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Dallas Draws New Opera Audiences

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Amy O’Neil.
Amy O’Neil, the Digital Content Marketing Manager for the Dallas Opera, has earned the organization a new following thanks to her quirky, fun, and innovative videos that explain everything.

Many people adore opera, but there are also many who are sure they wouldn’t like it, even though they’ve never tried. So how is Dallas Opera attracting new, younger audiences?

Bethany Erickson at D magazine interviews the brains behind the change.

“A few of the Dallas Opera orchestra’s musicians were ready to leave after practice, but a handful were still milling around their rehearsal space in the Winspear Opera House. Some of them were gathered around a machete-wielding percussionist as he attempted to mimic the sound a guillotine makes as the blade descends to chop off someone’s head. 

“After tries with other instrument combinations yield OK but not spectacular results, he stands next to a metal pole, then slides the machete against it, the metal-against-metal action creating a ‘snick’ and then a long, slicing ‘hiss’ as the machete descends, followed by a heavy thunk at the end. …

“On hand to capture the behind-the-scenes work for the season’s second production, Dialogues of the Carmelites, [Dallas Opera social media guru Amy O’Neil] says she’s not sure exactly what she’ll use the footage for, but she wasn’t going to miss filming it.

“That sort of infectious creativity has made O’Neil’s work for the Dallas Opera a must-watch. From her fun, punchy synopses of upcoming productions to her award-nominated series ‘Don’t Look Under the Wig,’ she says her work is aimed at making the opera feel more accessible. …

“O’Neil has been with the Dallas Opera for more than six years, starting in group sales before convincing her employer that her talents might just attract a new wave of opera buffs. A UNT graduate, she studied business, music, and communications, and then spent time abroad studying, among other things, classical music and opera history in Vienna. She also does improv and is a musician. …

“O’Neil and I sat down at a table overlooking the Winspear’s expansive lobby to talk about her work. What follows has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Bethany Erickson
“I told my coworkers to check out the Dallas Opera social media feed because it was so fun.

Amy O’Neil
“Oh my god, I have so many more things about to come out that are more me, just telling our audience things, because time and time again, that’s what performs well. Like, they just want to see me as a goofy regular person, going, ‘Can you believe this? She’s cursed and on a random island,’ and whatever.

Erickson
“So take me back in time to when you first started.

O’Neil
“I started in ticketing, and then I did group sales, and then I was social media, and now I’m, like, all things digital. … They were coming to me and saying, ‘We want you to do a program or whatever you want where you’re doing makeup stuff,’ and that’s where ‘Don’t Look Under the Wig’ came in. And that really opened the door to not only show the company, ‘Oh, hey, I can do all these other crazy things,’ but also to test how I did with the people out there. …

“The first time I did a synopsis, it was because we didn’t have any ready-to-go assets, and I was like, ‘I’ll come up with something.’ … I wrote it, filmed it, and edited it all within like 2 1/2 hours. And I mean that’s, like, my shortest synopsis, like a minute and a half, so it’s not like impressive or anything. It took off, and then it was like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I should do this for the next opera.’ …

Erikson
“I don’t envy you having to figure out the tone for the Dialogues of the Carmelites synopsis. …

O’Neil
“It’s interesting because we were talking about this recently. I wanted it to be unbelievably clear that Dialogues of the Carmelites is based on a real story about real nuns who were really beheaded and persecuted for their religion and died martyrs. … I can make housewife jokes about Don Carlo, but not about Dialogues of the Carmelites. … I want to do the Dialogues of Carmelites and still have it be a fun video, but not at the cost of disrespecting the art. It’s just a fine line. …

“One of my favorite things that happened last season was when I was just walking around before a show in the hall, taking pictures and whatever. And these two girls ran up to me. And they were like, ‘Oh my god, you’re the reason we’re here.  We just had to tell you because you’re the reason we’re here. When we saw you, we had to tell you.’ ”

More at D Magazine, here. Note that long before Dallas explained opera, both Looney Tunes and Disney took it on. Check out Bugs Bunny, here, and Willie the Whale, here.

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Basic Income for Artists

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 17, 2025| 9 Comments »

Photo: Submitted to CBC by Elinor O’Donovan.
Visual artist Elinor O’Donovan was chosen to be part of the Irish government’s basic universal income program for creatives. She says the money she receives every month is ‘transformative.’ 

A couple years back, I blogged about Ireland’s experiment in basic income for artists, here. Looks like it met its goals, because now the government is making the experiment permanent.

CBC’a As It Happens guest host Saroja Coelho has an interview with a beneficiary.

“Elinor O’Donovan says Ireland’s basic income program for artists completely changed her life and her work for the better.

“The Dublin-based multidisciplinary artist was a participant in Ireland’s three-year pilot program that saw 2,000 artists and creative arts workers receive a weekly stipend of €325 ($528.90 Cdn) between 2022 and 2025.

“ ‘It’s pretty huge,’ O’Donovan told As It Happens guest host Saroja Coelho. ‘It’s been transformative for my work, and for my well-being in general.”

“Now, Ireland has decided to make the program permanent, saying its benefits to society have far outweighed the costs to the government.

“Advocates for basic income in Canada are celebrating the announcement, hoping it drives momentum to enact a similar — and more widespread — program in this country. 

“But, despite evidence from the Parliamentary Budget Office that basic income could alleviate poverty, economists are warning Canadians not to hold their breath. 

“Basic income is any policy in which the government gives individuals unconditional cash transfers to meet basic needs.

“In 2022, Ireland launched Basic Income for the Arts (BIA), a pilot program designed to help the arts sector recover from losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“ ‘This scheme is the envy of the world, and a tremendous achievement for Ireland, and must be made futureproof and sustainable,’ Patrick O’Donovan, Ireland’s culture minister, told reporters last week as his government unveiled its 2026 budget.

“The pilot, while expensive, generated a lot of bang for its buck, the minister said. 

“Overall, the government says it spent €105 million ($170.8 million Cdn) on the BIA. But an external report from Alma Economics found those costs were offset by a boost in audience engagement with the arts, increased tax generation, a reduction in social welfare payments, and improved psychological wellbeing for participants.

“With those benefits factored in, the report estimates the net cost of the pilot was €72 million ($117.1 million Cdn). …

“Basic income is something that artists in Canada have long been calling for. 

“In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, 75,000 Canadian artists, writers, technicians and performers, organizations and labour unions launched a campaign and public letter to the federal government calling for a universal guaranteed basic income.

“Now, they’re hoping the news out of Ireland can act as a springboard for the movement here at home. 

“ ‘We’re thrilled. What can I say?’ said Craig Berggold, spokesperson for the Ontario Basic Income Network, the organization behind the campaign. ‘It’s harder and harder for people to not only live, but also to get into the arts.’

“While basic income has massive support in creative industries, Berggold says he and his colleagues are campaigning for something more all-encompassing than Ireland’s BIA — guaranteed basic income for all Canadians who earn under a certain threshold.

“In a report published this summer, the Parliamentary Budget Office, the federal government’s fiscal watchdog, found that a guaranteed basic income program at the federal level could cut poverty rates in Canada by up to 40 per cent.

“ ‘Poverty is expensive for people and for the government,’ said Berggold, an artist based in Kingston, Ont.

“Berggold says basic income reduces spending on social welfare systems that don’t allow recipients to live with dignity and independence.

“ ‘It empowers people to make choices so that they can be bettering their lives, rather than having the kind of a system we have now which is surveillance based, which is checking in on you,’ he said.”

More at CBC, here. I’ve had a number of posts on basic income around the world. Search this site on the phrase.

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Hot Dog Santa

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 16, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Boston Globe.
A headline in the Boston Globe from 1924.

I didn’t get to post this story about a charitable Gothenburg-born Boston immigrant last year, but I think you’ll agree that it’s a bit of Christmas history that will always be fresh.

Jenny Ashcroft wrote about it at Fishwrap, the official blog of Newspapers.com.

