

CultureDesk, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to history

Nine months before Rosa Parks, when Claudette Colvin was just 15, she refused to give up her seat to a white person in Montgomery, Ala., and was arrested. However, Colvin's case wasn't taken up by the NAACP and her efforts were not publicized by Black leaders because she was young, dark complexioned, and pregnant, she believes. MSNBC tells the story of what happened, and how she and four other women sued the city of Montgomery, leading to its public transport segregation being declared unconstitutional.
https://flip.it/OwOSMM

#BlackHistory #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon @histodons #History #USA #CivilRights #CivilRightsMovement

For more stories like this, follow @theculturedesk's Stories of Black America Magazine @stories and its Women's History Magazine @women.

CultureDesk, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to art

Last year, after a WWII veteran died, his family members discovered 22 stolen Japanese antiques in his attic. These included a hand-drawn map, ceramics, and portraits of Okinawan kings, some dating back as far as the 1700s. On Friday, the FBI announced that the artifacts were on their way back to Japan. NPR has details of what happened, and images of the items.

https://flip.it/F36hzT

#Art #Japan #History #Culture @histodons

CultureDesk, 2 months ago to LGBTQ

As lawmakers around the U.S. ban books, states enact legislation limiting how sexual orientation and gender identity are taught in schools, and companies reduce their DEI efforts, some are going the other way. Washington state's Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, has recently signed a law including a mandate for public schools to teach LGBTQ+ history, joining California, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Illinois, which have similar legislation. Here's more from NBC.

https://flip.it/h_ZIsN

#LGBTQ #Pride #Schools #Education #DontSayGay #Rights #Law #GayRights

CultureDesk, 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to books

Does sci-fi shape the future? Tech billionaires from Bill Gates to Elon Musk have often talked about the impact of novels they read as teens, from Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" to Iain M. Banks' "Culture" series. Big Think's Namir Khaliq spoke to authors including Andy Weir, Lois McMaster Bujold, @cstross and @pluralistic about how much impact they think science fiction has had, or can have.

https://flip.it/DmHzd2

#Books @bookstodon #Fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #Tech #Technology

CultureDesk, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to food

Restaurants in America are in crisis because they can't hire and retain qualified workers. To stave off oblivion, restaurateurs are exploring options like replacing tipping with mandatory service fees, reducing waitstaff in favor of counter ordering, and dynamic pricing, where you pay more or less according to demand. Business Insider's food reporter Corey Mintz delves into the issues, concluding: "The fundamental problem is that restaurants have long mistreated their workers. So when many veteran employees had a chance to get out of the industry during the pandemic, they did." Which of these solutions would you be prepared to swallow?

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#Food #FoodCulture #Restaurants #WorkersRights #America