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A gray wolf whose “epic” travels captured headlines and imaginations earlier this year was killed in California after being struck by a vehicle this month Rest in peace, brother. Let's hope you're not the last to make the journey.
posted by Man with Lantern at 6:24 PM PST - 24 comments

Two Tribes was an apparently upbeat celebration of global nuclear war by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Appearing on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome, it reached #1 in 7 countries, staying there for 9 weeks in the UK. The Godley and Creme directed video [alternative] featured caricatures of Ronald Reagan and Konstantin Chernenko having a fight. There were a billionty mixes, remixes and 12 inch versions; weekly performances on Top of the Pops were often unpredictable. In the same year, the movie Threads [clip][full length on vimeo] was released. In 2012, Trevor Horn, Stephen Lipson, Lol Créme, and Ash Soan played a gentle version. Previously: [2007][2009][2012]
posted by Wordshore at 1:29 PM PST - 63 comments

Climate change causing albatross divorce according to a new study, as reported by Manish Pandey for BBC News. [more inside]
posted by misteraitch at 1:24 PM PST - 7 comments

Hey, why not read up on brass history with Greg, on Greg's Brass History Page.
posted by cortex at 10:09 AM PST - 15 comments

"In your first conversations with them, you’ll probably want to refer to all you’ve learned in the past year’s intensive study of dolphin history, culture, and ritual. Maybe you want to put them at ease, or maybe you kind of want to show off. I’m telling you not to do that, because you know nothing." The science fiction short story "Share Your Flavor" by Jenifer K. Leigh has a fun friendship between a human and a dolphin who commiserate about their relationship issues. [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 7:18 AM PST - 6 comments

To be clear: I’m not saying MFAs made all novels terrible or that all contemporary writing sucks. A writer isn’t deterministically destined to produce defensive prose if they go through the MFA process. Not all writers who’ve sat in a workshop are “workshop writers.” And some academic experiences are amazing, vital and electric, lighting up students’ minds inside like a moveable feast. But those are instances within a collective system. A system that has, in its totality, changed both how prose is written, who gets published, and who the audience for fiction is. from How the MFA swallowed literature by Erik Hoel
posted by chavenet at 6:21 AM PST - 165 comments

Master teacher, advanced student. There's just tremendous trust and respect. It made me realize that yelling at people is showing a lack of trust that they're listening. (Cue up people explaining that's not the only thing it means.) I'm not saying you can always trust that people are listening. [more inside]
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:06 AM PST - 16 comments