“On Christmas Day in 1921, a Swedish immigrant quietly wheeled his hot dog stand to a street corner in Boston’s North End and distributed 500 free hot dogs to hungry children. Axel Bjorklund was no stranger to poverty. He barely made ends meet himself, but he wanted to give back. His cart was soon swamped with hundreds of shivering children wearing tattered clothing that did little to stave off the cold. Their hungry faces beamed when Axel handed them a steaming hot dog. Eventually, the food was gone, but Axel’s determination to repeat the event wasn’t. The Hot Dog Santa tradition was born. Over the next eight years, Axel gave away some 10,000 hot dogs before he died in 1930.

“Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, on August 6, 1869, Axel Bjorklund emigrated to America in 1889, eventually settling in Boston’s North End neighborhood. The area had become a melting pot of immigrants, most of whom were impoverished as they struggled to establish lives in a new country. The Spanish Flu Pandemic hit the North End particularly hard, leaving families even more destitute and many children orphaned.

“The first Christmas hot dog giveaway in 1921 was so successful that Axel decided to expand in 1922 and doubled the number of hot dogs to 1,000. His hot dog giveaway grew with each year until he distributed 3,000 annually. The children loved Axel and nicknamed him ‘Hot Dog Santa.’ …

“Axel’s annual Christmas Day hot dog giveaway eventually moved to New Year’s Day, but it was an event the children anticipated all year. As Axel’s generosity expanded, so did his health challenges. He was plagued with rheumatism, which led to frequent hospitalizations. His finances struggled, too, and he could no longer pay his rent. Not wanting to end the hot dog giveaway, he appealed to the public to help him continue the tradition.

“In December 1928, just before the annual hot dog giveaway, Axel’s landlady kicked him out because he hadn’t paid rent. The Salvation Army stepped in to help, but Axel was broke. The next two years saw Axel skipping between the poor house, the Cambridge Home for the Aged, or obtaining temporary lodging from generous benefactors. Despite his circumstances, in 1929, he participated in his final hot dog giveaway.

“On November 10, 1930, Axel Bjorklund passed away, penniless and alone at a Massachusetts hospital. He had no relatives and was set to be buried in a potter’s field when newspapers published word of his death. Citizens stepped forward, offering to contribute to a fund to give Axel a proper burial. The Swedish Charitable Society coordinated, and Axel was laid to rest in the Cambridge Cemetery.

“If you would like to learn more about the Hot Dog Santa or discover other heartwarming Christmas stories, search Newspapers.com.”

It hurts to think that today there are still plenty of shivering, hungry American children who could use this 1920s Good King Wenceslas.

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A Shaky Start for Charlie Brown’s Xmas

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2025| 9 Comments »

Photo: Apple TV.
The 1965 broadcast A Charlie Brown Christmas has become a holiday staple. But it almost didn’t get on the air. 

Have you watched A Charlie Brown Christmas lately? There’s a backstory. I find it fascinating how projects like this get broadcast in the first place. Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors was under crazy time pressure before NBC showed it on Christmas Eve, 1951. (The singers “received the final passages of the score just days before the broadcast.”) The one-act opera has since been performed the world over, not just on television.

Stephen Lind, Associate Professor of Clinical Business Communication at the University of Southern California, wrote about Charlie Brown at the Conversation.

“The 1965 broadcast has become a staple . … But this beloved TV special almost didn’t make it to air. CBS executives thought the 25-minute program was too slow, too serious and too different from the upbeat spectacles they imagined audiences wanted. A cartoon about a depressed kid seeking psychiatric advice? No laugh track? Humble, lo-fi animation? And was that a Bible verse? It seemed destined to fail – if not scrapped outright.

“And yet, against all the odds, it became a classic. The program turned ‘Peanuts’ from a popular comic strip into a multimedia empire – not because it was flashy or followed the rules, but because it was sincere. …

“The ‘Peanuts’ special came together out of a last-minute scramble. Somewhat out of the blue, producer Lee Mendelson got a call from advertising agency McCann-Erickson: Coca-Cola wanted to sponsor an animated Christmas special.

“Mendelson had previously failed to convince the agency to sponsor a ‘Peanuts’ documentary. This time, though, he assured McCann-Erickson that the characters would be a perfect fit.

“Mendelson called up ‘Peanuts’ comic strip creator Charles ‘Sparky’ Schulz and told him he had just sold A Charlie Brown Christmas – and they would have mere months to write, animate and bring the special to air.

“Schulz, Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez worked fast to piece together a storyline. The cartoonist wanted to tell a story that cut through the glitz of holiday commercialism and brought the focus back to something deeper.

“While Snoopy tries to win a Christmas lights contest, and Lucy names herself ‘Christmas queen’ in the neighborhood play, a forlorn Charlie Brown searches for ‘the real meaning of Christmas.’ He makes his way to the local lot of aluminum trees, a fad at the time. But he’s drawn to the one real tree – a humble, scraggly little thing – inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Fir Tree.’

“Those plot points would likely delight the network, but other choices Schulz made were proving controversial.

“The show would use real children’s voices instead of adult actors’, giving the characters an authentic, simple charm. And Schulz refused to add a laugh track, a standard in animated TV at the time. He wanted the sincerity of the story to stand on its own, without artificial prompts for laughter.

“Meanwhile, Mendelson brought in jazz musician Vince Guaraldi to compose a sophisticated soundtrack. The music was unlike anything typically heard in animated programming, blending provocative depth with the innocence of childhood.

“Most alarming to the executives was Schulz’s insistence on including the heart of the Nativity story in arguably the special’s most pivotal scene.

“When Charlie Brown joyfully returns to his friends with the spindly little tree, the rest of the ‘Peanuts’ gang ridicule his choice. … Gently but confidently, Linus assures him, ‘I can tell you what Christmas is all about.’ Calling for ‘Lights, please,’ he quietly walks to the center of the stage.

“In the stillness, Linus recites the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, with its story of an angel appearing to trembling shepherds. …

“ ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,’ he concludes, picking up his security blanket and walking into the wings. The rest of the gang soon concludes Charlie Brown’s scrawny tree isn’t so bad, after all – it just ‘needs a little love.’ …

“ ‘The Bible thing scares us,’ CBS executives said when they saw the proofs of the special. But there was simply no time to redo the entire dramatic arc of the special, and pulling it was not an option, given that advertisements had already run.”

And thus, commercialism pushed something nocommercial over the finish line.

More at the Conversation, here.

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Chicago River Restored

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 14, 2025| 5 Comments »

Photo: Linda Barrett.
The Chicago River, once badly polluted, has been cleaned up. Above, 265 swimmers participated in a public swim this year.

When humans make up their minds to do something, miracles can happen. Remember the river that caught fire and led to the Clean Water Act? Today’s article points to a more recent river success.

The environmental radio show Living on Earth reports that “on September 21st, hundreds of people leapt into the Chicago River for the first public swimming event since 1927.” Here’s an interview between Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie and Aynsley O’Neill of Living on Earth. (I edited out the verbal pauses.)

Aynsley O’Neill
“This public swimming event was a fundraiser, but its impact actually goes even further than that. What does it mean to you to have public swimming in the Chicago River for the first time in nearly 100 years?

Margaret Frisbie
” ‘I was a magical day that’s hard to describe, seeing hundreds of people in the water swimming so joyfully, really represented all the work that Friends of the Chicago River and so many organizations and agencies have done to improve the health of the river, not only for people, but for wildlife too. The morning of the swim, people just were beyond thrilled. People were watching from the bridges. They were watching from the Riverwalk. … For people who’ve lived here a long time, I think it’s a game-changer. Seeing people in the water makes you believe that it’s possible. …

“We had Olympic athletes. We had … Becca Mann, who’s an Olympic athlete who swims 10Ks in open water, which is really impressive and amazing. She got out and she was just beside herself, and she said, I cannot wait to come back to Chicago and do this again. …

O’Neill
“Give us a sense of the difference between maybe now and maybe 50 years ago in terms of sewage spills into the river.

