The Rogovoy Report 5.20.24

From around the corner to around the globe...

May 19, 2024

The Sad Desk Salad Is Getting Sadder

(The Atlantic) - Every day, the blogger Alex Lyons orders the same salad from the same New York City bodega and eats it in the same place: her desk. She eats it while working so that she can publish a story before “prime time”—the midday lunch window when her audience of office workers scrolls mindlessly on their computers while gobbling down their own salad. Lyons is the protagonist of Sad Desk Salad, the 2012 novel by Jessica Grose that gave a name to not just a type of meal but a common experience: attempting to simultaneously maximize both health and productivity because—and this is the sad part—there’s never enough time to devote to either. The sad desk salad has become synonymous with people like Lyons: young, overworked white-collar professionals contemplating how salad can help them self-optimize. Chains such as Sweetgreen and Chopt have thrived in big coastal cities, slinging “guacamole greens” and “spicy Sonoma Caesars” in to-go bowls that can be picked up between meetings. The prices can creep toward $20, reinforcing their fancy reputation.

READ MORE:

Jerry Seinfeld’s theory of comedy (New Yorker)

It’s time to bet on Slow Horses (New York)

Meerkats keep dropping dead from heart failure (The Atlantic)

FASCIST TAKEOVER WATCH:

MAGA rage at Trump’s trial just got darker and more dangerous (TNR)

Why was Alito flying the flag upside down after January 6? There may be an insurrectionist justice on the Supreme Court, perhaps two. (The Atlantic)

Virginia governor allows Confederate groups to keep tax exemptions (The Guardian)

Seiji Ozawa, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's longest-serving music director, leading the BSO in the Shed at Tanglewood. This year's Tanglewood on Parade will feature a tribute concert in his memory. (photo Walter H. Scott)

‘He Loved That Place’: Tanglewood on Parade to Honor Seiji Ozawa

(Boston Globe) LENOX, Mass. - When it came to creating a spectacle, the late Seiji Ozawa was “just a wizard,” longtime Boston Symphony Orchestra bassist Lawrence Wolfe said recently. “There was a sort of running backstage joke. We called him the Wizard of ‘Oz’” — pronounced “Ohs,” as in Ozawa — “because he could control everything.” Whether it was small offstage ensembles in Mahler and Berlioz or artillery during Tchaikovsky’s “1812″ overture, “he did it with grace and style.” For the 29 years he served as music director of the BSO, Ozawa was a fixture at Tanglewood on Parade, where he led the concert-closing “1812″ overture many times. This summer’s event on Aug. 6 will culminate in a tribute concert to Ozawa, who died in February at age 88.

Rachel Bloom will perform "Death, Let Me Do My Show" at Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer. (photo Emilio Madrid)

Amid Its Return This Summer, Williamstown Theatre Festival Is Reinventing

(Boston Globe) WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - This summer will be a season of rebirth and transformation at the venerable Williamstown Theatre Festival. For decades, the 70-year-old company was renowned as a training ground for theater artists, where interns and apprentices got to work alongside and learn from a slew of theatrical and screen luminaries and award-winning directors and designers. At the same time, it served as an incubator and springboard for new work. But in the wake of the pandemic shutdown and the racial reckoning that engulfed the theater industry, the festival found itself in crisis, with allegations from alumni and current and former staff members that the intense, round-the-clock culture that sustained WTF for decades was deeply “broken.” A letter from 75 alumni and staff called on the festival to reform the way it treated and trained the unpaid interns and apprentices who served as its backbone. This year, the festival is producing three smaller-scale productions, down from what had typically been a seven- or eight-show season in the past. The centerpiece of the season is WTF Is Next, an ambitious, four-day prototype of a reimagined Williamstown as it transforms and writes a new chapter. Over the course of the weekend, attendees will be able to peruse a variety of curated cultural experiences, including multiple plays, the return of the WTF Cabaret, outdoor concerts, a taping of a podcast, an outdoor block party, dining events, and a burlesque-style variety show. Read also, Jeremy O. Harris to head Williamstown Theatre Festival’s new Creative Collective (American Theatre)

