The Rogovoy Report 12.4.23

From around the corner to around the globe...

Dec 03, 2023

You are receiving this ad-free, reader-supported email newsletter because you are subscribed to The Rogovoy Report, a twice-weekly digest of news and cultural happenings, mostly in the greater Berkshires and Hudson Valley region. You may also receive Everything Is Broken, a once-weekly, sibling e-newsletter featuring original writing by yours truly. Thank you so very much for your interest and support.

REQUIRED READING

Everyone Hates the Critic

(New Statesman) - Writers, artists and publishers alike have long been united by their fear of the hatchet job. One scathing review could result in a work declared dead on arrival; critics known for their harsh appraisals were regarded with terror. But as the internet has empowered amateur critics and emboldened fan communities, there has been a shift in the critical climate. On social media, negative criticism of popular albums, TV shows or movies is met with outrage. Anything less than adoring praise is received by mega-fans as an offence, and, as a result, critics are hounded and harassed online. Artists, too, have hit out against (even broadly positive) criticism of their work. In this cultural climate, the critic, no longer respected as a tastemaker, is dismissed as just another “hater”. But criticism is vital to a thriving culture. If the peaks and troughs of the cultural landscape are flattened, we end up with a wide expanse of low-quality cultural offerings, the value of which is grossly inflated, and original, innovative work is lost. When mindless, merely passable cultural products are uniformly celebrated, it has the effect of narrowing what is subsequently made: encouraging the industry to invest only in what conforms to a simplistic model of what is already popular.

READ MORE:

The fall of my teen-age self, by Zadie Smith (New Yorker)

You deserve a great nap (NYT)

Why are so many of us addicted to drama? (The Guardian)

A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. (WaPo)

No Truckin’ Way: Berkshire Residents Excoriate GE’s Plan to Transport PCBs Dredged from the Housatonic

(WAMC) - General Electric presented its plan to transport toxic chemicals it polluted into the Housatonic River over the 20th century to Berkshire County residents at a tense public meeting in Lee, Massachusetts Tuesday. Since it was announced in 2020, the blockbuster plan to finally address PCBs in the Berkshires’ major waterway has been a bitter pill for county residents. Brokered behind closed doors by the Environmental Protection Agency, the agreement between GE and municipalities along the Housatonic has been vociferously protested at every step of the process. The meeting in Lee High School, typical of public forums since the plan was unveiled, had its share of interruptions, boos, and tears from attendees — some holding signs blasting the cleanup. The transportation plan Berkshire residents heard from GE Tuesday night heavily favors trucking as the means of moving PCBs dredged from the river both within and out of the county.

READ MORE:

As housing prices soar in Great Barrington, tax rate drops (Berkshire Eagle)

Berkshire Eagle calls for public takeover of beleaguered Housatonic Water Works (B Eagle)

Price Chopper liquor license saga in Great Barrington continues: Company applies for third time (Berkshire Edge)

Alford says Berkshire Communists’ ‘People’s Gym’ violates zoning ordinances (B Edge)

Affordable housing in Stockbridge? A $1M land donation could help meet the challenge (B Eagle)

How to fix Pittsfield's North Street: A Proposal, by Martin Langeveld (B Eagle)

Pittsfield’s Thistle & Mirth moving ramen menu to sister eatery after stabbing (iBerkshires)

With new Mohawk Theater marquee installed, North Adams hopes it will raise interest from prospective buyers (B Eagle)

A renovated North Adams Regional Hospital could open by March (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Catskill: On Solid Ground

(Chronogram) CATSKILL, N.Y. - Catskill may be less than three-square miles and made up of about 4,000 residents, but it's a multifaceted and boundless place. Despite the shifting sands of the economy, it has begun to find its footing through mutual cooperation as well as individual effort. The crowd in Hemlock, a chic new cocktail bar on Main Street with down-to-earth prices and a simple menu of burgers and salads, is a microcosm of Catskill. There are longtime residents and new transplants, older couples and tables of 20-somethings, and a variety of races and backgrounds, all sharing the same space. The bar, like the village itself, is a fulcrum between the ends of the see-saw of old and new. That's not to say Catskill hasn't had its share of ups and downs this year. There have been plenty amid the country's continued inflationary prices and a lack of affordable housing.

READ MORE:

Downtown movie palace reopens in Catskill (HV360)

Getting into the weeds of Colarusso’s proposed ‘haul road’ in Hudson (GoR)

Upscale lakeside housing development draws opposition in Philmont (ATU)

300 expected at Chabad center opening in Hudson (HV360)

Catskill Animal Shelter expresses concern over increased cost and decreased donations (HV360)

Kozel’s Restaurant in Ghent closes its doors after 87 years (ATU)

How trains transformed the Hudson Valley (ATU)

Hudson Youth Clubhouse moves to Fifth Street location (HV360)

GOP congressman Marc Molinaro votes to expel Santos from Congress (HV360)

Hey, did you like this edition of The Rogovoy Report? If so, please consider clicking on the “LIKE” button at the very end of this message. It matters to the gods of Substack.

The Rogovoy Report