CULTURE – Page 8

Many Groups Are Still Struggling But Federal Support Has Shored Up Nonprofits During The Coronavirus Pandemic

15Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CULTURE

Many Groups Are Still Struggling But Federal Support Has Shored Up Nonprofits During The Coronavirus Pandemic

More than 60% of nonprofit social services, arts and culture organizations obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These very low-interest loans for small businesses and nonprofits turn into grants that don’t need to be paid back as long as borrowers meet certain conditions, such as using at least 60% of the money to pay their employees. Even so, almost 50% of nonprofits providing social services, such as food banks and shelters for people experiencing homelessness, still had to scale back their work and cut staff because of inadequate funding. Almost 80% of arts and culture groups, including everything from big museums to small schools that teach children to speak Mongolian, faced the same problems. Also, about 15% of the nonprofi...

Until The Witch Accusations Started Pouring In Women Used To Dominate The Beer Industry

15Mar

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CULTURE

Until The Witch Accusations Started Pouring In Women Used To Dominate The Beer Industry

What do witches have to do with your favorite beer? When I pose this question to students in my American literature and culture classes, I receive stunned silence or nervous laughs. The Sanderson sisters didn’t chug down bottles of Sam Adams in “Hocus Pocus.” But the history of beer points to a not-so-magical legacy of transatlantic slander and gender roles. Up until the 1500s, brewing was primarily women’s work – that is, until a smear campaign accused women brewers of being witches. Much of the iconography we associate with witches today, from the pointy hat to the broom, emerged from their connection to female brewers. A routine household task Humans have been drinking beer for almost 7,000 years, and the original brewers were women. From the Vikings to the Egyptians, women brewed bee...

Needed Now More Than Ever – John Keats’ Concept Of ‘Negative Capability’ – Or Sitting In Uncertainty

15Mar

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CULTURE

Needed Now More Than Ever – John Keats’ Concept Of ‘Negative Capability’ – Or Sitting In Uncertainty

When John Keats died 200 years ago, on Feb. 23, 1821, he was just 25 years old. Despite his short life, he’s still considered one of the finest poets in the English language. Yet in addition to masterpieces such as “Ode to a Nightingale” and “To Autumn,” Keats’ legacy includes a remarkable concept: what he called “negative capability.” The idea – which centers on suspending judgment about something in order to learn more about it – remains as vital today as when he first wrote about it. Keats lost most of his family members to an infectious disease, tuberculosis, that would take his own life. In the same way the COVID-19 pandemic turned the worlds of many people upside down, the poet had developed a deep sense of life’s uncertainties. Keats was born in London in 1795. His father died i...

The Need For Reparations Today – What Alexander Hamilton’s Deep Connections To Slavery Reveal

15Mar

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CULTURE

The Need For Reparations Today – What Alexander Hamilton’s Deep Connections To Slavery Reveal

Alexander Hamilton has received a resurgence of interest in recent years on the back of the smash Broadway musical bearing his name. But alongside tales of his role in the Revolutionary War and in forging the early United States, the spotlight has also fallen on a less savory aspect of his life: his apparent complicity in the institution of slavery. Despite being a founding member of the New York Manumission Society, which sought gradual emancipation of New York’s enslaved population, Hamilton benefited from slavery – both personally and by association. As a historian of early America and Northern slavery, I study how Colonial-era figures like Hamilton fit into America’s long history of enslavement, and how slavery fueled networks of power that have lasted through the ages. A life entwin...

30Dec

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CULTURE

Why do old people hate new music?

Why do old people hate new music? – Holly, age 14, Belmont, Massachusetts When I was a teenager, my dad wasn’t terribly interested in the music I liked. To him, it just sounded like “a lot of noise,” while he regularly referred to the music he listened to as “beautiful.” This attitude persisted throughout his life. Even when he was in his 80s, he once turned to me during a TV commercial featuring a 50-year-old Beatles tune and said, “You know, I just don’t like today’s music.” It turns out that my father isn’t alone. As I’ve grown older, I’ll often hear people my age say things like “they just don’t make good music like they used to.” Why does this happen? Luckily, my background as a psychologist has given me some insights into this puzzle. We know that musical tastes be...

