The Rogovoy Report 11.21.22

From around the corner to around the globe...

Welcome to the new, improved Rogovoy Report, now coming to you via Substack, which allows for a cleaner look; easier share, comment, and subscribe tools; and greater efficiency on the back end. As always, The Rogovoy Report’s weekly news and features digest will remain free to all subscribers. Those who wish may choose to pay for a subscription, which will offer additional features — more news on that upcoming. In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on comments on the new look and format of The Rogovoy Report.

REQUIRED READING

How to Escape Your Packed Schedule and Take a Rest From Work

(WSJ) - Americans have worn their long work hours and reverence for productivity as a badge of honor for years. Where Europe has siestas and vacations that last all of August, we have working sick days and paid time off that never gets used. This fall, many of us seem to be on overdrive: on the road again for business conferences, dashing from the office to the in-person school play to the happy hour, getting felled by the myriad viruses that have returned with a vengeance. Maybe we need to take a break.

Read also:

We must find new ways to act toward animals in a world dominated everywhere by human power and activity (NYRB)
What is an office, really? How ideas take shape in analog spaces (LitHub)
What Happened to FTX? (New York)
Why everything in tech seems to be collapsing at once (The Atlantic)
Quiet Quitters Make Up Half the U.S. Workforce (WSJ)
While watching my beloved New York Mets win over 100 games this summer, I was shocked to see real-time advertisements for online gambling throughout the broadcast. The story behind how a lobbying blitz made sports betting ubiquitous (NYT)
More Homeowners Using Helocs as Financial Safety Net (WSJ)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

EXISTENTIAL CRISIS, 99¢: Signs of Our Times

(RI) PITTSFIELD, Mass. - At a busy intersection in Pittsfield, you can get Hard Knocks for Buy 1 Get 3 Free, Known Unknowns, 5 for a $1, and Democracy on a Fire Sale. The “market” where these sentiments are sold is located in the windows above the storefronts at South Street and West Housatonic. Since 2001, these signs have provided drivers and pedestrians brief, thought-provoking moments as they wait for the light to change. The window signs are part of an ongoing series titled “BIG SALE,” and are the creation of artists Michael McKay and Monika Pizzichemi of Empty Set Projects (their own tagline: “Art, like crime, does not pay”).

Read also:

Inside MASS MoCA, EJ Hill’s ‘Break Run Helix,’ is a rideable roller coaster that does double duty as art (Boston Globe)
‘A Canvas for Possibility’: Housatonic’s Deb Koffman Art Space becomes the Center for Peace through Culture (Berkshire Edge)
Jacob’s Pillow receives largest grant in its history to build reimagined Doris Duke Theatre (Boston Globe)
To fully appreciate The School's 'Stressed World' exhibit, you'll need time for contemplation (B Eagle)
The Joan Didion estate sale was madness (New York)

THE BERKSHIRES

Berkshire Cultural Institutions Welcome New Leadership

(iBerkshires) PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire cultural leaders gathered at Barrington Stage Company's Wolfson Center to welcome the new leaders of three of Berkshire County's cultural venues on Tuesday night. Barrington Stage Company, Berkshire Museum, and Hancock Shaker Village all introduced new leadership to their venues this year. Alan Paul was named the new artistic director of Barrington Stage Company, Kimberley Bush Tomio was named the executive director of the Berkshire Museum, and Nathaniel "Nat" Silver assumed the role of executive director and CEO of Hancock Shaker Village.

Read also:

North Adams mayor says she is not at risk of losing her home (Berkshire Eagle)
Town leaders review proposal to turn Housatonic School into 10-unit apartment complex (Berkshire Edge)
Berkshires farmers are already adapting to the effects of climate change (B Eagle)
A fellow at Great Barrington's American Institute for Economic Research is a lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the state Department of Public Health that alleges the agency worked with Google to secretly auto-install COVID-19 contact tracing applications on smartphones (B Eagle)
It's not just the dump — it's the dump trucks. Lee health officials to study health risk of GE's proposed PCB site (B Eagle)
Housatonic Water Works says filtration system could solve brown water problem (Berkshire Edge)
Lenox psychiatrist closes practice after abuse allegations (B Eagle)

HUDSON VALLEY

Turning Used T-Shirts Into New Products at LikeMinded Objects

(RI) HUDSON, N.Y. - Here’s a startling statistic: The US ships 15 million garments to Ghana each month, and though we think we’re kindly donating second-hand material when we ship overseas, we’re actually polluting other people’s countries. “Forty percent of secondhand clothing gets thrown outimmediately upon arrival,” says Elise McMahon, a furniture designer and owner of LikeMinded Objects in Hudson. She creates furniture, accessories and custom interiors made from healthy materials and regionally manufactured and recycled goods.

Read also:

Esquire names Cafe Mutton a best new restaurant (HV360)
Realtors sound off on Hudson housing market (Trixie's List)
Hochul's victory created another hurdle: Democratic unity in New York (Politico)
No good deed goes unpunished: Judge temporarily blocks Kingston rent reduction measure (ATU)
New York says all Native American mascots and nicknames must go (ATU)
ESPN video star works to make Hudson healthier (HV360)
Kingston High principal reassigned to newly created post after using the term 'fudge-packers' (HVOne)
On the job: A day in the life of the Saugerties Lighthouse keepers (ATU)