Ballet and the Holocaust
How to express ineffable suffering through dance? That is the question Austin Ballet director Stephen Mills asked himself; the answer would propel him a years-long journey of discovery full of…
ARTEMIS: The Next Moon Mission
The first crew for the Artemis mission to the Moon was announced just a few weeks after a session at SXSW on NASA’s plans to send people to the Moon…
Dr. Stamets heralds new Paradigm of Consciousness
“You can’t help but be spiritual thinking about astronomy.” So said Dr. Paul Stamets, whose appearance before a packed conference room at SXSW was full of hope for the future.…
The Importance of Footnotes
“Editing is not merely a scholarly exercise of compiling information. It is a rhetorical art.” This statement comes from Kate Bennett, one of the 14 experts who have written chapters…
WILLIAM SHATNER at SXSW: Go Be a Scientist!!
Captain Kirk beamed down to Austin to attend SXSW. In addition to his appearance as a keynote speaker, he also was in attendance later that day for the premiere of…
THE ANGELS ARE WEEPING for Virginia Zeani
I had the privilege of meeting the great opera singer Virginia Zeani in Fort Lauderdale in 2013. She died a few days ago at age 97. Zeani made her debut…
Orpheus in Macedonia
Can a mythical figure have a real grave? That is the provocative question posed by Tomasz Mojsik in this book about Orpheus. Mojsik is associate professor at the University of…
Mr. Spock’s Vincent
If after-play questions are any indication, some people in the audience at the play Vincent had no idea it was developed by none other than Leonard Nimoy. His Star Trek…
A Night of Mahler
Leonard Bernstein recorded it three times. Several distinguished critics have concluded it is a failure. Whichever side of the fence you are on (and few indeed can be found sitting…
ASTEROIDS at SXSW
In January this year an asteroid passed closer to Earth than some satellites in orbit. Dr. Paul Chodas said that when asteroids are predicted to get really close to Earth…