Frisbie
“When friends of the Chicago River was founded in 1979, on average, there was sewage in the river every three days. Fast Forward 46 years, and basically there’s never sewage in the river ever. …

“The one thing that’s always fun for us to talk about at Friends of the Chicago River is how alive the river is and how different it is. .. We’re seeing our aquatic animal life going up, and that’s because of the work of Friends of the Chicago River, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the forest preserves at Cook County and so many partners. In the 1970s, when friends was founded, there were less than 10 species of fish in the river system. Now there’s nearly 80, and we have beavers and muskrats and turtles, and we’re seeing the return of river otters, who are really an excellent sign of river health, because they depend on clean water to keep their coats clean and their bodies healthy, and then they’re also dependent upon mussels and fish and other aquatic and macro invertebrates to eat. …

O’Neill
“For those who are unfamiliar, how did we get here? …

Frisbie
“Over the last 50 years, Friends of the Chicago River has been chipping away at both the actual water quality through advocating for cleaning up the river system, but also by using the Clean Water Act and building support for a river that was swimmable. And so the water quality has changed since 1979 when we were founded, bit by bit, you know, using the rules of the Clean Water Act and partnering with government agencies like the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District that dug a huge tunnel and reservoir system that’s virtually eliminated sewage from the river system, and then also disinfecting sewage affluent that goes to the river, and just also creating public access so people can get down to and in the water.

O’Neill
“How much of this was from a government level versus a volunteer level? How did that work?

Frisbie
“[It] really it takes both. The Tunnel and Reservoir Plan is 110 miles of tunnel, three enormous reservoirs that can store 17 billion gallons of sewage and storm water and industrial waste. However, it’s not just about building it; it’s having support for that system and also making sure that the government agencies who are working on it are on task, and making sure that they’re getting the work done. … Advocates encouraged and pushed a long way. So while we partner with this agency, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, on many, many programs, we also were engaged with forcing a permit that included an enforceable deadline of 2029 so they have to be done and wrap up the project and not say, hey, we ran out of money, we just can’t finish it yet. …

O’Neill
“What would you consider the biggest challenge during this process of cleaning up the Chicago River?

Frisbie
“People got used to the river systems being a place where sewage and waste could go, as opposed to we’re on the shores of Lake Michigan, which everyone fights for. …

“The river comes to us. It flows through communities. It’s a community connector, and it provides access to nature for people who live in an urban area. We also know that with the impact of the climate crisis, heat is the number one killer, and it is incumbent upon all of us to take seriously the fact that people need public open space where they can go and they can get away from the heat. … We know that nature actually improves public health, and, you know, mental wellness. So it plays so many, many, many roles. And then also we have major biodiversity loss, and cities can play a role in protecting biodiversity. … We are getting massive amounts of migratory animals, birds, bats, insects, and they depend on natural areas, and so it’s really important for that too. …

O’Neill
“For many of us, we might hear about the Chicago River once a year, St. Patrick’s Day, when it gets dyed green. What do you think about this tradition? …

Frisbie
“At Friends of the Chicago River, we think that we have outgrown that tradition. It’s really a fun morning. It builds community. … But we think a river that’s alive with wildlife really needs to be treated like a natural resource.”

More at Living on Earth, here.

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Teen Helps Elders Avoid Cybercrime

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 13, 2025| 6 Comments »

Photo: Time magazine.
Time has named Tejasvi Manoj, a 17-year-old at Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, Texas, Kid of the Year.

Gone are the good old days when cybercriminals used dead giveaways like terrible English! Today they are more and more plausible, laying new traps for anyone not internet savvy, especially old folks like those in my retirement community. I hear the stories.

Jeffrey Kluger reports at Time magazine about teenager Tejasvi Manoj, who wanted to do something about that.

“The unnamed cybercriminals trying to scam seniors out of their money got more than they bargained for when they targeted Tejasvi Manoj’s grandfather back in February 2024.

“Tejasvi, then a 16-year-old junior at Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, Texas, was driving home from Scouting America camp with her father when he suddenly noticed five missed calls on his phone — all from his 85-year-old father. He called back, and the older man reported that he had received an urgent email from another relative, Tejasvi’s uncle, asking for $2,000 to settle an unexpected debt. Given the apparent emergency, Tejasvi’s grandfather was prepared to transfer the funds — but her father urged him not to and the grandfather, at the suggestion of his wife, then called the uncle to see if the request was legitimate.

“ ‘I never asked you for money,’ came the response. ‘Please don’t send anything until I can look into what’s going on.’

“It was a near miss for the unsuspecting senior. The fact that criminals would seek to take advantage of an old man’s lack of sophistication about the workings of the internet galled Tejasvi. When she got home she went to her room and immediately began researching how common such scams are. Very common, it turns out. …

“Seniors represent a target-rich cohort for the bad guys. They’re typically retired, sitting on pensions and 401(k)s, and may be naive to the techniques favored by con artists. … . According to the Federal Trade Commission, the number of older adults who lost more than $10,000 to online scams increased fourfold from 2020 to 2024. For those who lost $100,000 or more, the increase was seven-fold, for a total of $445 million in 2024 alone. …

“Older Americans clearly need protection, and Tejasvi was determined to provide it. Within the year she had built and launched Shield Seniors, a website designed to educate the 60-plus demographic about what online scams look like, analyze suspicious emails and messages users upload, and, if the communications prove fraudulent, provide links to report them. The site is currently available in a private preview mode only, pending more R&D and fundraising, but is already — like its creator — making itself known. Tejasvi was recognized with an honorable mention in the 2024 Congressional App Challenge; delivered a 2025 TEDx talk in Plano, Texas, about the need to build ‘digital bridges’ to all demographics; and makes occasional appearances at local assisted-living facilities, demonstrating her website and teaching seminars about cybercrime.

“ ‘I remember going to my first seminar and I was super nervous,’ says Tejasvi, whose work has earned her recognition as TIME’s Kid of the Year for 2025. …

“Shield Seniors didn’t come easy. For one thing, Tejasvi had a lot of other activities to attend to. She is active in Scouting America — recently receiving her Eagle Scout rank — and plays violin in her school orchestra. She tutors Bhutanese refugees online in math and English through an organization called Vibha, a nonprofit involved in workforce and scholastic development in India. She also does volunteer work — serving on the leadership board of the North Texas Food Bank Young Advocates Council and packing meals, with the social-enterprise company TangoTab, for families facing food insecurity.

“ ‘I started volunteering in sixth grade,’ she says. ‘I think it’s really important; if you’re lucky yourself, you want to make sure other people feel loved and lucky too.’

“Shield Seniors presented another way to do that, and Tejasvi was well prepared to do the coding that would make the project possible. … Tejasvi began coding in eighth grade, taking cybersecurity classes and attending summer programs sponsored by the nonprofit Girls Who Code. She has also gotten involved in Cyber-Patriot, a joint Air Force and Space Force program to spark interest in cybersecurity and STEM disciplines among young people. …

“In February, after an early version of the site was ready, a story about Shield Seniors and Tejasvi appeared in the Dallas Observer, bringing her to the attention of the people at AARP. ‘They set up a meeting where I walked them through the website, and they were very impressed,’ Tejasvi said. …

“The website that has resulted from all of this work is equal parts intuitive, smart, and artful. Shield Seniors is divided into four principal sections. The first is labeled ‘Learn,’ and helps users master the basics of internet security, such as the importance of creating strong passwords, understanding privacy settings, knowing what information to share and what not to share, and, most important, recognizing what a scam looks like. … ‘Be careful with unexpected messages, especially those that rush you or seem too good to be true.’

“The second section, labeled ‘Ask,’ takes users to a chatbot that answers questions. Interacting with a population that was already approaching middle age when the internet appeared, Tejasvi’s bot keeps its answers simple—holding them to two sentences or even less. …

“The third section, labeled ‘Analyze,’ is where the true brains of the site live. When users click this tab they’re directed to a page that allows them to upload a suspicious text or email, which an AI system will then analyze with what Tejasvi says is 95% accuracy at determining what’s a scam and what’s not a scam. Then, it goes beyond just providing a digital thumbs-up or down.

