Madame Butterfly and a New Beginning for Austin Opera
The old war-horse Madame Butterfly was recently restaged by Austin Opera in a thoroughly enjoyable performance. Ever since its debut in 1904, it has become a canonical opera, likely seen…
Gay Men’s Chorus of Austin: A new level of professionalism
With the appointment of a new Artistic Director, and a new Executive Director, Austin Gay Men’s Chorus is stepping up to a new level of professionalism. They filled the stage…
Beautiful, Wonderful, Deep Mathematics
Image: Eratosthenes teaching in Alexandria “I would plead for more attention to the history of mathematics. It seems to me to be extremely desirable, if not actually indispensable, for entering…
When MONSTROSITY DEFINED HUMANITY
While this is a fine synthesis of the ancient Greek experience, it must be said that there is little ‘new’ in this book by Jennifer Roberts. The target audience is…
Natural Philosophy at Oxford University
Image: Sir John Ball, Sedleian Professor from 1996-2019 For the past 400 years, Oxford University has had an endowed chair of natural philosophy. It began in 1621, due to a…
PATRICK CHURCH on Art and Fashion
Ask any fashionista to name the top three young fashion designers, and one name will appear for sure: Patrick Church. Patrick granted me an interview last week, and let me…
NASA in Supersonic Race with China
NASA is pinning its supersonic hopes on the X-59, and a discussion about it was a featured session at SXSW in Austin. On hand were NASA’s lead pilot of the…
Mozart Piano Concerto at Austin Symphony
A gem from 1785 was featured by the Austin Symphony Orchestra this weekend. Mozart performed his 22nd piano concerto in Vienna that year. As he wrote to his father, “Concertos…
Centennial of Britain’s First Labour Government
In 2024, Sir Keir Starmer became the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. As leader of the Labour party, he swept to power with 412 seats in Parliament. As…
Spying for Russia in the Cold War: A Grubby Scheme
Photo: British PM Harold Wilson in 1975 Back in the 1980s, PM Margaret Thatcher was obsessed with Russian spying. The so-called Spycatcher Affair became THE cause célèbre in England, and…