Why saying ‘OK boomer’ at work is considered age discrimination – but millennial put-downs aren’t

20Nov

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CULTURE

Why saying ‘OK boomer’ at work is considered age discrimination – but millennial put-downs aren’t

The phrase “OK boomer” has become a catch-all put-down that Generation Zers and young millennials have been using to dismiss retrograde arguments made by baby boomers, the generation of Americans who are currently 55 to 73 years old. Though it originated online and primarily is fueling memes, Twitter feuds and a flurry of commentary, it has begun migrating to real life. Earlier this month, a New Zealand lawmaker lobbed the insult at an older legislator who had dismissed her argument about climate change. As the term enters our everyday vocabulary, HR professionals and employment law specialists like me now face the age-old question: What happens if people start saying “OK boomer” at work? Evidence of discrimination A lot of the internet fights over “OK boomer” revolve around whether...

A Climate Action for Every Type of Activist

17Jul

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CULTURE

A Climate Action for Every Type of Activist

No matter your age, gender, race, or political ideology, there are ways to fight climate change that fit your life and values. Most of us have heard about U.N. researchers warning that we need to make dramatic changes in the next 12 years to limit our risk of extreme heat, drought, floods, and poverty caused by climate change. Report after report about a bleak climate future can leave people in despair. But another option is good for you and the planet. Susan Clayton, a professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster, says getting involved with a group can help lift your climate-related anxiety and depression in three ways. Working with like-minded folks can validate your concerns, give you needed social support, and help...

10Jul

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CULTURE

How to become more optimistic

Optimism is an inheritable trait in about 25 percent of individuals; yet, there are many factors such as socioeconomic status that have a bearing on positivity as well. NBC News in August 2017 reported that optimism is an inheritable trait in about 25 percent of individuals; yet, there are many factors such as socioeconomic status that have a bearing on positivity as well. Regardless, glass-half-empty individuals can practice optimism habits to develop a cheerier outlook. Consider these four from the report: 1. Stop equating optimism with happiness. While viewing hardships through rose-colored glasses may result in a joyful lifestyle, cultivating an optimistic disposition does not automatically lead to a rosy existence. 2. Approach life’s stressors in a positive way by investigating ...

26Jun

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CULTURE

Can Your Burger Really Save the Planet?

Choosing a veggie burger won’t stop climate disaster, but here’s why you should do it anyway. Burgers have recently become a main course on the menu of climate action. Whether it’s the Impossible Whopper, the promise of cell-based meat, or the debate over grass-fed beef, hamburgers—and how they’re made—are being served as a symbol of how we can disrupt and reduce one of our greatest impacts on the planet. But that doesn’t mean the solution is as simple as changing what’s on your grill. Agriculture is responsible for up to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. About half of that comes from livestock production, and the biggest culprit, by far, is beef production. Researchers say that countries like the United States will need to cut beef consumption by 90 p...

Get to know Niksen: The art of doing nothing

11Jun

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CULTURE

Get to know Niksen: The art of doing nothing

Niksen means doing nothing or, more specifically, performing an action without a clear purpose or a deadline There is the Japanese way to organize - KonMari - the Danish way to establish a cozy home - hygge - and the Swedish way to live a balanced life - lagom. Apparently, there is also the right way to do nothing, thanks to the Dutch and niksen. Interglot.com’s Dutch to English translation of niksen is: “idle; lounge around; sit around; do nothing much ...” In essence, according to dutchreview.com in 2018: “Niksen means doing nothing or, more specifically, performing an action without a clear purpose or a deadline. For instance, for the Dutchies, looking out the window as people pass or going to the beach to stare at the waves for a while is considered niksen. And by doing so, they o...