“ ‘It will also explain why,’ she says, ‘because our goal for Shield Seniors is to make sure older adults are independent and know what to look for.’ …

“Finally, the site includes a ‘Report’ section that allows users to rat the fraudsters out. The site provides links to 14 private and government groups that accept and act on complaints, including the FBI, the Better Business Bureau, the Social Security Administration, AARP, the SEC, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Just which group is the right one to contact depends on just which kind of fraud was committed. The FBI, for example, is a sort of one-stop-shopping site for all manner of cybercrime, including identity theft, computer intrusions, investment fraud, phishing, and ransomware. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau responds to complaints involving financial products and services including bank accounts, credit reports, and payments made or requested.”

More at Time, here.

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The Rise of College Radio

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 12, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Olivia Glinski.
DJ Maya, WCBN (University of Michigan).

Whenever radio seems to be dead, something happens to revive it. And it’s never just one individual thing, but many individual things that roll up into a wave. Take a look at today’s college radio and why young people are gravitating toward it.

Emily White writes at her Substack, emwhitenoise, “It’s been a weird summer for the music industry. The fewest new hits in U.S. history. No song of the summer. An AI artist just signed a $3M record deal. The biggest band on the charts? HUNTR/X, a fictional K-pop girl group from a Netflix movie. …

“In September, a bombshell report from MIDiA Research crystallized the mood: ‘music discovery is at a generational crossroads,’ it argues: ‘Music discovery is traditionally associated with youth, but today’s 16-24-year-olds are less likely than 25-34-year-olds to have discovered an artist they love in the last year.’ …

“Even when they do discover artists, they are less likely to stream that artist’s music, according to the report. If you stopped reading here, you might conclude young people just don’t care about music anymore. However, one unexpected source of music discovery is quietly booming among Gen Z listeners: college radio. …

“I spoke to seven student general managers and surveyed 80+ DJs at stations across America: ACRN (Ohio University), WCBN (University of Michigan), WEGL (Auburn University), WHRW (Binghamton University), WRFL (University of Kentucky), WVBR (Cornell University), and WZBC (Boston College).

“They told me student interest in college radio has dramatically increased in recent years. Stations that once struggled to fill airtime are now turning people away, shortening shows, alternating time slots, and running training programs just to keep up with the demand from aspiring student DJs.

“For decades, college radio championed underground artists before they hit the mainstream. Against all odds — COVID shutdowns, FCC regulations, and the long decline of FM radio — college radio is thriving again. …Ten years ago, WCBN (Michigan) was struggling to fill three-hour programming blocks, says GM Anja Sheppard. Today, it’s the ‘fullest schedule we’ve had in recent memory,’ with shows reduced to one-hour due to ‘such demand from students to be on air.’

“At WRFL (Kentucky), ‘we’ve had some of the most exponential growth this station has seen in its 37 year history,’ says GM Aidan Greenwell. ‘We’ve gotten to the point where we simply don’t have enough time to allow everybody on the show schedule.’ …

“Demand for on-air slots is out-pacing ‘hours in the day’ at WEGL (Auburn), GM Rae Nawrocki says. The station has grown from roughly 30 members four years ago to 120 students and 60 on-air shows today.

“Some stations have so many aspiring student DJs, they have internships and apprenticeship programs for those waiting for their chance to go on-air: WHRW (Binghamton) has 150–200 active DJs and another 80 apprentices, WZBC (Boston College) counts 70 interns for its online stream in addition to 90 FM DJs.

“When Anna Loy, the president of the student media guild at WVBR (Cornell), first got involved with the radio station there were about 15 student DJs. ‘I’d sit around with my friends and kind of joke, “should we try to save the radio station?” ‘ she says. But now the station is thriving. …

“Students consistently described radio as an authentic, community-driven refuge from the passive, isolated, algorithm-driven digital experiences that have defined their adolescence. ‘You can’t scroll on reels and run a radio station at the same time,’ says Greenwell (WRFL) ‘You have to be in the present.’

“In our survey of 80+ DJs, students under 25 years old named ‘friends/word of mouth’ as their favorite way to discover music (69%), with TikTok (21%), YouTube (10%) or other social media (16%) relatively low-ranked.

“When asked ‘Who is your favorite artist you discovered recently, and how did you discover them?’ open-ended responses were split almost evenly between friends/word of mouth (27%) and algorithmic/streaming discovery (26%). …

” ‘I’m 21. I grew up in the age of algorithms. The way music is right now scares me because of the rise of AI. Not even AI made music (I hate it) but even just “Daily Mix, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5.” It’s not made by someone. It’s made by an algorithm. I wish more of that stuff was person curated.’ — Mari McLaughlin, WHRW (Binghamton)

“ ‘What attracts a lot of people to college radio is the idea of putting somebody on. Showing them a new song they haven’t seen before, outside of the algorithmic nature of streaming.’ — Aidan Greenwell, WRFL (Kentucky)

“ ‘I’ve started learning a lot more about music from other people’s recommendations than I ever had before. These experiences are shaping me more than algorithms or Spotify.’ — Anna Loy, WVBR (Cornell).

“ ‘Diehard music lovers are shifting away from Spotify. The trend I am seeing is people want ownership and community instead of this vague green app.’ — Rae Nawrocki (WEGL)

More at emwhitenoise, here. Do you listen to any college stations? I like WERS, especially for its weekend Broadway show. What’s funny about Emily White’s article is that young people are rebelling against Spotify algorithms that choose music for them when I’m so retro I haven’t even gotten to the algorithm stage. I think I’ll skip it.

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A Smelly, Beloved Fruit

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 11, 2025| 4 Comments »

Photo: Erika P. Rodríguez.
The stinky durian has loyal fans. Says one, “I consider it the No. 1 fruit on the planet.”

My husband remembers the smelly Limburger cheese his father used to keep in the refrigerator. It seemed like a horrible thing for anyone to choose to eat. And yet some people loved it. No accounting for tastes. The durian, a fruit, inspires similar reactions.

Thomas Fuller has a report from Puerto Rico.

” ‘I don’t like to use the word “smell,” ‘ said Juan Miranda Colón, a self-described fanatic of the world’s most odoriferous fruit. ‘I prefer to say it has an aroma.’

“Mr. Miranda, a farmer in Puerto Rico, was minutes away from feasting on the fruit, durian, and as its stink wafted through the humid, sticky air of the rainforest around him, he said his tongue tasted sweet with anticipation.

“ ‘I consider it the No. 1 fruit on the planet,’ he said resolutely as he watched others messily shove gobs of custardy durian flesh into their mouths. ‘I start eating, eating, eating. I can’t control myself. I wish I had a second stomach.’

“It was early August, and Mr. Miranda was taking part in an annual ritual at Panoramic Fruit, a farm 30 dizzying minutes up a potholed, zigzagging road from the western Puerto Rican city of Mayagüez. A multinational collection of durian fanatics had gathered for the harvest.

“An electrician had trekked from Tennessee to get his fix. A doctor had flown in from central California. There was a couple from Florida, and a family from Texas. Desperate would-be buyers from the other side of the island had also come, unannounced and imploring the farm manager for durian.

“ ‘I call them the rare-fruit nuts,’ said Ian Crown, the owner of the 94-acre farm, who lives most of the year in Massachusetts but treasures his trip to Puerto Rico for the summer harvest of tropical fruits obscure to most Americans: rambutan, mangosteen, pulasan, cupuaçu and many others.

“But it’s durian, unlike perhaps any other fruit, that grips its enthusiasts with obsession.

“Much is made of durian’s odor, which Anthony Bourdain, the food adventurer, compared to that of a dead body left out in the sun, but the fruit’s appearance is also particular and somewhat otherworldly.

Covered in very sharp and dangerous spines, the fruit looks like a giant puffer fish tethered to a tall tree.

“Calling it rare is of course relative. Durians are plentiful in their native Southeast Asia. … But in North America, fresh durian is hard to come by, not least because the odor makes it difficult to transport. H Mart, a chain specializing in Asian foods, recently posted a sign on a bin of durian at one of its stores in Queens. ‘DO NOT WORRY IT IS NOT A GAS LEAK,’ the sign said. …

“Yen Vu and Gleb Chuvpilo, a couple who drove to the farm from their home in San Juan, bought eight medium-size durian at $5 per pound. It was enough to feed a large, hungry family for a week, but the couple said they would probably polish them off in a weekend. Their love for the fruit has taken them on much longer journeys: Twice they have traveled to Borneo just to gorge on it.

