Trump, His Virus and the Dark Age of Unreason – BillMoyers.com

There’s a virus infecting our politics and right now it’s flourishing with a scarlet heat. It feeds on fear, paranoia and bigotry. All that was required for it to spread was a timely opportunity — and an opportunist with no scruples. Continue reading

Source: Trump, His Virus and the Dark Age of Unreason – BillMoyers.com

You say potato, I say pomme de terre

As I listen more to French singers performing songs they’ve translated from English, I’m becoming fascinated by the inherent complexities of that process. Even in a proper translation, a song’s rhyme and poetic qualities may suffer.

porter-music
Cole Porter

In a poor translation, a song’s meaning can be completely lost. “It’s like searching for the best path through the forest which must satisfy several conflicting criteria,” says Russian translator Stanislov Korotyginit,  “It must be the shortest path, the nicest and the safest. And you have to meet the wolf on the way.”

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The Beats’ Countercultural Ferment Still Bubbles, in Paris – The New York Times

A show at the Pompidou Center in Paris, “Beat Generation: New York, San Francisco, Paris,” is the first major retrospective on the Beats since the 1990s.

Source: The Beats’ Countercultural Ferment Still Bubbles, in Paris – The New York Times