The Present Group provides an interactive look at “how artists, cultural producers, and content providers have experimented with funding and support models during the Internet Age.” The scrolling timeline spans from 1998 through 2016, and it outlines the major innovations (and failures) as websites tried monetizing.
Web 3.0: How Do We Pay for This?
Catstarter
"The most interesting writers we know, all asking and answering the same question: why can't we stop watching cat videos?" Coffee House Press one-ups all boring Kickstarter campaigns with Catstarter, a campaign to fund a book on cat videos and "how we decide what is good or bad art, or art at all."
●
●
Elena Ferrante Writing for Kids
Elena Ferrante will be publishing a children’s book, The Beach at Night, this December. Revisit our own Jacob Lambert’s series on whether or not picture books are leading our children astray to prepare for the release.
Žižek’s Take on Baltimore
Philosopher and flower hater Slavoj Žižek comes late to the "let's discuss The Wire's greater cultural significance" party, but he does bring some excellent points with him. For the record, he doesn't believe it's the greatest TV series of all time. And the entire thing is worth hearing if only for an in-depth analysis of this [NSFW] scene.
The Hand that Feeds Them
Stephen Elliot explains why publishers are shooting themselves in the foot when they gouge authors trying to buy copies of their own books.
Cringe-Inducing Books & Growing Up
Two off-site appearances in as many months from our otherwise relatively reclusive editor, C. Max Magee? And both times invoking the theme of lost adolescence? Something's afoot! Last month, Max dropped by The Morning News' booth for the Tournament of Books' zombie round, and now he's joining a star-studded cast at The Awl to answer the question, "What Books Make You Cringe To Remember?"
●
●
LDS Superstar: Parker & Stone’s The Book of Mormon
Some Mormons are excited about the recent news of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's forthcoming musical, The Book of Mormon: "How can they call us a cult once we're headlining 52nd Street? The Jews got 'Fiddler.' The Catholics got 'The Sound of Music' and 'Doubt.' It's our time to shine." Read more at the Salt Lake Tribune.
●
●