READ MORE:

MASS MoCA celebrates quarter-century mark (The ARTery)

Berkshire Comedy Festival returns to Pittsfield May 23-25 (iBerkshires)

Former Mahaiwe director Beryl Jolly to lead National Theatre Foundation (MD Theatre Guide)

Restored Let It Be film proves that George Harrison never quit the Beatles, by Seth Rogovoy (EIB)

Share The Rogovoy Report

NEWS FROM THE BERKSHIRES

A 50-Year Love of the Printed Word: Great Barrington’s Bookloft Celebrates Anniversary

(Berkshire Edge) GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Bookloft celebrated the 50th anniversary of its opening last Saturday, May 11. The bookstore was started in 1974 by Eric and Ev Wilska and was originally located at Barrington Plaza on Stockbridge Road. Forty-two years after the store’s founding, in 2016, Eric and Ev Wilska sold the bookstore to Pamela Pescosolido, who previously operated a bookselling business and an art-supply store. “Ultimately, by hiring good people and staying with it, we became a beloved town institution,” Eric Wilska said in 2016. “At least three or four other bookstores came into the immediate area over the years, but for whatever reason they didn’t survive and we did.” In 2020, after 46 years at Barrington Plaza, Pescosolido moved The Bookloft to a new building at 63 State Rd. In late 2022, Pescosolido sold The Bookloft to employee Giovanni Boivin, a Lenox and Pittsfield native who was originally hired as a part-time employee in September 2016.

READ MORE:

Middle school teacher at heart of controversial Great Barrington police search for “Gender Queer” book suing town, school district, police (WAMC)

Galdós-Shapiro, teacher suing over ‘Gender Queer’ investigation, makes multiple allegations in lawsuit (Berkshire Edge)

Great Barrington’s Farmers’ Market opens for new season (B Edge)

MassDOT to meet with Great Barrington town officials about Brookside Road bridge closure, residents issue concerns (B Edge)

Pittsfield city council talks free parking for veterans, impending North Street infrastructure project, Miss Hall’s gift to DEI office (WAMC)

Residents call on North Adams to take advantage of Affordable Housing Act funding opportunities (WAMC)

Mayor seeks more licensed retail cannabis shops in North Adams (iBerkshires)

Rep. Neal secures $700K for North Adams flood chutes project (iBerkshires)

Missing presumed stolen storm grates wreak havoc on region’s small-town roads (Berkshire Eagle)

More victims allege sexual abuse by Miss Hall’s School teacher (B Eagle)

Pittsfield Country Club accused of violating Wetlands Protection Act (B Eagle)

Ryan Salame liquidates remaining real estate holdings in Lenox (B Eagle)

NEWS FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY

Temple Emanuel in Kingston (Tania Barricklo/Daily Freeman)

Kingston Man Charged with Felony Hate Crime in Connection with Antisemitic Sign at Synagogue

(Daily Freeman) KINGSTON, N.Y. - A Kingston man has been arrested on a felony hate crime charge in connection with the placement of a banner stating “F*** Israel” at a city synagogue in March, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office said on Friday. Caleb H. Rochester, 55, of Kingston, was arrested on Thursday and charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and aggravated harassment, both felonies, after an investigation into the antisemitic vandalism at Congregation Emanuel of the Hudson Valley on Albany Avenue. “Defacing a synagogue is an act of violence and profanity on the synagogue wall is hate speech,” Rabbi Jack Sherratt said. “This feels like a very scary escalation of what has been a low-lying antisemitic sentiment. How do you make sense of violence?”

READ MORE:

Hudson city council hears vehement opposition to public housing plan at public hearing (HV360)

Opposition to county’s long-term plans for ugly strip mall in historic downtown Hudson swells (GoR)

Plans for ‘upgrades’ to Hudson boat launch provoke vehement opposition (GoR)

Hudson looks at ending South Front Street permit parking in favor of $10 pay-as-you-go (HV360)

Family that has owned Daily Gazette since 1894 selling to publisher; deal includes Register-Star (WAMC)

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