“Ms. Vu says durian was an early litmus test in their relationship. After meeting at a salsa lesson in New York City, she queried Mr. Chuvpilo, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist born in Ukraine, on whether he had tried the fruit. He liked it. But what if he had hated it?

“ ‘It definitely would have put a strain on the relationship,’ said Ms. Vu, who is originally from Vietnam and has enjoyed durian since she was a child. …

“Teresa Chang, a family doctor who lives in Santa Ynez, Calif., remembers excitement growing up in western New York when someone came into the house with a haul of durian. ‘Oh my God! Get the cleaver!’ someone would yell before attacking the thick olive-green husks that surround the flesh. ‘They would eat it and then dance through the living room,’ Dr. Chang said. …

“For the uninitiated, the taste of durian is difficult to describe, partly because even when they’re from the same tree, durians can have such a variety of flavors.

“Dr. Chang bit into the ochre-yellow flesh of one durian and paused to consider what she was tasting. A hint of graham crackers, she concluded. Someone else mentioned burned sugar. Durian can be bitter or bubble-gum sweet. With the texture, and sometimes the taste, of crème brûlée, they resemble dairy products that happen to grow on a tree, Mr. Crown, the farm owner, says.

“He cut a small sample of one durian with the tip of his knife and dabbed the flesh into his mouth. ‘It’s like a kick in the head with a creamy, delicious, sweet taste on the back end,’ he said.

“Mr. Crown, a former commodities trader with a degree in agriculture and a curiosity about Southeast Asian fruits, bought the farm in 1994 after spending years scouting for a place that had the right climate and soil. …

“The first trees Mr. Crown planted were rambutan, the hairy, walnut-size fruit similar to lychees. Then he put in mangosteen trees, which produce sweet, bright white fruit encased in purple orbs.

“But his rare-fruit friends insisted that he was missing a key crop.

“ ‘Everybody said, “You have to have durian!” ‘ Mr. Crown recalled. So before even tasting it, he planted the trees. Fortunately, he doesn’t mind strong smell. ‘I have some cheese experiments in my fridge that would frighten the board of health,’ he said.”

So interesting that the durian, even from the same tree, has different tastes. Doesn’t a children’s book describe something like that? Alice in Wonderland? The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Help me out.

And please let me know if you eat this fruit. More at the Times, here.

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The Right to a Joyful Childhood

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2025| 4 Comments »

Photo: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report.
In Norway, a joyful, secure childhood is a legal right.

I was intrigued by today’s story on Norway’s approach to childhood. One point that made me smile was that the children in early-education programs take naps outdoors, bundled up in sleeping bags. My younger grandson took naps that way. Maybe because he’s half Swedish. Those Northerners don’t believe in bad weather.

Jackie Mader writes at the Hechinger Report via the Christian Science Monitor, “Just north of Oslo, Sylvia Lorentzen’s two child care programs straddle a narrow, winding road that leads up to the lush forests that encircle parts of Norway’s capital.

“In Norway’s system of universal child care, children ages 5 and under immerse themselves in nature. In the winter, those in Ms. Lorentzen’s care learn to ski and sled. In the summer, they swim, canoe, and rock climb – and then rest in hammocks.

“Around age 4, they learn how to safely use a knife. Then they huddle together outside, whittling wooden figures out of sticks to practice. By age 5, they are cutting logs with a saw and building fires. Toddlers nap outside, bundled inside puffy, miniature sleeping bags affixed to their strollers.

“Universal child care is ‘both seen as an investment for the society and an investment for the child,’ says Kristin Aasta Morken, a program leader in the city of Oslo. Public funding covers 85% of operating costs for child care programs in Norway. Parents pay about $182 per month.

“In the United States, it’s parents, mostly, who cover the costs for this care – though some employers and local jurisdictions may offer partial reimbursement.

‘Social differences are something Norway does not accept.’

“ ‘Kindergarten is so important to level out social inequities,’ says Robert Ullmann, head of a consortium of child care centers. ‘In Norway, we think it’s democratic that everyone can have the same opportunities and move out of being poor. Social differences are something Norway does not accept.’ …

“ ‘A really important pillar of Norway’s early ed philosophy is the value of childhood in itself,’ says Henrik D. Zachrisson, director of the Centre for Research on Equality in Education at the University of Oslo. ‘Early ed is supposed to be a place where children can be children and have the best childhood possible.’

“It’s an idea that undergirds Norway’s nationalized approach to its ‘kindergartens,’ which here serve children age 5 and younger, including toddlers and infants. …

“On a drizzly morning earlier this year at Preståsen Kanvas-barnehage, one of Mr. Ullmann’s kindergarten programs in south Oslo, children roam around an expansive play yard, building sandcastles under the canopy of a large pine tree. Others zoom down a hill on bikes.

“In another playground on campus, children shriek as they splash through a large puddle. This draws more children hoping to play. Rather than caution the children about getting wet, a teacher walks over and hands them buckets to have at it.

“Children with disabilities, who are often segregated in American child care programs, are included in activities. Some of them have a city-funded aide who attends to their needs.

“In some rooms, posters on the wall show pictures of common items or common requests, so children still learning Norwegian can point to what they need. In one room, children are learning about the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr. …

“Ironically, Norway’s policies have been inspired in part by American studies that found troubling language skills gaps between higher- and lower-income children. Other influential American scholarship also revealed high educational returns from investing in early childhood programs.

“ ‘The argument I’ve heard is that if you don’t send your children to kindergarten, then you steal some possible experiences from them,’ says Adrian Kristinsønn Jacobsen, a doctoral candidate at the University of Stavanger in Norway who studies early childhood science education rooted in experiencing nature.

“There are important contexts affecting each country’s approach, however. Norway is home to about 5.5 million people, and about 82% are ethnically Norwegian. This population lives in an area roughly the size of Montana. Norway is also a top producer of oil, which helped generate a per capita household income that was over $104,000 in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund.

“The U.S., on the other hand, has 62 times the number of residents that Norway has and a far more diverse population. In 2022, per capita household income in the U.S. was about $77,000.

“In Norway, nearly 1.4% of the country’s gross domestic product goes toward early childhood programs. The U.S. spends less than 0.4% of its GDP, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Public funding covers 85% of operating costs for child care programs in Norway. As of this summer, the tuition parents pay has been capped at about $182 per month. This applies to both public and private programs, and includes in-home kindergartens, which preserve a certain amount of choice for parents. Programs receive funding on a per-child basis. Kindergartens that care for children under 3 years old receive twice the funding of those ages 3 to 5, since toddlers and infants require more individualized care.

“Norwegian children are guaranteed a spot in a kindergarten after they turn 1 year old – about the time many parents’ paid leave ends. If parents decide not to send their children to a kindergarten, they receive financial assistance to stay home.

“Norway’s understanding of kindergarten is deeply ingrained in its culture. But these benefits, signed into law in the Kindergarten Act of 2006 – which repeats the word ‘play’ 56 times – also express some of the country’s deeply held values.

“Child care programs must acknowledge ‘the intrinsic value’ of childhood, according to the 63-page law. ‘The Kindergarten must be based on fundamental values in the Christian and humanist heritage and tradition, such as respect for human dignity and nature, on intellectual freedom, charity, forgiveness, equality and solidarity, values that also appear in different religions and beliefs and are rooted in human rights,’ the law declares. …

“The law proclaims, too, that kindergartens should ‘promote democracy and equality and counteract all forms of discrimination.’ ”

More at the Monitor, here.

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Bookstore Helps Youth Find a New Path

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/CSM.
More Than Words bookshop in Massachusetts uses 100% of its proceeds for training and educating young people ages 16 to 24 in professional skills and goal setting.

My husband and I first encountered the bookshop More Than Words on a movie night. We had been to dinner at one of the many cool restaurants in Waltham, Massachusetts, and were just walking around looking in shop windows until it was time for the movie.

Jacob Posner has written about it at the Christian Science Monitor.

“Jarris Charley says he didn’t believe in jobs when he was growing up on the line between Boston’s Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods. The people he knew who had legitimate jobs, including his mom, didn’t find much success. Everyone in his community lived check-to-check and paid rent. The drug dealers were the ones with money.

“ ‘So I was invested in the streets: drugs, guns, robberies. That’s just what I was caught up into at a young age,’ he says. He ended up in juvenile detention at age 15, and in prison for robbery at 23.

“Near the end of a five-year prison term, a second chance arrived. An old manager from a job-training program called More Than Words visited, and asked him, ‘Jarris, why don’t you just come back?’

“More Than Words is a bookstore, but one that does much more than sell bestsellers. The program serves young people ages 16 to 24 who face the highest barriers to building stable lives. Participants face homelessness, are in the foster care system, are out of school, or are involved in the legal system. It gives them job skills, but graduates like Mr. Charley say that the sense of belonging and acceptance – that they matter – is the most valuable thing they take from the program.

“ ‘I like to say we’re in the mattering business,’ says founder Jodi Rosenbaum.

“More Than Words’ support goes beyond job training. There’s a paid ‘on-ramp’ of six to 12 weeks in which the program helps with everything from housing and food costs to making sure participants have suitable work attire. Youth development managers offer support in a range of areas, including future employment, housing, transportation, financial planning, and navigating the legal system. After graduation, young people can access career services and bridge funding for tuition, rent, and child care so they can further their education and training.

“ ‘None of this works if that all doesn’t hang together, right? Like a job training program means nothing if you don’t know where you’re sleeping at night or if you have court the next day, and you don’t have people helping you plan and figure that out,’ says Ms. Rosenbaum.

“More Than Words has grown significantly in its two decades of existence. It started with a 150-square-foot office space where young people sold donated books online. Today, it operates three storefronts in the Boston area. It served around 318 young people last year, who sorted about 4.5 million donated books and earned over $3.8 million in net revenue. Almost all More Than Words graduates go on to earn a high school diploma or equivalent degree, according to the organization’s data. …

“ ‘A lot of people feel that they don’t have a lot going for them or they don’t have a lot of potential,’ says Mr. Charley. ‘We speak life into them.’ That was the case for him.

“For the past three years, he’s been mentoring young people at More Than Words. He works in career services, helping young people in the area that tripped him up the most: getting that first good job after graduating from the program.

“Ms. Rosenbaum founded More Than Words in 2004. She had worked as a public school teacher and for the child welfare system, and became disenchanted with government systems. … Ms. Rosenbaum found that the process of selling a book online had therapeutic value. It has clear steps leading toward a positive outcome: Pick up the book from where it was donated, find out how much it’s worth, package the book, ship it, and then watch money come in. …

“More Than Words Boston, where Mr. Charley works, is located on a street just off Interstate 93 in a postindustrial part of South Boston. … Inside, it’s tidy and spacious. In the front, wooden tables carry rattan cross-body bags and socks with giraffes and penguins. All the merchandise is made by businesses that address social issues as part of their mission. …

“[Mr. Charley] had attended Lexington Minuteman High School. He says there were limited spots at the vocational high school for people from his part of the city. Mr. Charley says he’s grateful for the experience, but felt like he was only appreciated for his athletic prowess. …

“ ‘You don’t think a Black person sees that?’ he adds.

“He left school near the end of his sophomore year after an event involving his cousin, he says. Arrest and juvenile detention followed. Then he found his way to More Than Words.

“ ‘He was the first white man I trusted,’ says Mr. Charley about one of his managers. He always asked when he didn’t understand part of Mr. Charley’s experience – instead of just spouting advice. …

“One of Mr. Charley’s goals is to help his mentees understand their behavior and, ultimately, figure out how to stop doing things that get them into trouble.

“Back when Chris Anderson joined More Than Words, around 2005, he worked directly with Ms. Rosenbaum. He was at a group home in Watertown when he first encountered her.

“ ‘Jodi just kind of walked in one time and we’re all sitting in the living room and she kind of just stood up and said, “Does anybody want a job?” ‘ he says.

“He found ‘a sense of belonging’ while helping Ms. Rosenbaum start her business. Participants were stubborn, got in trouble at school, and didn’t do what they were supposed to do. ‘No matter what, she just kept trying to realign you to get onto that path,’ he says. …

“Today, Mr. Anderson, now in his 30s, is a chief operations officer for a technology company, a father, and sits on the board of More Than Words. And he’s still close with Ms. Rosenbaum.”

More at the Monitor, here.

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Listeners Rally Around a Small Station

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Caitlin Babcock/Christian Science Monitor.
Tami Graham, executive director of KSUT Public Radio, in her Ignacio, Colorado, headquarters.

It’s inspiring to see ordinary people trying to fill the gaps left by the withdrawal of government funds. But will it be enough? That is the question for the staff of a small but vital public radio station in Colorado.

Caitlin Babcock wrote in September at the Christian Science Monitor, “Crystal Ashike’s reporting for local radio station KSUT made national news when she broke a story on white vans that were showing up on Navajo land and whisking people away. The photojournalist, who is herself Navajo, uncovered how tribal members were being offered access to treatment for substance abuse, only to end up in fraudulent sober living homes.

“KSUT is an NPR-affiliate radio station that serves five counties and four tribes in southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico, providing local news like Ms. Ashike’s story. And it’s [losing] nearly a fourth of its funding. ….

“Congress passed a rescissions bill this summer, clawing back nearly $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting. [The Corporation for Public Broadcasting], established by Congress in the 1960s, provides a small percentage of funding for NPR and PBS [and] also helps fund local radio stations like KSUT, which are affiliated with NPR and air some of its content alongside their own programming tailored to local communities. …

“[For] this station serving small mountain towns, there’s a lot of uncertainty. And for many in the community, it fills an indispensable role.

“ ‘I think we’d really be in a news desert for anything that mattered to us locally, regionally, if it weren’t for KSUT,’ says Carol Fleischer, a longtime listener.

“KSUT is based in Ignacio, a town of about 1,000 people in southwest Colorado that is also the headquarters of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. The Southern Ute originally founded the station in 1976 to provide community news and traditional Native American music. At the time, it was one of only eight tribal stations in the country.

“After becoming an NPR affiliate in the 1980s, KSUT now runs two separate signals, with one exclusively dedicated to tribal news. The tribal signal broadcasts from 8 a.m. to midnight every weekday. Its programming is a compilation of news affecting local tribes, traditional music, and talk shows like a weekly broadcast on health issues affecting Indian Country.

“The second signal airs a morning regional newscast, a compilation of the station’s own reporting as well as collaborations with other Colorado stations. They also broadcast programming from NPR and BBC News, plus music handpicked by their DJs.

“During the summer – which in southwest Colorado means fire season – KSUT’s morning host puts together a list of updates on any fires that are burning and how effectively they’re being contained. When necessary, the station broadcasts live emergency and evacuation alerts. The fire season this summer has been a pretty intense one, says Tami Graham, the station’s director, with six active fires in the area.

“For some listeners, radio is the primary or only source for this kind of information. In the mountains and canyons of the KSUT broadcast area, cell service is ‘hit-or-miss,’ as one resident describes it. More than 20% of people in La Plata County lack reliable broadband service, meaning radio may be their only way to receive emergency alerts. …

“Like many stations around the country, KSUT has seen an outpouring of support in the weeks since the CPB announced its shutdown. Members have upped their monthly donations, many listeners are sending money for the first time, and the station has even had funds come in from people far across the country. …

“Even though KSUT doesn’t have immediate plans to cut programming, the funding cuts could damage their broadcasting ability. Early this year, KSUT was awarded a $500,000 grant – administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the CPB – to update the technology that enables emergency alerts. But they never received any of the money. After six months of uncertainty regarding the funds because of a separate issue with FEMA, Congress passed a bill rescinding funding for the CPB, which then informed Ms. Graham that KSUT would have to spend any allotted funds by Sept. 30.

“The station paid $46,000 to buy a needed transmitter and other equipment. Three days later, the CPB told the station it would not be able to reimburse them before the shutdown, and warned them not to purchase any new equipment. …

“Priscilla Precious Collins, a member of what’s known as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, says KSUT is ‘one of the pillar sources of information in our community.’ She recalls how the radio was ‘crucial’ in spreading information to tribal communities during the pandemic, such as how to keep tribal elders safe. …

“On a baking hot morning in Durango, one of the biggest towns served by KSUT, 20 local listeners assemble in the dining room of a downtown hotel to share their thoughts on local radio.

“ ‘I was a schoolteacher for 37 years, and I listened to KSUT going to school and coming home,’ says Sweetie Marbury, a former mayor who organized the group. ‘It’s a window to the world for us that live in mountain towns.’ …

“On a recent morning, the KSUT broadcast pauses. ‘We have a very sad announcement,’ says Ms. Graham, the executive director. She tells listeners that one of the station’s DJs has unexpectedly passed away. …

“A listener writes in that afternoon. ‘I send my deepest condolences to you and to everyone there at KSUT,’ she writes, ‘as I know it is not just a business.’ In this woman’s 49 years of listening to KSUT, she says the station has been a ‘lifeboat in an angry sea.’ ”

More at the Monitor, here.

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A Family That Reads Aloud

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Art: Scott Wilson.

I had a college roommate whose father was an English professor in Colorado. He had a custom of reading Dickens to the family, not phasing out the custom just because the kids grew up. My roommate loved it and always looked forward to being read to when she went home on school vacations.

This is not a common thing, although it was at one time. What it gave people in terms of doing something together while soaking up a good yarn — and sometimes beautiful writing — has never been replaced. With those cadences in your head, you may even learn to write better.

At the Christian Science Monitor, Sherilyn Siy writes, “Every night after dinner, our 14-year-old daughter picks up her Rubik’s Cube, and our 12-year-old son stretches out on the tatami, his head on the beanbag. Our 4-year-old son settles into the crook of my legs, fitting himself into the space formed by my cross-legged seat like a puzzle piece. Story time’s about to start. My husband, who started listening in a couple of years ago, now leans back against the ornate wooden post in our tatami room, stretching out his legs. Then, I pick up our chapter book and continue from where we left off.

“I have always loved reading to my children. When they were younger, reading together was about language exposure, filling their world with the expansive vocabulary that books provide. As a multinational family – American, Filipino, and Chinese – living in the Japanese countryside, we have helped our children stay connected to English through books. I’m not the kind of mom who builds train tracks or towers, but if the kids hand me a storybook, I’ll always read to them.

“I started reading to my children when my oldest was 8 months old. When they were smaller, stories helped them process big emotions, as well as learn new words. We began exploring chapter books when my older kids were about 7 or 8 years old, starting with fun, lighthearted stories before moving on to longer and more complex books. 

“At first, illustrations played a big role in their comprehension and enjoyment of stories. Today, they take pleasure in visualizing scenes through words alone. Now that they’re older, reading together is no longer just about language acquisition; it is about connection.

“I select our books carefully. We reach for classics like Lois Lowry’s The Giver and its sequels, compelling middle grade fiction like Kelly Yang’s Front Desk, and books that simply capture our interest, like William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Sometimes, the choices come from my kids. My daughter read a Japanese translation of Ban This Book, by Alan Gratz, and enjoyed it so much that we read the original English version together. That book became a favorite, not just for the story but for the conversations and inside jokes it sparked.

“In one of our favorite parts, the main characters decided that the best way to hide their banned books was to create fake covers for them. The moment I read aloud some of the ridiculous titles they came up with, the whole family lost it. My kids were doubled over, hands clutching stomachs, as we gasped for air between fits of laughter. 

“Other moments were quieter but just as meaningful. While reading Front Desk, I was deeply moved by a scene in which the immigrant parents of the main character talk after the mother is attacked and then hospitalized. The father, crying, says, ‘I promised when I married you that I’d take care of you, and I’ve failed you.’ I was struck by the depth of his devotion to his wife in the face of the harsh realities of their immigrant life. I couldn’t get the words out. My children knew the words carried something deep for me. …

“The story of a young Chinese immigrant family navigating life in America, as portrayed in Front Desk, felt personal for us – my kids saw reflections of their own identity in it. Although The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is set in Malawi, we saw striking parallels to Filipino ingenuity and resilience in the face of hardship. David Walliams’ Grandpa’s Great Escape celebrates the wisdom and adventurous spirit of elders, reminding us of the Chinese emphasis on respecting them. …

“We bring all kinds of emotions to the table – frustration, exhaustion, lingering tension from the day. But when we start reading, it’s like tuning in to the same frequency, finding common ground even if we had been at odds just minutes before. The shared experience provides a reset, a neutral space where we can just be together. …

“I hold on to these evenings, these moments when we all gather around the same story. I may not be able to shield my children from every storm that adolescence and life brings, but for a few minutes each day, I can offer them a hearth in a story.” More at the Monitor, here.

I love the mention of the 14-year-old’s Rubik’s Cube. The kids I know often need something to fiddle with while listening to a story.

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Kosovo Artist Gives Back

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Hyla Skoptiz.
The spiral bronze sculptures of Nasher prize-winning Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj draw inspiration from doodles he saw carved into desks of primary schools across the Balkans. 

Today’s story is about more than an art prize, although that is important in itself. It’s about people uniting against the bad things that happen in the world.

In one instance, the article notes how people came together after ancient Balkan hatreds burned up props for a Kosovo opera. In another we see how funders, sometimes folks under the radar like us, are rising up to protect the independent journalism exemplified by the story itself.

But let’s start with the prize. From Uwa Ede-Osifo at the Dallas Morning News (via KERA in North Texas), we learn about the most recent recipient of an award for excellence in contemporary sculpture.

“Kosovar artist Petrit Halilaj, whose work often contrasts the innocence of youth with the sober realities of war, has been named the winner of the 2027 Nasher Prize.

“At 39, Halilaj is the youngest recipient of the award, according to [an] announcement from the Nasher Sculpture Center.

“In a phone call from his Berlin home, Halilaj said history molds his art. He came of age in Kosovo in the 1990s amid a bloody conflict between ethnic Albanians and Serbians. He was 13 when he and his family, who are Albanian, had their house burned down by Serbian forces.

Later, at a refugee camp, a psychologist encouraged Halilaj to draw his fears and dreams.

“The drawings, among which Halilaj depicted vibrant birds and trees (suggesting a utopia of sorts), would inspire a 2021 exhibition at the Tate St. Ives in England. ‘Whatever we live [through], it makes [us] who we are,’ he said. …

“Other works by Halilaj that recall history and childhood include a series of bronze sculptures based on scribbles found on generations of school children’s desks in the Balkans. These sculptures were shown in 2024 on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

“Most recently, Halilaj staged Syrigana, an interdisciplinary opera based on a local legend, in the namesake Kosovar village.

“He learned of his Nasher win shortly after the opera’s June debut. It was a hectic time. A few days before the premiere, several props — ‘months and months of work and preparation’ he said — were set ablaze. They had been stored in locked containers.

“The culprit was not found, but Halilaj suspected the fire was related to Kosovo’s history of ethnic tensions. Still, he was undeterred and rallied a fleet of artists to re-create the destroyed materials. The collective dream we have to bring culture back,’ he said, is ‘way bigger than this attack.’

“Halilaj sees the Nasher Prize as supporting this dream. He plans to use the prize money — $100,000 — to support the Hajde! Foundation, a nonprofit he founded with his sister in 2014 to promote the arts in Kosovo. The organization has provided artists with spaces to present their work and revitalized cultural institutions that fell into disrepair amid the conflict.

“In partnership with Kosovo’s Ministry of Culture, Hajde! has mounted a restoration of an arts center in Halilaj’s hometown. Called the House of Culture, it was a beacon for artists until its closure around the late ‘80s. Halilaj estimates it will reopen in 2027. … Halilaj [wants] to invite both ethnic Albanians and Serbians as well as minority groups into the space.

“Halilaj’s art offers hope, said Carlos Basualdo, director of the Nasher Sculpture Center. ‘Works like this tell you about what art can do,’ Basualdo said, noting it can bring people together.

“In the decade since the Nasher Prize was established, it has become one of the art world’s most prestigious honors. Recent laureates have hailed from countries around the world, including Nigeria (Otobong Nkanga), the U.S. (Senga Nengudi) and Iran (Nairy Baghramian). Winners are selected by a jury of museum directors, curators, art historians and artists. …

“The prize began as an annual award in 2015 before switching to a biennial basis in 2023 to allow recipients more time to collaborate with the museum. Plans for programming around Halilaj’s work in 2027 will be announced.” More here.

I don’t usually include all the funders of an article, but today I’m feeling I really want to thank to anyone who contributes to the cost of independent journalism:

“Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA. This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.“

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Papier Mâché In Kashmir

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on December 5, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Fahad Shah.
In Srinagar, India, Syed Maqbool Rizvi paints intricate floral patterns on a decorative box made of papier-mâché. The ancient craft is dying out.

In reading about traditional crafts in danger of dying out as its elderly practitioners die, I keep thinking about recent posts on young artists taking crafts in new directions. (Consider the Navajo weaver, here, and the bojagi artist, here.) I wonder if such an evolution can emerge in a politically turbulent place like Kashmir. Ancient decorations now cover more than boxes, but who will take it to the next level? The current popularity belies the unsustainable bottom line for the workers themselves.

Reporting from India for the Christian Science Monitor, Fahad Shah writes, “Papier-mâché dates back hundreds of years in Kashmir. Local folklore credits the 14th century Sufi saint Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani with bringing the craft to this Himalayan region from Iran, and it flourished under a series of sultans, quickly becoming a symbol of Kashmir’s cultural identity.

“But for a long time, the art form was limited to decorative boxes and other items molded from paper pulp. … These days, the iconic designs popularized by traditional papier-mâché items can be found on bags, leather jackets, and home decor. Artisans apply their intricate designs on unconventional materials like steel, glass, and porcelain, using industrial paints for durability.

“This creative evolution has expanded papier-mâché’s market appeal, with a new generation of clientele emerging – a group that includes interior designers, a local urban bourgeoisie, and international buyers. …

“It’s a relief – of sorts – to the Kashmiri artisans who have watched similar local crafts die out in recent years. To be sure, papier-mâché artisans continue to struggle with low wages and a lack of new talent entering the craft. Yet Hakim Sameer Hamdani, an architectural historian and design director for the Kashmir section of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, says the industry itself is performing better now compared with 20 or 30 years ago. …

“He says, ‘The internet’s role, especially social media and WhatsApp, in design inspiration and market expansion has further driven demand, allowing artisans to reach global buyers directly and removing middlemen.’

“In Srinagar city, Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital, papier-mâché art adorns the walls and ceilings of everything from Sufi shrines and mosques to homes and hotels. It can also be spotted in the windows of boutiques, where tourists and locals alike browse ornate bags or leather jackets. Mohammad Ismail, a retired educationist in Srinagar who collects papier-mâché art, says artists are always innovating.

“In papier-mâché, ‘the main focus is the design,’ he says, as he leaves a shop with a newly purchased bag. ‘It is the color and the pattern, whether it is on a glass or paper, that is authentic.’

“Around the world, demand for classic papier-mâché designs – applied to modern products – is growing, says Rahul Dhar, founder of e-commerce platform Treasures of Kashmir. He’s been selling Kashmiri handicrafts since 2020, and in the last few years, interest in papier-mâché jewelry has surged on his platform. …

“For artists, customer enthusiasm doesn’t always translate into prosperity. From his home in a historic neighborhood of Srinagar, Syed Maqbool Rizvi paints intricate floral patterns on a decorative box. His day started at 9 a.m. and will end at midnight. Despite having a loyal customer base that he communicates with via WhatsApp, he only earns the equivalent of about $5 for an entire day’s labor.

“The award-winning, seventh-generation papier-mâché artisan will be the last in his family to master the craft. His children – a son and a daughter – have chosen different paths.  

“ ‘There were many families known for this craft, but their children have moved on,’ Mr. Rizvi says. ‘Everyone looks for private jobs these days – who can afford to sit from morning till night for this kind of work?’  

“Government loans during the pandemic helped, he says, but it’s become almost impossible to make ends meet through papier-mâché alone. 

“Historian Bashir Ahmad Maliyar, whose doctoral thesis examined the evolution of Kashmir’s Mughal-era arts, crafts, and trade, says it will take more aggressive interventions to reverse the decline in active artisans.

“Without policies that ensure fair wages, incentivize arts education, and promote the region’s crafts, ‘papier-mâché will vanish within 10 to 20 years,’ he says. ‘People may still practice it in isolated ways, but once the art dies, reviving it will be difficult.’ ”

More at the Monitor, here.

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Syria Stops Banning Books

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Taylor Luck.
“The Fardous Bookstore, once under restrictions imposed by the former Assad regime,” says Taylor Luck of the Christian Science Monitor, “now sells previously banned books to eager readers.”

Books are stronger than tyrants. We hold onto that thought. We know from both history and the belief of poets that the time of tyrants has an end. I think Shelley says it best.

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
“Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
“Nothing beside remains.”

If you don’t see the downfall of the pedestal in your own country at the moment, look toward Syria. Syrians have reason to believe that new tyrants won’t be replacing the hated Assad anytime soon.

After all, books are not being banned by the revolutionary government.

“Post-revolution Syria is becoming a page-turner’s paradise,” wrote Taylor Luck at the Christian Science Monitor recently.

“After years of being banned by the former regime, dozens of long sought-after books are flooding stores across Syria, literally spilling onto the streets. An epicenter of this new literary freedom is the so-called ‘bookshop alley’ in the Halbouni neighborhood of Damascus, a leafy street lined by two dozen bookshops and printers, big and small.

“It is here that Radwan Sharqawi runs the Fardous Bookstore, a small corner shop that his family has owned since 1920. The contrast between today’s Syria and the long period of Assad family rule is like night and day, he says.

“ ‘Before, we had daily interrogations by the security services,’ Mr. Sharqawi says. ‘Now everything is permitted, nothing is banned. Now is a golden era for books!’

For decades, any book written by an intellectual or an artist who had expressed opposition to the Assad regime – or who simply did not vocally toe the official line – was banned.

“So, too, were books that touched on Syrian history from any perspective other than the ruling Baath Party’s revisionist version. Titles on the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, or anything on the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, were contraband.

“Islamic thinkers such as Ibn Taymiyya, the influential medieval Sunni jurist and scholar, were banned. So, too, were books by Brotherhood-aligned clerics. … Even a book as basic as a tafsīr, an annotated Quran with explanations and context, was banned, for fear it might contradict the Assad government’s tightly controlled Islamic authorities.

“ ‘These are texts about religion and God, not politics,’ says Abdulkader al-Sarooji, owner of the Ibn Al Qayem bookshop, as a customer browses shelves of leather-bound Islamic books, their titles engraved in decorative golden calligraphy. …

“As soon as the regime fell, Mr. Sarooji began importing books from Turkey and northern Syria to Damascus. Syrians are rushing to snatch up banned titles. …

“ ‘There is demand for banned books because people feel there is a gap in their knowledge, even in their religious knowledge,’ says Mr. Sarooji.

“The most dangerous texts during the Assad era – and the books in highest demand now – are works of literary fiction, titles that draw on the real experiences of Syrians who spent time in jail and suffered abuse at the hands of the regime. The most fiercely banned book was Bayt Khalti, by Ahmed al-Amri, which details the horrors faced by women in the notorious Sednaya prison.

“Now Bayt Khalti is prominently displayed on bookshelves and vendors’ roadside stands across Damascus – in both legitimate editions and blurry knockoffs that feed the high demand.

“ ‘This book was the most dangerous one,’ street-side book vendor Hussein Mohammed says as he waves a copy of Bayt Khalti. ‘If they caught you with this, you were a goner.’

“Another popular banned text, Al Qoqaa, or The Cochlea, details a Christian Syrian’s time in Mr. Assad’s prisons.

“Eyad, a young Damascene, purchased a book of fiction from Mr. Mohammed after spending an hour browsing in the bookshop alley. ‘There are a lot of books that I have wanted to read for years,’ he says.”

More at the Monitor, here.

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